> Location: Cryo Vault – Haven-X Underground
Subject Status: Reviving… Vital signs stable. Neural imprint intact.
Designation: Aeris Velar – Codename: Codeborn
---
The cryo chamber's frost hissed and peeled away as the pod's seals disengaged. Light pulsed across the surface of the capsule, forming geometric glyphs that danced along Aeris Velar's skin like living tattoos.
Kael stared.
> "She's… alive?"
> "More than alive," Valen said. "She's part of the Starcode now. A human interface—bioengineered to become the key."
Aeris's eyes opened slowly. Pale blue, shimmering with threads of static light.
> "...Valen?" she whispered.
> "Yeah, kid. You're awake again. This is Kael. Ralen's son."
Aeris sat up with grace no cryosleeper should have after seventeen years of suspension. Her gaze locked onto Kael, studying him.
> "He doesn't look like him," she said flatly.
> "No," Valen grinned, "but give him time."
Kael approached cautiously.
> "You're connected to the Starcode?"
> "More than connected," Aeris replied. "I am what's left of its memory."
---
[Data Integration in Progress…]
> Aeris Velar
Genetically attuned to the Starcode Neural Web
Survivor of the Velar Project
Carrier of Fragment 2: The Pulse Cipher
---
> "If we're going to Soltryss," Aeris said, "we need to leave now. That planet is unraveling."
> "Why?" Kael asked.
> "Because the Choir already sent a Reaper to retrieve the fragment," she replied. "And if he gets there first, your destiny dies before it begins."
---
Scene Cut: Outer System – Planet Soltryss
> A fractured storm world. Acid lightning rips the sky. Cities lie sunken beneath oceans of plasma.
A lone figure stands on a hovering platform, wrapped in red robes of decayed data.
Codename: REAPER UNIT // Voice Protocol [Zypherion]
"Initiate Starcode cleanse. The heir must not arrive alive."
---
Jump Gate Sequence Initiated: Destination – Soltryss
The Seraph Exile surged through space, cutting across shattered moons and torn aether lines. Kael sat in the cockpit with Aeris beside him, watching a small glowing orb between her hands pulse in rhythm.
> "That's it?" he asked.
> "The Pulse Cipher," Aeris said. "It guides us. But only I can hold it."
> "Because you're Codeborn?"
She nodded.
> "My father made me a living vault. He died ensuring I'd never fall into the Protocol's hands."
Kael felt the weight of her words.
> "Mine died fighting them too."
There was a pause. Then Aeris looked at him.
> "Then let's not let their deaths be meaningless."
---
Soltryss – Arrival Zone: Dead Sky Orbit
The storm slammed into the ship like a beast. Lightning coiled around the hull as Kael struggled to stabilize.
> "We're getting pulled into the gravity rift!"
> "Brace!" Aeris shouted.
The ship crashed through the outer storm shell and plunged toward the planetary crust, shields flaring red.
They landed hard.
Kael and Aeris stumbled out into an alien city half-submerged in lava and acid rain. Stone towers reached into a black sky, shattered and flickering.
And waiting at the gates…
Was the Reaper.
---
[Combat Protocol Engaged]
> Target: Zypherion – Reaper of the Obsidian Choir
Core Signature: Singularity Blade / Time-Wound Armor
Status: Extremely Dangerous
---
> "Give me the girl," Zypherion said calmly.
> "Not happening," Kael growled.
Zypherion raised his blade.
> "Then bleed like your father."
---
The clash was instant.
Kael summoned his Burn Chains and Echo Dive, weaving through deadly slashes of singularity energy. Every hit from Zypherion shattered the stone, warping space itself.
Aeris chanted something ancient—glyphs swirling around her. The Pulse Cipher pulsed harder, creating a blinding white burst of force.
Kael dove through it.
> "Now, Kael!" Aeris cried.
Kael struck with full force—Burn Chains spiraling, Echo Dive cutting space—
He landed a hit.
Zypherion staggered, cloak torn. But he grinned, bloodless.
> "You're not ready."
He vanished.
---
[System Update: Combat Survival Achieved]
> Kael: Level Up – Echo Mastery I Unlocked
Aeris: Pulse Cipher Synced – Fragment 2 Secured
New Location Data Acquired: Fragment 3 – The Veiled Spire, Planet: Nyxion Prime
---
As the storm began to calm, Aeris reached out.
> "You saved me."
Kael smiled, tired. "No. We saved each other."
She gripped his hand, her eyes glowing again.
> "Then let's finish what our fathers started."