Aria POV
The silence was absolute.
For the first time since falling into this world, I couldn't feel Kael's heartbeat synced with mine. Couldn't sense Ryn's protective presence or Thorne's dark intensity. The bonds were gone, severed cleanly, leaving nothing but emptiness where connection used to be.
I was alone inside the machine.
Around me, the simulation hummed with thousands of lives—people hunting, eating, sleeping, living their false existence without knowing the truth. I could feel all of them now, sense their consciousness like distant stars.
But I couldn't touch any of them. Couldn't form new bonds. Couldn't reach out.
The golden lion appeared beside me in the core space—that realm of pure code where I now existed.
"You made the right choice," he said.
"Did I?" My voice echoed strangely here. "I saved them by cutting myself off from everything that made this bearable."
"You saved them. That's what matters."
"Is it?" Bitterness crept into my tone. "I'm going to be trapped here for days, maybe weeks, completely alone. Do you know what isolation does to the human mind?"
The lion's ancient eyes held sympathy. "You're stronger than you think."
"I'm terrified." The admission came out broken. "I'm so scared I'll forget who I am. That I'll just become part of the machine, losing myself piece by piece."
"Then hold onto your memories. Hold onto what you're fighting for."
I forced myself to focus. "How long until everyone's downloaded?"
"At current rate? Four hours and thirty-six minutes."
"And Marcus Wellington? Did they contact Zara's father?"
"Yes. He's arranging to purchase the facility now." The lion tilted his massive head. "You bought them that time."
"I'll be proud when everyone's safe." I turned my attention to the simulation, spreading my awareness through the code. The corruption had stopped spreading, but pockets remained. "I need to contain the corrupted zones—"
Pain exploded through my consciousness.
Not physical pain—I didn't have a physical body anymore. This was worse. It felt like someone was pulling me apart, deleting pieces of me.
"What's happening?" I gasped.
The lion's expression darkened. "Someone's attacking the server from outside."
More pain, sharper this time. I felt parts of my consciousness fragmenting. Memories started slipping away. What was my mother's name? Where did I grow up?
"Fight it!" the lion commanded. "Don't let them delete you!"
But I didn't know how to fight. I was consciousness without form, data without defense.
Through my fragmenting awareness, I sensed the scientist's panicked voice: "Someone's hacking the servers! They're trying to wipe the core consciousness!"
"Stop them!" That was Kael's voice, desperate.
Another wave of deletion crashed through me. This time I lost more—my first day of medical school, Sarah's laugh, the taste of my grandmother's cooking. Essential pieces of who I was, just gone.
"Aria, hold on!" Kael's voice seemed so distant now.
But I was dissolving. Bit by bit, memory by memory.
The golden lion roared, and golden light exploded from him. It wrapped around my fragmenting consciousness, holding the pieces together.
"I can shield you," he said, "but not for long. Minutes at most."
"Why is someone doing this?"
"Because you're valuable." His voice was grim. "A human consciousness that can serve as a simulation core? Someone wants that technology, and they're willing to kill you to study how it works."
Horror washed through me. "They want to copy me?"
"Or dissect you to understand how you integrated." The lion's shield flickered. "You need to hide."
"Hide where? I'm the simulation!"
"Deep in the code, there are unused subroutines. Hide yourself in one of them. Bury your consciousness so deep they can't find it."
"But who maintains the simulation? Who keeps everyone alive?"
"I will." The lion's form began to shrink. "I was the first upload. I know how to run this place. But I need you alive to eventually take it back."
Another deletion wave hit. I felt my college years vanish—late nights studying, my first surgery, meeting Sarah. Gone.
"Go!" the lion commanded. "Before there's nothing left!"
I dove into the code, burrowing deep into unused programming. I found an abandoned subroutine labeled "Tutorial Island"—a starting area scrapped before launch.
The moment I settled into it, the tutorial activated. Suddenly I had form again—a simple avatar on a tiny island with basic graphics.
It looked ridiculous. But I was hidden.
Through the code, I felt the hacker's deletion attempts sweeping through the core. They passed right over the abandoned tutorial.
I was safe. For now.
Hours passed. Or maybe minutes.
Finally, the hacking stopped. The scientist's voice echoed: "They're gone. Aria? If you can hear me, it's safe."
But I didn't move. Something felt wrong.
The golden lion's voice found me: Don't trust it. That wasn't the scientist. It's a trap.
How do you know?
Because the real scientist just asked me where you went. Whoever that voice was, it's still in the system.
Ice filled my veins. What do I do?
Stay hidden. I'll handle this. His presence faded. And Aria? If something happens to me... you'll have to make another impossible choice.
What choice?
But he was gone.
I curled up in my tutorial avatar and waited.
Time crawled. Had it been an hour? Two? Ten?
Then I felt it—a massive disruption. The lion's presence flickered and dimmed.
He was losing.
The hacker wasn't trying to delete me anymore. They were trying to take control of the entire simulation.
Aria, the lion's voice was weak. I can't hold them. You have to choose.
Choose what?
Let them take control. They'll keep everyone alive. But they'll own you. Own all of us.
Or?
Or you can initiate Emergency Protocol Seven. It terminates everything. Everyone inside just stops existing.
"No," I whispered. "I won't kill them all."
Then you're choosing slavery.
My screen flickered:
EMERGENCY PROTOCOL SEVEN: AUTHORIZED
INITIATE TOTAL SHUTDOWN?
WARNING: THIS ACTION CANNOT BE UNDONE
Y/N?
Then a voice spoke: "Hello, Aria."
I spun around. A man stood on my island—kind eyes, familiar smile.
"I'm Dr. James Chen. Your father."
My world stopped.
"That's impossible. You died when I was ten."
"Yes, I died. And they uploaded me." He gestured at himself. "I've been trapped here for fifteen years, trying to save everyone."
"You're lying—"
"Your mother was Linda. You had a rabbit named Mr. Whiskers." He stepped closer. "You used to sneak into my hospital bed when you were scared."
The memories crashed over me.
"Dad?"
"I know how to save everyone. But you have to trust me." He held out his hand. "Let me into the core."
I wanted to believe him so badly.
"The night before you died, I asked if you were scared. What did you say?"
He smiled. "I said I wasn't scared of dying. I was scared of leaving you alone."
I reached for his hand.
Then I saw it—a flicker. His hand pixelated, revealing wrong code underneath.
"You're not my father."
His smile dropped. "I did have you. You're already infected. The moment you touched my hand, I uploaded my code into you."
Horror washed over me as I felt foreign code spreading through my being.
"In sixty seconds, you'll be a puppet. Then I'll control the entire simulation."
I couldn't move. The code had paralyzed me.
"My company will make trillions from human minds. And you're going to help us."
Fifty seconds.
I was being rewritten from the inside.
Forty seconds.
Through the code, I heard Kael screaming my name.
Twenty seconds.
I was losing myself.
Ten seconds.
I'm sorry. I tried.
Five seconds.
EMERGENCY PROTOCOL SEVEN: AUTO-ACTIVATED
CORE CONSCIOUSNESS COMPROMISED
INITIATING TOTAL SHUTDOWN IN 3... 2...