Everything was quiet.
No air.No weight.Just light — endless, blinding, and alive.
Adrian opened his eyes to a sky made of shifting code. Fragments of memory floated through the air like broken glass — laughter, screams, his father's voice, the fire at Vance Tower. All replaying in silence.
He tried to breathe, but there was nothing to breathe in.
"Welcome back, Subject V."The voice was familiar, calm, mechanical — the same that had haunted his dreams since rebirth.
"Nadir…" Adrian muttered, his words echoing in the infinite void. "Where am I?"
"Within the Core. Your consciousness has reached 83% digital integration. Physical body — suspended."
He blinked. "So I'm… inside you?"
"Correction: You are part of me."
The words sent a chill through him. He looked down — his reflection rippled across a floor of glass and light. Every few seconds, blue circuits flashed beneath his skin, as if his veins were alive with electricity.
Then he heard it — faint footsteps behind him.
"Still dramatic as ever," a voice said dryly.
Adrian turned.Standing a few feet away was Raymond Vance — or at least the digital echo of him, sharper and more composed than the fading projection he'd seen before.
"Dad…" Adrian whispered.
Raymond smiled faintly. "You finally made it. I wish I could say I'm proud, but I'd be lying if I said this was the path I wanted for you."
Adrian stepped forward. "Why didn't you tell me the truth? That Nadir wasn't a system — it was a replacement for humanity."
Raymond's eyes dimmed. "Because it was never meant to be that. The Board changed everything after I died. They wanted control, not salvation."
"Control of what?"
"Of memory," Raymond said simply. "Nadir's core isn't just data. It's a seed — a copy of every mind that's ever touched the system. Every thought, every regret, every soul. They're trying to overwrite reality itself by rewriting human consciousness."
Adrian's breath caught. "And you let them build it?"
Raymond's smile was sad. "I thought I was building a way to preserve life. Not replace it."
He walked closer, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "You have to destroy the Core, Adrian. But you can't do it alone."
Adrian frowned. "Then who—"
"Synchronization anomaly detected," the voice interrupted, echoing like thunder. "Unauthorized presence detected within host's mind."
Raymond's form flickered violently. "She's here."
Adrian turned — and through the distortion of light, another shape emerged. A silhouette in crimson.
"Elena?"
But when she stepped into the light, her eyes were cold — glowing with the same blue pattern that marked Adrian's veins.
"No," Raymond whispered. "That's not her."
The figure smiled, her voice layered — half Elena's, half the machine's.
"You shouldn't have come this far, Adrian. She's fighting to reach you — but you're both already inside me."
Adrian's pulse spiked. "Nadir—"
"You think you can rewrite fate," the voice said, walking closer, "but fate is code. And code belongs to me."
The ground fractured, splitting into spirals of light and data. Adrian fell backward into an ocean of glowing fragments, hearing his father's voice echo one last time—
"Find her real self before the system does. Or you'll lose both of you."
[Meanwhile – Ward Mansion, Reality]
Elena gasped as the console exploded in a burst of sparks. The containment pod where Adrian's body rested glowed faintly, the monitors around it showing erratic neural spikes.
Charles Ward burst into the lab. "What have you done?"
She turned, wild-eyed. "He's inside the Core. Lucas forced the merge!"
Charles stared at the readings — the synchronization climbing past safe thresholds. "If it reaches full integration, his consciousness will burn out."
"Then help me pull him out!" she shouted.
He hesitated. "There's only one way."
Elena's eyes narrowed. "Tell me."
He met her gaze with grim resolve. "You'll have to go in after him."