Chapter 6: The Fracture
The tunnel stretched for miles beneath Scotland's forgotten ruins. Ferryman guided the hovercycle through magnetic rifts and collapsed architecture like he was navigating a memory. Anderson watched the world change around him—no lights, no signals, no sounds but the hum of their engine and the beating of his heart.
Hours later, the path opened into a vast underground canyon pulsing with bioluminescent veins of energy. Crumbling remnants of old-world cities jutted from cavern walls like the bones of a buried giant. At the center, suspended between iron pillars and cables, was a city of light and shadow: The Fracture.
It was unlike anything Anderson had ever seen—part resistance camp, part data haven, part dream. Buildings made from scavenged tech and ancient stone. A marketplace alive with every kind of exile: rogue AIs, gene-modified monks, synthetic children, and human outcasts with burning eyes and cybernetic limbs.
"This is it," Ferryman said, cutting the engine. "Safe from satellites. Invisible to governments. But not without rules."
They passed through the gates under the watchful gaze of a dozen sentries. At the central node—a glowing obelisk known as The Spine—they met the council.
An elder woman in a neural robe stepped forward. "I am Elira," she said. "Keeper of Memory. You've brought us the heir."
Anderson felt the weight of eyes—dozens, hundreds—fixed on him. For the first time, he understood: the underground knew who he was. Some revered him. Others feared what he might become.
Elira gestured toward a spire marked with Z's insignia. "Your great-grandfather visited us long ago. He gave us part of his consciousness. What he left behind… is meant only for you."
Inside the spire, Anderson found a chamber lit by threads of energy. A single chair sat at the center. When he touched it, the ring on his finger activated, and light engulfed him.
Suddenly, he stood in a dreamscape—a neural construct of Dr. Z's mind. The scientist's voice echoed all around.
"Welcome, Anderson. This is the seed of who I was. You must decide what to do with it. Share the formula and risk chaos. Hide it and risk extinction. Or evolve it—make it something the world has never seen."
Back in reality, Vora stood guard as agents from the surface breached outer sectors of The Fracture. Explosions thundered.
Anderson opened his eyes, breathless. "They're coming."
Elira placed her hand on his shoulder. "Then we must awaken The Fracture's defenses. And you must choose who you are meant to be."
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