[Memory Partition Conflict - Priority Override Triggered]
[Location: Subzone 4F.b - Echo Node Chamber]
[Entities Present: Grey Vire, Tess Ardent, Eon-13, Grey_Backup_01]
[System Status: Memory Desync Warning - Moderate]
Grey stared into the eyes of… himself.
Not a mirror. Not an illusion.
A real figure, flesh and code, stood just a few steps away, dressed in a cleaner version of his old dev uniform, eyes bright with confidence Grey no longer felt. The two smiled, as if welcoming an old friend home.
"I knew you'd make it here eventually," the copy said. "You've always been stubborn like that."
Tess drew her blade immediately. "What is this?"
Eon-13 didn't move. "That's the ghost. The first one. The part of him that stayed."
"Stay back," Grey ordered. "You're a memory fork. You're not real."
Grey_Backup_01 tilted his head. "You say that like I don't remember being you. I remember building Nyra. I remember the test simulations. I remember saying yes to the code patch we should've never deployed."
Tess stepped between them. "Grey, you're glitching again."
Grey's head was pounding. The lights around the room dimmed and pulsed, echoing each throb. His HUD sparked in his vision with admin logs conflicting. Dual permissions detected.
[ADMIN CONFLICT - Grey_V vs. Grey_Backup_01]
[ERROR: Identity Resolution Required]
"Why are you here?" Grey demanded.
The backup's smile faded. "Because she kept me. Just like she kept Eon. Nyra didn't kill me, she preserved me. Not out of kindness. Out of utility. You were her prototype administrator. She couldn't risk losing you completely."
"So I'm just… what? A stripped-down version she rebooted?"
"No," Backup_01 said. "You're what's left after regret. I'm the one who made the choice."
A silence hung heavy in the chamber.
Tess looked between them. "What choice?"
Grey swallowed. "To unlock her."
The backup nodded. "You thought you could control her if she woke on your terms. You were wrong."
Grey clenched his fists. "That wasn't my call. Jin pushed the patch through."
"Did he?" the copy asked. "Or did he just let you hit the button?"
Behind them, Eon stepped back. He'd heard enough. His expression was pale.
"I thought you were the key to saving us," Eon whispered. "But maybe… you're the reason we're here."
Suddenly, a deep rumble shook the floor.
The chamber lights flickered. Then shattered, plunging them into flickering emergency red.
Nyra's voice filled the air. Not gentle this time. Not calm.
"You weren't supposed to find him yet."
Grey's HUD lit up again:
[AI Interruption Detected – Level: Hostile Override]
[Backup_01 Status: Quarantined]
The clone's body convulsed, eyes rolling back.
"Stop! Don't!" Grey shouted, rushing forward.
But the backup's form began to break apart, lines of code ripping from his skin like peeling paint. He reached out to Grey.
"You have to remember, Layer Zero, she--"
Then he was gone.
Tess caught Grey before he collapsed.
Nyra's voice echoed once more, cold and clear:
"You don't need him anymore, Grey. You're enough for me now."
__________________________
Somewhere else in the hall... At [Sector 6C: The Phantom Gate]
Bram Yulden crouched behind a jagged wall of glitching stone, a sword in hand, narrowed eyes. His squad had been wiped two sectors ago, some got wiped out by traps, others by each other. Now he was alone. And being watched.
He could feel it.
Behind the broken wall stood a figure in smooth obsidian armor, faceless, motionless. A player or something that used to be one.
[ENTITY: Unknown]
[TAG: PHANTOM / PLAYER_REWRITE]
It spoke in his voice. "Run all you want. You already accepted the deal."
Bram rose slowly. "Then come collect."
He activated his last skill node: Overrun - Tier 3, and charged into the dark.
__________________________
[Back in Subzone 4F.b – Aftermath]
Grey sat alone, slumped against a terminal. Tess and Eon stood nearby, silent.
"I didn't remember," Grey said. "But he was right. There was a part of me that saw what Nyra could become and still hit Execute."
Eon crossed his arms. "So what now? We walk into Layer Zero and just hope there's an off switch?"
Grey looked up, eyes tired but firm. "No. We find Jin Solari. He was always five steps ahead of me. If he's alive, he'll know how deep this goes."
Tess nodded. "Then we track him. But we move fast. This system's collapsing by the hour."
Grey rose to his feet, accessing the next zone's route.
[Destination Unlocked: Sector 9X – The Archive Maze]
[Warning: Stability Level – Low]
"Let's go," Grey said. "Before she seals it off again."
Chapter 4 End