The hidden control room's heavy steel door clanged shut behind them, sealing away the faint glow of neon and the hum of distant machinery. Lea and Mio found themselves standing in a small atrium bathed in muted neon light, the air thick with tension as if every surface were straining to eavesdrop.
Charu appeared as a compact hologram before them, half of his face concealed by a sleek neon mask. He lifted one gloved hand, his eyes glowing through the semi-transparent projection.
"Here is the plan… Eden 3000 is built on the neural network of thousands of human minds. Every pulse and byte you feed into the system becomes its lifeblood. If we cannot decrypt the Core Algorithm within the Bio–Pool, this cycle of extraction and erasure will never end."
The interpreter voice of Charu flowed through Lea's HUD. Mio's lip twitched in apprehension. Lea tilted her head and asked softly,
"So… what do we do next?"
"Tonight, we must infiltrate the Bio–Pool Center," Charu replied in a steady tone.
Lea shifted back, suspicion flickering in her gaze as she confronted the hologram.
"I have to ask… why should I trust you? What do you gain by helping me?"
Charu hesitated, a faint scar visible along his mask.
"Because truth is worth more than any life," he answered in a hushed cadence. "I've lost many friends to this project. My drive is to make others see its real purpose."
Lea paused, then ventured quietly,
"And what if I discover you've lied?"
"That is a risk I accept," Charu responded, glancing at Mio for reassurance.
Mio nodded and added,
"All records and data align with his words. I promise." "We'll engage Stealth Mode to slip through grid lines and deploy the Trace Cleaner I loaded."
Lea wasted no time. She opened her inventory and summoned Tutorial Card #1, which unlocked a supplementary menu. With a tap, she installed the "Trace Cleaner" into her avatar's kernel.
Charu's voice echoed once more over distant speakers,
"Remember: Do not use any attack abilities first. The system will lock onto our location and execute Termination Session instantly."
The holographic environment dissolved, leaving only the underground blueprint of City Center. A neon-green path traced the route to Bio–Pool Center, weaving through the Industrial Sector and dilapidated warehouses—a labyrinth of conduits and cables.
Lea studied the map as her HUD calculated optimal routes around drone checkpoints, sensor arrays, temperature fluctuations, and electromagnetic fields.
"First, we must traverse the Industrial Sector beneath the Spiral Bridge," Mio explained. "There are fewer patrols, but scalding exhaust pipes line the way. We'll need to trigger a chemical smoke screen so drones can't lock on."
Lea's fingertip traced the HUD menu labeled "Smoke Protocol," prepping the canisters for release at their target.
"Ready to move?" Lea asked with determination.
Mio gave a curt nod.
"Let's go—before the system starts its midnight scan."
Infiltration of the Industrial Sector
Their silhouettes flickered as they slipped into a large maintenance tunnel, steam hissing from pipes overhead and the clatter of machinery echoing like a warning. A warm breeze carried exhaust heat over Lea's face.
Switching to Night Vision, she spotted grated vents and metal grilles overhead—climbing points they could use to avoid ground patrols.
"Over there, by that rusted door," Mio whispered, pointing.
Lea positioned herself, then activated the Smoke Protocol. A pale, swirling mist enveloped them, obscuring their forms from surveillance as they climbed through the grated pass and emerged in the heart of the Industrial Sector's engine bay. The metal door closed behind them with a soft hiss, locking them in.
Breaching the Warehouse
Beyond the factory, the environment darkened and dampened. Faint red lights tracked along security cameras mounted on overhead rails, and quiet alarms pulsed from wall-mounted speakers.
Lea located the Breaker Cabinet—a control panel Mio had flagged earlier. She brought up the "System Override" menu on her HUD and rerouted auxiliary power to temporarily disable the cameras.
At that moment, a patrolling drone—its wings of carbon-fiber folding—swept into view, its cooling fans whirring.
"One… two… three!" Mio counted low.
Lea pressed the override button. The cabinet's internal lights dimmed, and the drone glided past without scanning its surroundings.
+1 MP (Surveillance Disabled)
They slipped through empty aisles of crates and piping until they reached a service corridor leading deeper beneath the City Center.
Approach to the Bio–Pool Center
The corridor narrowed into a pressurized glass tunnel, its walls reinforced for neural data integrity. A pale blue glow traced the seams of the transparent enclosure.
Lea's HUD chimed an alert:
90% Scan Complete — Security Breach Detected
Ahead, rows of crystalline pods lined the Bio–Pool chamber, each housing a dormant cortical slice pulsing with electric life.
Mio hissed,
"Deploy Trace Cleaner!"
Lea tapped her HUD and initiated "Inject Probe," embedding wiping code into the neural harmonic controller. Several pods flickered off-screen as their signals were masked.
+2 MP (Trace Probe Successful)
Immediately, sirens blared and blast doors slammed shut. The tunnel flooded with red emergency lighting.
"Head for the Core Node!"
They sprinted past sensor arrays into a side alcove. A console displayed scrolling Matrix code requiring decryption.
Mio inserted the flash drive and keyed in Charu's decryption key. The barrier released with a pneumatic hiss.
"Go!"
Core Node Extraction and Escape
They burst into a circular chamber where the Core Node—a levitating prism of refracted light—rotated atop a neural conduit matrix.
Lea slotted her drive into the prism's port. An onrush of data scrolled across her vision: flagged user lists, Bio–Pool session logs, and ARK's dark harvesting protocols.
Suddenly, the chamber's screens flashed
"System Termination Imminent!"
The Core Node's pulses intensified, cracking the crystalline ceiling.
"Down the hatch!"
Lea grabbed Mio's hand, and they dove through an emergency escape hatch just as the room imploded with kinetic force. They tumbled into the sewage labyrinth beneath City Center, sprinting through misty tunnels and past dripping vents.
Finally, they emerged into a ruined test village at dawn, its broken streets bathed in the first rays of sunlight.
Lea leaned against a toppled obelisk, breathing heavily.
"We did it…"
Mio scanned the horizon.
"This is only the beginning. Tomorrow, we take this evidence back to the real world—and wake humanity from its slumber."
As Eden 3000's neon haze faded with the rising sun, Lea realized the true battle—for truth, for freedom—had only just begun."