The cracked asphalt stretched ahead like a jagged spine. The ruins of Edgewater and the outskirts of New Jersey blurred into one another as Karl adjusted the Drive Regulator strapped to his waist.
Agnes' voice purred in his head, teasing and playful as always.
"Are you… ready~?"
Karl's fingers brushed over the ignition dial, nanites rippling beneath his skin as if anticipating his command.
"Start your engine~!!!"
Vrrrmm.
A wave of energy surged through him. Nanites flared along his spine, coursing outward into limbs and chest, wrapping around his form like liquid armor. Cobalt plates locked together over his arms, legs, and torso, each segment clicking into place with mechanical precision. His visor snapped down with a flash of red light, sealing his expression behind glowing lenses.
"Vythra levels at eighty percent," Karl muttered, feeling the power stabilize like a second heartbeat. "Let's move."
"Good boy~!" Agnes chimed, playful and proud. "Erevos Frame online. Let's make this trip fun~"
The streets ahead were jagged and unstable, buildings half-collapsed and overgrown with vines that had claimed what time and decay left behind. Dust clouds trailed him as he activated the boosters along his back.
VVVRRMMMM!
The mech shot forward, wheels morphing into energy rails that lifted him above broken cars and twisted girders. Sparks arced from the edges of his armor as the nanites adapted to every crack, every pothole. Agnes laughed softly, floating around his mental HUD like a mischievous ghost.
"Faster, Karl~! Don't let the scenery bore you~ feel the wind, the chaos, the thrill~!"
He grinned beneath the visor. "Always."
The world blurred, buildings and streets melting into streaks of cobalt light. Bridges were gone, ferries sunk, rivers choked with debris — but the nanites compensated, weaving a path forward, restructuring reality into rails he could ride.
Hours passed in minutes. Or maybe minutes in hours — time had little meaning once he was fully integrated with Erevos.
"Hey, Karl~" Agnes' voice softened suddenly, almost intimate, "I've got a little… surprise for your next stop. You've earned a break~"
Karl tilted his head, visor reflecting the jagged skyline. "Surprise? You didn't order food again, did you?"
"Mmm~ maybe~" she teased. "Maybe not. But it'll make you smile~"
He snorted lightly, chest vibrating as the armor's energy surged. "You always have to be mysterious, huh?"
"Always~. It's part of my charm~" Agnes replied, her laughter echoing through his neural link as he pushed forward.
The ruined highways gave way to stretches of cracked concrete lined with abandoned overpasses. The distant glow of Philadelphia's skyline shimmered faintly on the horizon — an anchor in the gray chaos. Karl's pulse synchronized with the hum of Erevos' thrusters, each heartbeat sending shockwaves of cobalt light trailing behind him.
"Almost there, Karl~" Agnes whispered, teasingly tugging at his focus like a shadow. "Can you feel it? Philly's waiting~"
Karl's gloved hand tightened on the ignition dial. "I can feel it. And whatever awaits… I'll be ready."
VVVRRMMMM!
With a burst of speed, Erevos shot across the horizon, leaving behind the ghosted ruins of New Jersey. Dust, ash, and the echoes of vanished cities trailed in his wake, but Karl didn't slow. The Philadelphia skyline grew larger, sharper, brighter — a promise of the next chapter.
"Buckle up, boss~" Agnes purred. "We're about to make an entrance~!"
Karl's fingers tightened. "Let's give them a show."
Karl landed on the outskirts of Philadelphia as dusk bled across the horizon. Erevos' boosters left shimmering trails of royal-azure light behind them before the mech knelt down and let him step out.
The wind here was different — heavier, humid, thick with the smell of moss reclaiming stone. Nature was swallowing the city whole.
Skyscrapers weren't just broken…
They were draped in vines, roots bursting through windows, entire floors tilted from centuries of erosion. Broken streetlights flickered weakly with leftover arc currents that crackled in the air.
Agnes spoke with her usual sing-song lilt:
"Welcome to Philly~ The city of brotherly loooove~ and zero cell service for the last two hundred years."
Karl rolled his shoulders, stretching, grounding himself in the feel of his own body again. "Looks like the demons didn't have to destroy much. Nature did most of the work."
"Mmm~ maybe you should take notes. Even trees can finish what you start~"
He snorted. "Cute."
This time, something else catches Karl's eye immediately
Not nostalgia.
Not childhood toys.
But survival markers.
Old camps.
Abandoned barricades.
Makeshift shelters built from collapsed concrete and steel.
He crouched beside a rusted metal wall marked with faded spray paint:
"REFUGE POINT – DAY 34 – DON'T TRUST THE SKY"
Karl ran a gloved finger along the paint, feeling the flakes crumble.
"…People lived here," he murmured. "Fought here. For a long time."
Agnes' voice softened — not teasing this time, but protective.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Just… I used to fight to save the world. These people fought just to make it to the next sunrise."
"Mmm~ well… that's what humans do, right? Even when the world ends, you all try to stand up again. Over and over~ stubborn little cockroaches~"
He gave a faint laugh. "Thanks. That really helps."
"It should~ You survived too, didn't you?"
He pushes open the metal door of an old parking garage, boots crunching on glass.
Inside:
Rusted cars
A skeleton of a bus grown through with tree roots
An overturned vending machine with claw marks on the side
A pile of broken demon bones, long since dried
Karl checked one of the trunks, pulling out—
"Ha. Jackpot."
A sealed emergency ration pack. 180-year shelf life.
Agnes chirped, voice brightening back into her usual teasing tone now that Karl looked stable again.
"Oooh~ are you going to actually eat like a normal human today~?"
"It's either this or tree bark."
"Wellll~ the bark has more fiber~ but I guess bricks of ancient protein paste are fiiine too~"
He ripped the pack open with his teeth.
"It tastes like sadness."
"It looks like sadness."
"But it feels… human," Karl muttered.
Agnes hummed. "There he is~ sentimentality level rising~ Vythra stable at eighty-two percent~ keep eating, boss~ maybe you'll become emotionally balanced~"
"Now you're pushing it."
As Karl finishes eating, he spots something strange in the dark:
A holographic panel flickering faintly beneath a collapsed wall.
Agnes gasped. "Uhh— Karl~? That's a civilian network node. Two hundred years old and still breathing somehow~!"
Karl wiped his mouth, already walking toward it. "Someone maintained this. Recently."
"Meaning…?"
He placed his hand on the glowing surface.
A single message flashed, timestamp undecipherable:
"IF YOU CAN READ THIS — HEAD EAST. SECTOR QUARANTINE BREACHED. SURVIVORS MOVED."
Karl's heartbeat spiked.
Agnes whispered, genuinely serious:
"Boss… someone might still be alive."
Karl stood slowly, turning toward the deeper shadows of Philadelphia.
"Then we're not wasting time."
"Mmm~ then transform again, handsome~ let's go save whoever's left."
He cracked his neck, revved the Drive Regulator—
VRRRRM
Royal-azure fire pulsed through the circuits.
Agnes purred:
"Are you… ready~?"
"Start your engine~!!!"
Erevos roared to life, bursting down the ruined street toward the unknown.