Karl stood in the middle of the shattered street, the wind whispering through the hollow ruins. The cracked skyline of New York stretched endlessly before him — skeletal towers, broken glass, and silence heavy enough to drown in.
His reflection wavered in a puddle by his feet. The face staring back wasn't that of the bright-eyed inventor who once dreamed of saving the world. It was a man two centuries too late — a relic wearing a heartbeat.
"…Two hundred and one years," he murmured, voice rough from disuse.
A soft, playful voice chimed to life inside him.
"Mmm~ what's wrong, Karl~? You sound… sentimental~"
He didn't respond at first. His gaze wandered over the desolate horizon — New York's bones laid bare beneath the centuries. Crumbling towers. Rusted bridges. Echoes of a world he once called home.
Finally, he spoke — steady, but heavy.
Karl exhaled through his nose — not annoyed, just tired. "Agnes… Reginald's gone."
For once, she didn't tease. Her tone dropped slightly.
"Who's…Gone?"
The wind picked up, scattering dust at his feet. His hands trembled slightly as he clenched them.
"He was the best man I ever knew. My grandfather in all but blood."
Karl nodded, his eyes unfocused. "It's been two centuries. Even with biotech therapy, he wouldn't have made it past a hundred and fifty."
The silence that followed was thick. Then Karl said softly:
"He was the closest thing I had to family. A good man. Better than me, at least."
"Hmph~" Agnes huffed lightly, almost fondly. "You humans always disappear so fast. You build miracles, break reality, and then— poof~ gone like code wiped clean."
Karl smiled faintly. "That's why I have to keep moving. Someone has to carry the code forward."
He raised his wrist, Agnes' blue hologram illuminating the scars on his knuckles. "Agnes. Run a scan for the Erevos Prototype."
"Oh~? So we're chasing ghosts now~?"
"Not ghosts. I need the chassis. Trinity Node Core can't be completed. The original frame was built from living nanite alloy — a perfect lattice I can't replicate."
Her playful lilt returned, like she was testing his mood again.
"You mean to tell me you made a god-tier reactor but can't even build your own car~? My, my~ Dr. Kurogane~"
"So basically, you lost your favorite toy car~" she teased, smirking virtually.
Karl sighed, shaking his head. "That 'toy car' saved lives. Including Reginald's."
Karl smirked faintly. "That 'car' was the pinnacle of my work — nanite-organic fusion, built with adaptive neural architecture. You can't just rebuild that from memory."
"Mmm~ fine, fine~ I'll look for your precious relic~"
Agnes' projection flickered as she started processing.Her voice shifted into a low hum as data streams spun into the air, her hologram pulsing like a heart.
"Fine, fine~ let's see where your mechanical baby ran off to~ Scanning for dormant nanite cores using your old Erevos encryption~ compensating for… two centuries of planetary interference~"
"Running long-range frequency trace~ cross-referencing nanite signatures~ compensating for two centuries of decay~"
Lines of data streamed in the air, swirling like constellations. Then— a single, distinct ping broke through the silence.
Seconds passed. Then — a single sharp ping.
"Aha~ found something~! One dormant nanite core still transmitting on your old Erevos frequency~"
Karl's eyes snapped toward her. "Where?"
"Japan~" she said with a sly grin. "Specifically… Tokyo Sector-0~ heh~ looks like your old machine's got good taste in hiding spots~"
Karl froze, his breath catching slightly. "…Tokyo."
"Mmm~ why~? Ring a bell~?"
He looked away, eyes distant. "That's where I was born. I lived there for eight years before my parents moved me to New York. Said the air was cleaner for my lungs."
He let out a faint, humorless laugh. "Guess I'm going home after all."
"How poetic~ the prodigal inventor returns~" Agnes cooed.
Karl glanced toward the cracked skyline. "Maybe Erevos went back there for a reason. Maybe it remembered me."
"You talk like your machines have souls~" Agnes teased lightly.
He smiled faintly, just enough to soften the weight in his eyes. "Maybe they do."
The Drive Regulator on his chest pulsed once, its light echoing like a heartbeat. Nanite plating rippled faintly under his coat, responding to his will.
Agnes spoke again, tone back to her usual mischievous calm.
"So~ what now, boss~? You gonna walk all the way there~?"
Karl adjusted his gloves, gaze fixed on the horizon. "No. I'm going to rebuild the wings."
"Ooh~ dramatic~"
He gave a dry chuckle. "Let's see if my old home still remembers me."
The winds of New York howled as Karl vanished into the dust — his shadow stretching east, toward the ruins of Tokyo.