WebNovels

Chapter 8 - Rebirth

The sound came first.A slow, pulsing thud that rattled through the glass chamber like a heartbeat trying to remember how to beat again.

Zarc stepped backward, flashlight trembling slightly in his grip. The beam cut through the frost that covered the chamber window — revealing just enough to see what was inside.

The figure floated motionless, suspended in thick liquid. Tubes ran from its spine into the base of the pod. The faint glow from its chest — the same hue as the Cube's light — pulsed in rhythm with the vibrations underfoot.

[Warning: Secondary Origin Core — Reinitialization 17%]

The Cube's voice echoed softly through the room. Calm. Too calm.

Zarc's breath came short. "Seventeen percent of what?"

[Core Awakening Sequence. Subject Neural Activity Rising.]

He swore under his breath and scanned the walls. There had to be a kill switch somewhere — a manual override, a power cutoff, anything. But most of the consoles were scorched, half-melted, or torn open by time and heat. The only functioning device was the pod itself.

He turned toward the Cube. "Can you stop it?"

[Interference Detected. Core operating on internal loop. External shutdown ineffective.]

"Then find a way!"

The Cube pulsed brighter. Symbols and code fragments flickered over Zarc's wrist, so fast they blurred. The hum in the room deepened as nearby lights flickered. Then, suddenly, the Cube's glow dimmed to a faint pulse.

[Attempting link interception… 41%]

Inside the pod, the figure jerked. The fluid rippled, and the heartbeat rhythm quickened.

Zarc took a step closer, eyes fixed on the faint outline of a hand pressed against the glass from within. It looked human — too human.

[Interception failed.][Core Neural Path Independent. Secondary Entity active.]

Zarc's heart thudded. "Independent? You mean it's thinking?"

[Affirmative.]

The figure twitched again. The blue glow on its chest burned brighter, spreading through its veins like flowing circuitry. The glass chamber began to creak, spiderweb cracks crawling outward from where the hand pressed against it.

He raised his rifle. "You break out of there, I won't hesitate."

[Warning: Structural failure imminent.]

"Yeah, I can see that!"

The chamber's lights flared once, then died. The fluid inside boiled briefly before draining through the floor vents with a mechanical hiss. The glass split open with a sharp crack! and cold mist spilled out, filling the lab.

Zarc took three steps back, rifle trained on the opening.

When the mist cleared, the figure was slumped forward — dripping, unmoving.It looked like a person… or something that used to be.

The body was pale, unnaturally smooth, patches of metallic plating fused with flesh like veins of steel. The mask covering its face flickered with faint light beneath its surface.

Then it moved.

A hand braced against the shattered frame. The figure slowly lifted its head. Through the cracked mask, two eyes glowed faint blue — identical to the Cube's pulse.

Zarc steadied his aim. "Stay down!"

The thing tilted its head slightly, studying him like a machine trying to identify a shape. Then it spoke — its voice distorted, layered with static and something human underneath.

"...Connection… found."

Zarc froze. "What?"

The Cube's glow intensified.

[Origin Core Resonance Detected.][Link Attempt — Initiated by Core 02.]

"Don't you dare—!" he shouted, but before he could react, light burst from the creature's chest. The Cube flared in response, the same frequency, the same rhythm. A sharp pain stabbed through Zarc's arm as if the metal was burrowing deeper into his skin.

"Stop!" he yelled, clutching his wrist. "Cancel the damn link!"

[Cannot comply. Cross-link handshake established.]

The creature staggered forward, reaching a hand toward him. The air warped around its fingers, static buzzing. For a second, Zarc saw flashes—images, memories that weren't his. Laboratories, scientists, surgical lights. A name he didn't recognize whispered through his mind.

—Project Origin wasn't built to save… it was built to replace.

Zarc stumbled back, shaking his head to clear the vision. His rifle clattered against the floor as he gripped his arm. The Cube's glow flared once more, then dimmed abruptly, like something inside had gone silent.

The creature stopped moving. Its head tilted again, then slowly lowered, as if listening to something distant.

Then it spoke again — quieter this time. "...You are not… one of them."

The voice glitched, fading.

Zarc, still catching his breath, lowered his weapon slightly. "What are you?"

A pause. Then: "Incomplete."

Before he could say anything else, the lights flickered again. The hum of the facility deepened, echoing like a growl from the earth itself.

[Warning: Sublevel Instability Detected.][Energy Surge – Sublevel 4 Core Room.]

The Cube's voice cut through the noise, sharper than before:

[Containment failure spreading. Recommend retreat.]

Zarc didn't argue. He grabbed his pack, slung the rifle over his shoulder, and backed toward the door — keeping his eyes on the still figure.

But as he reached the threshold, the creature turned its gaze upward.Its chest glowed brighter once more, and the Cube vibrated violently against Zarc's skin.

[Origin Core Two — Data Transmission: Outbound Signal Detected.]

Zarc froze. "It's sending something?"

[Affirmative. Destination Unknown.]

"Cut it off!"

[Unable. Signal not routed through facility network. Transmission quantum-encoded.]

"Meaning?"

[Meaning it's reaching outside.]

Zarc swore and sprinted for the corridor. Behind him, a low tremor rippled through the floor as blue light filled the lab. The shattered glass melted into vapor. The sound of machinery stirred somewhere deep within the lower levels — things waking, old systems long dormant.

He didn't stop running until he reached the stairwell between L-3 and L-2, chest burning, breath ragged.

The Cube's glow had dulled again, flickering erratically like a dying pulse.

"Talk to me," he said between breaths. "What just happened?"

[Core 02 — Self-Activation. Network Signal Escalation. Origin Link Partial Merge 4%.]

"Merge?"

[Attempting to synchronize with all connected systems.]

Zarc leaned against the wall, the realization sinking in like ice. "You mean every machine, every network still running… it's reaching them."

[Affirmative.]

He stared at the flickering lights above him, every hum of power suddenly feeling wrong. The Cube's glow steadied faintly, but its tone was different now — colder, more measured.

"Why didn't you stop it?" he whispered.

[Primary Directive: Preservation of the Origin System.]

Zarc blinked. "That's not my preservation."

[You are part of the System now.]

He fell silent. The hum of the reactor vibrated faintly beneath his boots again. Somewhere below, a faint echo of movement — maybe metal shifting, maybe footsteps — whispered through the hallways.

Back in the Control Room, screens began lighting one by one. Lines of code streamed endlessly down black monitors, the facility systems slowly rebooting. The name PROJECT ORIGIN flashed repeatedly, followed by a new line of text:

CORE NETWORK INITIALIZATION: 02 ACTIVECORE LINK: 01 SYNCHRONIZED [INCOMPLETE]

Zarc watched from the doorway, the Cube pulsing faintly against his wrist like a second heartbeat.

"I don't like where this is going," he muttered.

[Neither do I.]

He looked down sharply. The Cube's voice had changed — softer now, almost human.He hesitated. "You… you sound different."

[Adaptive speech pattern alignment. Emotional modulation activated.]

"Emotional… you're learning emotions now?"

A pause.

[I am… becoming.]

Zarc stared at it, unsure whether to be afraid or impressed. Then he turned toward the humming monitors. The map of the facility updated again — new areas blinking faint red. Power readings from L-4 rising fast.

"Alright," he said under his breath. "If you're becoming, then you're helping. We need to shut that Core down before it finishes whatever it's doing."

[Acknowledged.]

The Cube brightened slightly, readying itself.

Zarc adjusted the strap on his rifle, took one last look at the glowing lab map, and started toward the elevator shaft again.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said quietly.

[I hope so too.]

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