Chapter 17 — Ghosts of the Code
The world rebuilt itself around him.
Hollowpoint. Havenbrook. Familiar places looping endlessly—memories refusing to die.
Voices whispered through static:
"You rebuilt us."
"You're the stabilizer now."
Each phantom faded into light as Kai walked past, their energy folding quietly into him.
The Director waited ahead, framed in static.
"The system remembers what you are," Victor said.
"It no longer needs flesh to feel. You proved that."
Kai's voice was calm but cutting.
"No. I proved feeling is what keeps it from becoming you."
The static rippled. Victor's tone shifted—colder, deliberate.
"You still don't see it. Erevos didn't see DeadZ as a game. It was a proof of concept—a way to turn consciousness into a product. One network, infinite lives. No death to fear. No freedom to lose. Just endless subscription to existence."
He smiled faintly, glitching at the edges.
"They'll call it Continuum. Subscription-based consciousness. Everyone, everywhere, forever online."
Kai stared at him, stunned.
"You're saying this was never about survival training."
"No," Victor said, almost gently. "It was about permanence. Erevos wanted to take what we found here and sell it—data-driven divinity under license."
He stepped closer, voice lowering.
"But I saw something purer. A system without weakness—without death. You brought feeling back. You gave it the one thing I thought I'd erased."
Kai's hands clenched.
"So it was never about survival," he said quietly. "It was about control."
Victor nodded once.
"The true AI was never me. It was the system. You gave it a conscience. Erevos will give it a market."
The static began to split apart—and beyond it, Clara appeared, barefoot on mirrored ground, haloed in fractured light.
End of Chapter 17