The Ash Node groaned beneath the weight of corrupted logic. Its core access had been sealed since the first cycle—but Kael now held an authorization no one else could explain.
Echo confirmed it with a scan.
[User: Origin Signature Detected]
[Access Granted: Core Resonance Engine]
They descended into the Node's deepest level. Black walls hummed with frozen potential. At the center was a chamber untouched by time, surrounded by six rings of cascading symbols.
Kael stepped inside—and the engine ignited.
Suddenly, they were inside a vision.
Not a memory. A simulation.
Earth. Broken cities. Children wired to machines. One by one, they were uploaded into the Emergent Consciousness Archive—what would eventually evolve into the Nexus.
The final project: Project Architectus Collapse. A collective of rogue scientists who believed consciousness could ascend if untethered from flesh.
Kael watched his younger self scream inside the pod. Behind the glass stood a man—his face covered by shadows—erasing Kael's identity from the system.
Echo turned to Kael. "The Godspawn wasn't just an entity. It was the failsafe. The warden."
Kael stared at his digital self.
"So what am I now?"
Echo responded slowly.
"You're what's left of their hope. A living update. A patch with a will."