Karl had found the bunker by accident — a collapsed maintenance hatch beneath what used to be 42nd Street. Concrete dust clung to the air like fog, the metal door half-buried but intact enough to hold. It wasn't comfort, but it was cover.
He sealed the entrance behind him and slumped against the inner wall. The adrenaline from earlier still hadn't faded; his pulse beat faster than it should. Every exhale came out as a faint wisp of blue — the mark of Vythra, his nanite-infused vitality running unchecked through his veins.
"Agnes," he muttered, forcing calm into his voice. "Check my vitals."
"Oh dear~ your Vythra's flaring again," she answered, tone light but edged with worry. "If you don't suppress it soon, you'll be lighting this place up like a rave."
Karl grimaced, flexing his hand as the faint blue veins crawled up his wrist. "I know. I just need a minute."
He didn't get it.
A faint scratching sound echoed from outside the bunker door — slow at first, like nails dragging across iron. Then another. Then dozens.
Agnes' tone turned clipped.
"Karl… I'm detecting multiple life-forms. Five… no, ten… no—twenty. Their vitals are erratic, feral. Demons."
He stiffened, turning toward the sealed hatch. The metallic thumping grew louder, faster. Each impact sent tiny vibrations down the corridor.
"Damn it. I thought they slept longer after feeding."
"Normally they do~" Agnes replied, voice lowering. "But your Vythra signature's like a dinner bell."
The walls shuddered as claws tore at the metal. Cracks of dull red light began bleeding through the seams. Karl clenched his fists. "No choice then."
He reached for his waist, where the nanite orb — the Drive Regulator Core — hovered from his palm, humming to life. Agnes' voice softened, slipping back into her signature cadence, half teasing, half ritual.
"Are you ready~?"
Karl inhaled deeply. "Yeah."
"Start your engine~!!!"
The Core snapped into place on his belt, and streams of nanites surged from his back, wrapping his limbs in liquid steel. The bunker filled with the sound of grinding gears and hydraulic hiss as the Erevos Frame began forming — plates locking into place, visor sealing with a flash of crimson light.
But then, something new. Agnes' tone distorted, her voice echoing through the comms with a strange, melodic glitch:
"Lock on~"
"Lock on~"
"Lock on~"
"Locked in!!!!"
Karl's eyes widened inside the visor. "Agnes—what the hell was that line? That's new—"
"Hehe~ no time for questions, Karl~" she chimed, voice returning to normal just as the bunker door burst inward.
"Target signatures acquired."
The first demon lunged through the smoke — jagged teeth, eyes like molten glass.
Karl raised his arm, the Erevos cannon module snapping open with a mechanical growl. His pulse synced perfectly with the nanites.
"Then let's see what Locked in means."
The air thickened with tension as Karl turned the ignition dial. V-V-Vrrmmm
The orb inside the USB port began to pulse, faint at first — then harder, shifting slightly on its diagonal axis. The Drive Regulator's lights flared in response, nanite channels glowing along Karl's arms like veins of liquid cobalt.
A faint hum rippled through the air — steady, rhythmic.
Agnes' voice came through the link, her usual teasing lilt threading between professionalism and mischief.
"Mmm~ Karl~ you really don't waste time, do you? Look at that pulse… ohhh, it's syncing beautifully~"
The orb throbbed again, harder this time — diagonal movement against the port, creating a sharp, resonant vibration through the regulator housing. Agnes' tone faltered for half a second, then steadied again — still teasing, but now tinted with that familiar hint of fluster.
"A-Aaah~ Karl… easy there~ it's moving too much~ tighten the lock… before it scrapes the interface… nnng~!"
Karl reached toward the lock mechanism, nanites shifting under his fingers to stabilize the connection. The hum deepened, a low growl of energy that made the entire system shiver.
Agnes' voice fluttered through his head, half command, half purr.
"Good boy~ steady hands… mmm, yes, like that. Let the Vythra settle in… keep the pressure even~"
The orb pulsed slower now, matching Karl's heartbeat. The regulator's internal temperature spiked for a moment — and then, suddenly, vented.
White-blue steam hissed from the USB port, bursting outward in rhythmic jets. The vapor thickened into a rolling smokescreen that swallowed the dim light around them.
Agnes' voice echoed through the haze, playful again now that the pressure dropped.
"Ooooh~ Karl~ look what you did~ turned me into a steam engine~"
"Mmm… that's one way to block their view, don't you think? Efficient and stylish~"
Karl smirked faintly under his breath, watching the dense mist swirl around them like fog.
The dense wall of steam rolled across the ruins, swallowing the moonlight and cloaking the alleyway in a ghostly haze.
Through the fog, Karl's visor flickered — thin, sharp streaks of cobalt light tracing across his lenses.
He exhaled slowly.
"Agnes. We're not getting out of this one quietly, are we?"
Her laugh danced through his mind, smooth as liquid silver.
"Mmm~ you know me, Karl~ stealth was never our strong suit. But if you really want to make an entrance…"
Her tone shifted — softer, charged, and unmistakably teasing.
"Then… are you ready~?"
Karl grinned faintly, his hand moving to the ignition dial.
"Always."
"Then…" Agnes purred, voice echoing like a heartbeat through the Drive Regulator,
"Start your engine~!!!"
The dial clicked under his fingers.
Vrrrmmm.
The moment he revved it, the orb pulsed hard — throbbing diagonally inside the USB port as the Vythra surged like a living current. The Drive Regulator lit up with interlocking blue circuits, each one pulsing in time with Karl's heartbeat.
"Aaah~ Karl~ faster! Feel it build—yes, like that~! Keep the rhythm steady~ let it flow through the Trinity Core~!"
The orb tightened in its lock as the entire chamber trembled. The nanites along Karl's arms exploded into motion, bursting outward in a spiral of shimmering light.
Armor segments clamped over his body, each piece clicking into place with hydraulic precision — metal teeth meshing perfectly like a living machine taking its first breath.
"Ooooh~ that's it~ Vythra levels rising beautifully~!" Agnes' voice crackled with excitement. "Keep revving! Push me harder~!"
Karl twisted the ignition dial again — harder. The roar of the nanite vortex drowned out the world as a tornado of blue and cerulean light erupted around him.
The transformation wasn't just mechanical — it was organic, alive. Nanites rippled over his skin like liquid metal veins, weaving plates, servos, and neural frames around his body.
"Synchronization climbing~ eighty… ninety… ohhh yes~ a hundred percent~!"
The Drive Regulator's core flared — and the orb embedded inside the USB port spun violently, locking into place with a metallic click.
"Lock on~!"
"Lock on~!"
"Lock on~!"
"Locked in!!!!"
The orb's glow surged, unleashing a shockwave of azure light that tore through the smoke.
The tornado folded inward — the sound of roaring nanites giving way to the mechanical growl of a giant's awakening. Armor limbs snapped into place, the chestplate sealed, and the cockpit formed seamlessly around Karl as if the machine were embracing him.
The head of Erevos locked forward — eyes blazing like twin cores of living flame.
Karl's voice was low, steady, filled with awe.
"…System live."
Agnes' tone purred in response, satisfaction laced through every word.
"Welcome back, my driver~ Erevos Frame online. Let's give them a show, shall we?"
The mech's vents flared, steam hissing through the cracks as the last traces of smoke drifted away.
Through the haze, only the faint glint of blue light remained — the eyes of Erevos, awakened once more.