Darkness swallowed him whole.
Not soft darkness.Not sleep.
A heavy, suffocating void.
Kayden drifted weightlessly, unable to tell where his body ended and the air began. His thoughts dragged like they were caught in thick tar. Every breath felt like it belonged to someone else.
He couldn't feel the floor.He couldn't feel his hands.He couldn't feel APEX.
Just nothing.
Empty.Silent.Wrong.
Then—
A sound cut through the void.
A metallic snap.
Followed by another.
And another.
Voices bled in, muffled and overlapping:
"—get the stretcher—""—stabilize his vitals—""—move faster, Citadel is closing in—!""—bring the resonance clamps—"
Kayden tried to open his eyes.
Only one eye obeyed.
Blurry silhouettes leaned over him — SRD armor, white fluorescent lights behind them.
He was being carried.
Strapped.
Moving.
His voice wouldn't come out.His throat was raw, like he'd swallowed electricity.
He pushed out a whisper:
"…Alex?"
No reply.
"…Phineas…?"
No reply.
Another voice cut through — sharp, commanding:
"Keep him sedated, dammit!If he wakes fully, we lose control!Move him to Sublevel Theta — NOW!"
Sublevel Theta.
Orientation.
A cold wave crawled down Kayden's spine.
He tried to lift his hand.
It didn't move.
Restraints.
Thick.Cold.Unbreakable.
A familiar panic clawed at him.
Where was APEX?
Where was the system?
Why was his mind silent?
Suddenly—
A different voice layered over the SRD chaos.
Deep.Modulated.Machine-like.
"Arclight Variable.Do not submit."
Kayden's heart seized.
The Citadel operative.
Was he hearing him—or hallucinating him?
SRD soldiers flinched.
"CONTACT ON THE WEST SIDE!""SHIT— IT'S A CITADEL UNIT—!!""SEAL THE CORRIDOR— NOW— GET THE SUBJECT INSIDE—!"
A siren screamed overhead, drowning thought.
Someone grabbed Kayden's head roughly, forcing him to face a blinding light.
"Keep his eyes open— do NOT let him black out again!"
Kayden groaned weakly, fighting the hand, fighting the sedation pulling him under.
Another voice — breathless, familiar — reached him like an echo:
"Kayden— don't let them take you— please— please— fight—"
Alex?
Or memory?
He saw a blur of orange hoodie, trembling hands—
Then it vanished.
His heartbeat stuttered.
A hand slapped his cheek lightly.
"Arclight— stay with me— stay awake—"
The voice wasn't Alex.
It wasn't Phineas.
It wasn't Hale.
It was no one he knew.
Another slap.
"Eyes open!Subject responsive— move him— hurry—!"
Hands grabbed him.Shoved him.Dragged him.
Kayden felt himself pushed onto a cold metal table — restraints clamping his wrists and ankles automatically.
CLICK.CLICK.CLICK.CLICK.
The lights above him dimmed.
A mechanical arm lowered — scanning him with a thin beam.
His vision blurred again.
The sedation roared back.
His consciousness dipped—
And immediately a different flash cut through the darkness:
A rooftop.A woman in a long coat.Hands behind her back.Eyes he couldn't see watching him with absolute certainty.
Her voice was soft, but it cut through the void like a blade:
"Variable."
Kayden jolted.
The Citadel Agent.
The one from the roof.
Was she here?
Or was he dreaming?
He blinked — trying to focus on her shape — but the hallucination dissolved instantly into white static.
SRD voices surged back.
"Begin prep for Operator Orientation!""Verify his resonance signature!""Get Hale on the line— NOW—!"
Hale?
Kayden tried to lift his head—
Another flash.
Hale's voice.Broken.Desperate.
"Kayden— listen to me—You must—don't—let them—"
The sound cut into static as if someone ripped the memory apart.
Kayden gasped, a fresh wave of fear crashing into him.
Where was Hale?Was he alive?Was he captured?Why did his voice sound like he was drowning?
His chest tightened.
The restraints around his arms glowed faintly as resonance inhibitors activated.
He groaned in pain.
The sedation pulled again.
SRD voices became distant echoes.
"Move him to the orientation chamber—""Increase the inhibitor dosage—""We need him conscious but compliant—"
Kayden tried to fight it.
He tried to force his body to move.
He tried to call out.
"…Alex…""…Phineas…""…Hale…"
Nothing came out but air.
His vision pinched inward.
Darkness crawled up the edges.
He felt like he was sinking.
Drowning in silence.
"APEX…"He whispered one last time."…please… don't leave me…"
No answer.
No flicker.
No light.
Just—
A sudden high-pitched whine.
Sharp.Piercing.Wrong.
SRD soldiers froze.
A tremor ran through the chamber.
The lights flickered—
Once.
Twice.
Kayden felt it before he understood it.
A presence.
Not SRD.Not Citadel.
Not human.
A system waking up.Not whole.Not stable.But alive.
APEX's voice returned in a broken whisper:
"Commander…I'm… here…"
Kayden's chest heaved — relief mixing with terror.
APEX continued, glitching hard:
"…don't… let them… claim you…"
Then the chamber exploded with alarms.
SRD voices erupted.
"WHAT JUST SPIKED?!""THE DOME ISN'T EVEN ACTIVE— HOW DID HE—?!""HE'S RESONATING— RESTRAIN HIM—!!""CITADEL PROBE INBOUND— CLOSE THE BLAST DOORS—!!"
Kayden's consciousness flickered violently.
A different vision tore into him:
A battlefield of burning white fire.Soldiers kneeling.A symbol etched in ash.A voice calling his name— not Kayden, but Arclight—
He jerked awake on the table, gasping.
APEX screamed into his mind:
"COMMANDER— FIGHT—!"
SRD tried to hold him down.
The Citadel tried to reach him.
His friends were nowhere.
The world split in half.
And Kayden Voss finally lost consciousness—
right as Operator Orientation began.