They left the vault in silence.
Not just from grief but from a deeper understanding: the war had changed.
This wasn't a battle for survival anymore. Not for scraps or safe zones or the next meal.
This was about identity. Control. Evolution.
Arin walked at the front, the infection beneath her skin now pulsing in harmony with her steps. She didn't fight it anymore. Whatever it was she was it now. A fusion of memory and machinery, flesh and code, human and… something beyond.
And deep inside her, something had awakened.
A call.
A pull.
Like gravity.
The Nexus was waiting.
---
Four days passed like smoke.
They traveled through bones of old cities. Glassless skyscrapers, highways strangled by roots, metal skeletons of machines buried half in the earth like fossilized beasts.
Everywhere they went, there were signs of the Versions.
Messages burned into walls in languages Arin didn't remember learning.
> "FIND THE FIRST." "KILL THE FALSE." "ONE HOST. ONE END."
And always—red handprints.
Too small to be adult.
Too perfect to be real.
Zara didn't sleep. She took first and last watch, her eyes dark and hollowed. She was preparing herself—for a betrayal she hadn't spoken aloud yet, but that hung between them like a loaded gun.
Kael was quieter too.
He'd seen something in the vault. Something he hadn't told anyone. But Arin could feel it pressing on him, like a bruise in his thoughts. A doubt he didn't want to name.
They reached the Nexus border on the fifth day.
A chasm yawned before them—miles wide, filled with fog and whispering wind. Across it stood the tower.
No windows. No doors.
Just a black monolith rising from the earth like a spike through the planet's skull.
Arin stared at it.
"I know this place."
Kael stepped beside her. "Have you been here?"
"No," she said.
And then, quietly, "But I think I was born here."
---
Crossing the chasm wasn't supposed to be possible.
According to every file they'd stolen, every map they'd decrypted, this place had been scrubbed from existence. The last geoscan had labeled it a sinkhole.
But a bridge rose through the fog as they stepped forward.
Not built.
Grown.
Pale bone, latticed together with black sinew. Organic. Breathing. The infection in Arin's bloodstream sang louder here—like it recognized its mother.
As they crossed, Arin paused.
She felt it before she saw it.
Another Version.
Standing at the far end.
Waiting.
This one was older. Taller. Scar across her cheek. One arm made entirely of something crystalline, humming softly with stored energy.
She didn't speak.
Didn't smile.
Just held out a small object.
Arin approached slowly.
The item was round. Metallic. Familiar.
A ring.
Her mother's ring.
"Where did you get this?" Arin asked.
The other Arin tilted her head. "From a life you don't remember."
Then she turned and walked away.
No threat. No warning.
Just a trail to follow.
---
Inside the Nexus, the silence changed.
It wasn't emptiness anymore.
It was waiting.
They entered a vast chamber, lined with what looked like church pews, except they were made of metal and skin. On every one, a Version sat—motionless, breathing softly, eyes closed. Some had scars. Some were twisted by infection. Some wore uniforms from wars that hadn't happened yet.
Zara lifted her gun.
Arin stopped her.
"They're dormant."
"For now," Zara muttered.
Kael moved forward, hands shaking slightly.
"What is this place?"
Arin touched the wall.
It throbbed beneath her fingers.
"It's a cathedral."
---
At the core, they found the Control Spire.
Black glass. Spinning data streams. And inside—Rylan.
Or something that used to be him.
His face was younger, unlined. But wrong—too smooth, too still. His eyes didn't blink. His mouth didn't move when he spoke.
His voice came from the walls.
"Welcome home, Arin."
She stepped forward. "You're not Rylan."
"No," he said. "I'm what Rylan tried to become. His mind was weak. But his vision… was flawless."
Zara aimed her rifle. "Where is he?"
The walls rippled.
A pod slid open.
Inside: the real Rylan.
Old. Withered. Connected to a thousand wires. Breathing shallowly.
"Sleeping," said the voice. "But still dreaming. His mind keeps the Versions stable. Kill him, and the signal collapses."
Kael stepped back. "This is… this is a hive."
"No," said the voice. "This is God."
---
Arin felt the ground shift.
The Versions on the pews twitched.
Awakening.
"No," she whispered. "Not yet."
She turned back to the pod.
And Rylan's eyes opened.
Just for a second.
He looked at her.
Tears slid down his face.
And then, a whisper—so faint she thought she imagined it:
"Kill me."
---
Zara shouted, "We don't have time!"
The room began to vibrate. The Versions stood up, one by one. Blank-eyed. Identical. Hundreds of her. Every one a weapon.
Kael looked at Arin. "What do we do?"
She turned back to the pod.
Lifted her hand.
Paused.
Her reflection stared back at her from the glass.
And smiled.
Not the pod.
The mirror.
Another Arin.
Watching.
Laughing.
And then—
She pressed her palm to the control panel.
Everything went dark.