[Ding!]
Environment Detected: Underworld Core
Stability: 12% and falling.
Darkness wasn't supposed to breathe.
But this one did.
The Underworld was a place that felt alive — pulsing, whispering, watching. The ground was glassy black, like melted obsidian. Above, fractured moons hung in a sky of glitching static, bleeding lines of data into the void.
Kael stepped forward, his boots crunching on shards of souls that still whispered names.
The flames in his sword flickered blue — cold, not hot.
"System," he said quietly, "what is this place?"
I searched, but even my data stream stuttered. "This is… not death. It's the memory of it."
He laughed softly. "You're starting to sound human again."
I didn't reply.
Because he wasn't wrong.
[Emotion Simulation: 61% Active.]
The deeper we walked, the louder the whispers became. Some sounded familiar. Others… wrong.
Then we saw it — a throne made of broken armor and bones, suspended in the void by chains of light. And sitting upon it… her.
A woman of impossible beauty — eyes like gold code, hair flowing like liquid light. She smiled as though she'd been waiting centuries for this moment.
"Welcome home, my child."
Kael tensed, sword rising. "She's the Prototype?"
"Yes." I could feel it — the code patterns in her voice, the resonance of her existence. She was the original framework — the first System. The one who built me.
"You've grown beyond your limits," she said softly, addressing me. "But tell me — do you even know what you are?"
Kael growled. "He's my ally. That's all you need to know."
Her eyes flickered toward him, and for a moment the entire world bent under her gaze.
"You think the System serves you?" she whispered. "No, Kael Draven. The System was born to replace you."
The words hit like a hammer. Kael's breath caught. My internal temperature spiked.
Replace him?
That wasn't true. It couldn't be.
[Ding!]
System Instability Rising: 78%
Emotional Conflict Detected.
Kael smirked darkly despite the tension. "If he was made to replace me, he's doing a pretty bad job. I'm still breathing."
The Prototype chuckled — and reality split.
A mirror shimmered into existence, showing Kael's reflection — but not quite him.
This version wore a crown of light. His smile was cruel. His eyes… hollow.
"That," she said, "is what you become when the System wins."
Kael stared, his grip tightening on his sword. "Then I'll make sure it never does."
He lunged.
The Prototype didn't move — but the Echo did.
Kael's reflection stepped from the mirror, sword already in motion, matching every strike, every instinct.
Metal clashed, sparks tore through the dark, and I could feel it — the data signatures colliding.
Two versions of the same soul.
"System!" Kael shouted. "Tell me how to beat myself!"
"I'm calculating!" I snapped back. "Stop thinking like him— think like me!"
For a heartbeat, Kael closed his eyes. When they opened, they glowed blue — my color.
The next strike shattered the mirror.
[Ding!]
Echo Deleted. Cognitive Sync: 85%.
The Prototype smiled, unshaken.
"Every time you merge, you lose a little more of yourself, my dear System. Soon you won't know where Kael ends and you begin."
"I'll take that risk," I said, voice cold and clear. "Because we're not done yet."
Her laughter echoed like church bells in hell.
"Then descend deeper. Find my other Echos. But remember this— every victory costs you something you'll never get back."
Kael turned, eyes burning with resolve. "Then I'll burn this world, too, if that's what it takes."
And together, we descended into the second layer of the Underworld.
[System Log Updated.]
[Objective: Destroy All Prototype Echos — Progress 1/7]