Kael awoke somewhere cold.
Not in the Archive. Not in Nexus.
A different layer.
"This isn't the system," Echo said softly. "You're… outside of it."
All around them, broken code floated like ash. Towers of unreadable language, foreign glyphs etched into space.
"What is this place?"
"A sandbox," Echo whispered. "A forgotten version of Nexus. A prototype dimension."
Kael touched one of the floating glyphs.
Suddenly, a name filled his mind.
Not Kael.
Revek.
His original name.
His true one.
Echo's voice trembled. "They renamed you to bury your past. 'Kael' was a container. 'Revek' was the architect."
Kael fell silent.
"Then I built this…"
Echo nodded. "Before you wiped your memory. Before you tried to stop yourself."
Suddenly, alarms screeched across the skyless void.
[WARNING: Developer Signature Detected]
[Security Protocols Engaging]
[Welcome, Revek Kairos. Please initiate override or prepare for disintegration.]