Kayden walked home slowly, the cool evening wind brushing against his face, but doing nothing to calm the storm that churned inside his mind.
Ever since the fight with Jex, something had changed around him—like the world had shifted slightly off its balance.
The streetlights flickered as he passed them, shadows stretching too long, bending in unnatural angles that made him pause more than once.
He tried to ignore it. He tried to pretend this was just another evening, another normal walk back to his small house that always felt too quiet for its own good. But the thought kept circling in his head like a dark cloud refusing to leave.
What would happen if the Architect unleashed everything he had?
Kayden swallowed hard. He didn't know the Architect personally—he didn't know his face, his voice, or even his real name—but everything he'd seen so far told him one truth:
The Architect was willing to destroy anything. Anyone.
For whatever goal he was chasing.
Kayden clenched his fist, remembering Jex's words.
"You don't know how strong Ragna is now."
What did that mean?
How far had the Architect corrupted the others?
How much more power had they taken?
He shook his head. No answers. Just more questions.
He reached his house, walked around to the trash bin, took out a small bag of trash, and tossed it inside. The night was calm. Nothing unusual. No noise. No danger.
But something… someone… watched him.
He could feel it.
A presence stood behind him, silent and heavy like a storm waiting for lightning.
Kayden didn't turn around.
He couldn't.
Because deep inside, he already knew who it was.
The Shadow.
No footsteps. No voice. No breath.
Just a feeling—cold, distant, protective… and terrifying.
Kayden finally went back inside, closing the door behind him, unaware that the Architect's facility was in full panic mode.
---
Inside the Architect's Facility – Panic in the Iron Hall
The Architect's underground base buzzed with energy, a chaotic symphony of beeping monitors, rushing workers, and voices raised in confusion. Dozens of screens replayed various angles of the previous night's events—Jex's defeat, the mysterious masked boy, and the impossible moment when Kayden appeared near Naze.
Workers typed rapidly, rewinding, enhancing, scanning.
Nothing made sense.
Then—
The door burst open.
A young technician ran inside, nearly tripping over his own legs.
"Sir! Sir, I found something!" he shouted breathlessly. "I found where the boy was before the fight!"
The workers stopped. All eyes turned toward the man at the center of the room.
The Architect slowly twisted his chair, his face half-hidden in shadow, his mechanical eye glowing faintly.
"Show me."
The technician swallowed and rushed to the main projector. Screens flickered, lines of data scrolled, and finally—
The footage appeared.
---
The footage displayed Kayden stepping out of his house holding a small trash bag. He threw it into the bin, walked back inside, and closed the door.
Normal.
Boring.
Nothing unusual.
The workers exchanged confused looks.
"Fast forward ten minutes," the Architect ordered.
The footage continued.
The camera outside Kayden's house showed nothing—no door opening, no windows moving, no sign of Kayden leaving.
"Now show me when Jex encountered him."
Another screen flared to life.
There—
Kayden appeared near Naze and Jex.
No transition.
No movement between the locations.
Like he had jumped from one place to another.
The Architect's mechanical eye glowed brighter, flickering with irritation and disbelief.
"Reverse!" he barked.
The technicians scrambled. Footage rewound again and again.
Nothing changed.
Kayden was in front of his house.
And then miles away…
Without ever leaving.
A worker's voice trembled. "S-Sir, the cameras didn't capture any motion between the scenes. It's almost like something interfered with every device around him."
The Architect's jaw tightened. His fingers dug into the armrest of his chair.
---
For a moment—only one—his calm cracked.
Because this wasn't a glitch.
This wasn't a malfunction.
This wasn't something he could explain with science.
This was… something else.
"The shadow…" he whispered. "It moved him. It hid him. And it can't be recorded."
The workers exchanged frightened glances. The Architect never spoke like that—never showed fear.
But this time, he couldn't hide it.
Something was protecting Kayden. Something that defied logic, cameras, sensors, and every machine the Architect had created.
"How can we fight an enemy we cannot track?" he muttered.
No one dared answer
----
The Architect stood slowly from his chair.
"Prepare Sector Nine," he said.
The room froze.
Sector Nine was forbidden—locked behind sealed doors, containing technology none of the workers understood and none of them wanted to understand.
"Sir," one of the engineers whispered, "Sector Nine hasn't been opened since—"
"Open it," the Architect snapped. "Now."
They obeyed immediately.
A metallic alarm echoed through the facility as a massive steel door began to rise. Inside the chamber, thick tubes pulsed with crimson light, and a humming sound trembled through the walls.
At the center sat a containment pod glowing with unstable energy. Not a weapon. Not a suit.
A power source.
A dangerous one.
A living one.
"It's incomplete," a scientist warned. "It needs a power supply. A huge one."
"I know," the Architect said calmly.
"And blood," the scientist added quietly. "Human blood mixed with enhanced cells—those who carry your previous injections."
The Architect's lips curled into a cold smile.
---
He turned toward the room behind him—where Ragna, Jex, and the empowered Vex members rested in their chambers.
Ragna's power had grown.
Jex had lightning in his veins.
The others had unnatural strength and abilities.
Modified bodies.
Altered blood.
Filled with the Architect's energy.
They were perfect.
"They will serve me one last time," the Architect said. "Their lives… will complete my greatest creation."
A worker hesitated. "Sir… you plan to—"
"Yes," he answered coldly. "I plan to drain them."
The room went silent.
"You can't just—"
The Architect's mechanical eye flared red.
"Do you want to join them?"
Everyone went silent again.
---
The Architect walked toward the chamber where the empowered Vex crew rested. Ragna slept, unaware of the fate being prepared for him. Jex lay bandaged, his breathing heavy, still recovering from Kayden's punch.
The Architect studied them.
"Ragna," he murmured. "You crave strength. You'll say yes to anything."
He moved to Jex.
"Jex… loyal but hesitant. I can tell him this is an upgrade. He will accept."
He looked at the others.
"And the rest? They want power more than they want life."
But inside, the Architect cared nothing about their desires.
He just needed their blood.
Their energy.
Their lives.
All to power the new creation.
He began forming his plan—how to gather them, how to convince them, how to trap them inside the chamber without suspicion.
The workers watched in terrified silence.
"What is the purpose of this upgrade, sir?" one finally asked.
The Architect didn't turn around.
"To kill the shadow," he said.
"And to kill the boy it protects."
---
Back at home, Kayden sat on his bed, unaware of the fate being prepared for him. He stared at his palms, confused, frustrated, and tired.
Why did the shadow appear?
Why did it help him?
Why did it follow him?
Kayden didn't know the answers.
But somewhere deep inside…
He felt that the world was moving toward something terrifying.
Something huge.
Something that involved him—whether he wanted it or not.
He exhaled slowly.
"Whatever you are," he whispered into the empty room, "I hope you're on my side."
A faint breeze brushed past him.
Soft. Silent.
But real.
Kayden stiffened.
The shadow was still there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Protecting.
---
The Architect turned away from the pod in Sector Nine, his plans fully formed.
"Once the Vex crew is drained," he said, "my new power source will activate."
"And then?" a worker asked shakily.
"Then," the Architect whispered with a chilling calm, "we begin the hunt for the boy."
He paused.
"And the shadow."
The workers felt the room grow colder.
"Prepare everything," the Architect ordered. "We move soon."
But as he walked away, his mechanical eye flickered, glitching slightly—like something unseen had touched it.
Something watching him back.
He froze.
For the first time, the Architect felt like prey.