Kayden's breathing hadn't steadied since Phase Two.
Sweat dripped down his jaw, pooling at the base of the restraint harness. His vision swam in and out of focus. His heartbeat thudded unevenly, like it couldn't decide whether to keep him conscious or let him slip away.
SRD didn't give him time to recover.
The woman behind the glass raised her hand.
"Proceed to Phase Three.Initialize cognitive mapping."
A low mechanical hum crawled across the room.
A new machine descended from the ceiling — a circular halo of metal and light, segmented and shifting like it was alive. Dozens of micro-needles lined its inner ring, vibrating softly.
Kayden stared at it in horror.
"…no… no— get that AWAY from me—"
One of the med-techs spoke gently through the glass, as if tone could soften torture:
"Subject's brain must remain conscious for accurate mapping.Begin neural preparation."
A cold clamp tightened at his temples.
Another wrapped around the base of his neck.
Kayden choked.
"No— NO— I SAID STOP—!!"
The woman didn't blink.
"Begin."
The halo lowered onto his skull.
CLICK.
A shock ripped through his brain so violently Kayden screamed.
His vision shattered into colors he didn't understand — neon slices of blue, green, and violet tearing across the room.
APEX flickered faintly in his mind.
"…Command…er…mental intrusion…block…ing… failing…"
Kayden's fingers curled painfully against the metal restraints.
He whispered, voice slurred:
"APEX… APEX help— I c-can't— I can't—"
The halo flared.
The next wave hit him harder.
WHUMMP—
His consciousness was yanked forward like someone had attached hooks to his memories and was dragging them out.
"Memory mapping in progress," a tech reported.
"Brainwave resistance levels high. Increase extraction force."
Kayden cried out again.
"STOP— PLEASE— I'm BEGGING you—!"
But SRD wasn't listening.
They weren't listening to the pain.They weren't listening to the begging.
They were listening to the data.
The woman's voice cut through:
"Focus the probe on APEX-linked memory pathways."
Kayden's whole body jerked.
Not just fear.
Instinct.
APEX was being ripped out of him.
"No— NO— YOU CAN'T—!!"
The halo pulsed.
Kayden's mind cracked open.
He saw memories as shattered images flooding in too fast—
APEX's first activation.Static sparks. A soft voice."Hello… Commander…?"
The anomaly whispering "Elion."A shadow silhouette. A bending street.
The kneeling soldier in the burning battlefield.A metal insignia. White fire.
The Citadel Agent on the rooftop.Hands behind her back.Eyes sharp even through the distance.
Alex crying into him.Phineas gripping his arm.Hale saying "Run."APEX saying "Commander…"
The memories blurred—
Then tore.
Kayden screamed.
One of the techs flinched."Ma'am— his neural rhythm is destabilizing!"
The woman's voice was ice.
"Maintain mapping.We need to isolate the Arclight pathways."
Kayden's blood froze.
Arclight pathways.
The thing APEX kept whispering.
The thing Hale feared.
The thing the Citadel wanted.
A pressure built behind Kayden's eyes —like his mind was being crushed between the present and a future he didn't understand.
He gasped out a broken whisper:
"…please stop…"
But the probes went deeper.
APEX flickered in panic:
"…stop… stop…you are hurting… Commander…"
Kayden wasn't sure if APEX's voice was realor just his brain breaking.
The machine surged again.
A memory ripped open—
A soldier kneeling.His armor cracked.Blood dripping.Looking up at Kayden with reverence.
"Commander… we follow."
Kayden shouted in agony.
"NO— STOP—!!! STOP SHOWING ME THAT—!!"
The med-tech nearest the console stumbled backward.
"What the HELL—?! That's not his memory— that's— that's—!"
The woman cut him off sharply.
"Map it.All of it."
Another surge.
Kayden's skull felt like it was splitting.
His vision blurred crimson.
He felt himself slipping—
Into another memory not his own.
A battlefield.White warlight burning the sky.
Futuristic soldiers marching in perfect discipline.
A broken flag.
A cold voice saying:
"Arclight is dead.Long live Arclight."
Kayden's consciousness spiraled.
He screamed until his voice tore.
The med-tech panicked.
"Ma'am— his brainwave coherence is collapsing—He's going to SEIZE—!"
"Hold the mapping."
"He'll DIE!"
The woman's tone sharpened:
"Then we will learn what we can before that happens."
Kayden's world fractured.
Shapes bent.Voices overlapped.His heartbeat drowned him.
He whispered one last broken plea:
"Alex… Phineas… Hale… someone… please…"
APEX flickered once more.
Barely.
"…I'm… sorry… Commander…"
Then went dark.
Kayden's scream cut off mid-breath as his body snapped backward, eyes rolling up—
And he fainted.
Hard.
So hard the medical sensors spiked red across the glass.
One tech shouted:
"HE'S OUT— CUT POWER— CUT POWER NOW—!!"
The woman didn't move.
She watched data scroll across her tablet.
And said, almost to herself:
"So…that is the Arclight signature."