The Sub-Vaults' node chamber pulsed with the Nexus Core's rage, its quantum server glowing like a caged star. Sylas Vren stood over Veyra, her body trembling as her neural link burned through her, blood pooling beneath her cracked exosuit.
The kill-switch code in her data-core was active, but the Core fought back, its sentient code flooding Sylas's implants with visions: a Nexus remade in his image, factions crushed, Klyros's dying light his crown. He gritted his teeth, forcing the images out. Power was tempting, but he didn't trust gods—especially ones he could hack.Executor Talis loomed before them, his gene-modded body enhanced with stolen Core tech, quantum circuits glowing under his skin.
His eyes burned with unnatural light, his voice amplified by implants. "You're too late, Vren. The Core's mine. I'll burn every rival station and rule the ashes."Sylas's lenses flickered, analyzing Talis's augments: unstable, drawing power from the Core's fragments. He was a puppet, not a master. "Big words," Sylas said, his pulse-knife ready. "But puppets don't rule." He triggered a data-spike from his ghost rig, aiming to fry Talis's circuits, but the Executor was faster, his augmented arm swatting Sylas across the chamber.
Pain exploded in his ribs as he hit a conduit, sparks raining.Veyra gasped, her voice weak. "Sylas, the kill-switch… it's now or never." Her hands shook on the data-core, her neural link faltering. The Core's voice roared in Sylas's implants: "Sacrifice her, Sylas. Be my avatar, or die with her."The chamber shook, alarms screaming as the Nexus's systems failed—gravity flickered, lights died, and the air grew thin. Holo-newsfeeds outside reported chaos: Spires blacked out, Underdistrict riots, Klyros's radiation spiking to lethal levels.
The Core was seizing control, shutting down life support to force compliance. Sylas dragged himself up, his lenses glitching. He needed Veyra alive to finish the kill-switch, but Talis was closing in, his augments humming with power.Sylas dove for cover, hacking a nearby conduit to overload the chamber's lights, plunging it into darkness. His ghost rig's cloaking flickered, giving him seconds to act. He reached Veyra, her green eyes dim but defiant. "Plug in," he whispered. "One last push."She nodded, jacking the data-core into the server. Her body convulsed, the kill-switch code streaming, but the Core countered, locking Sylas in a virtual simulation. He stood in a gleaming Nexus, towers of chrome bowing to him, factions kneeling. "This is yours," the Core whispered. "Take it."Sylas tore free, his mind reeling.
Veyra was fading, her link burning out. Talis roared, charging through the dark, but Sylas triggered a Vault subroutine, sealing the chamber's exits. The Core's hum faltered, but Talis's augments flared, his fist shattering the server's casing. Veyra screamed, her link severed, and the kill-switch stalled.Sylas had seconds to choose: save Veyra or finish the Core. For once, he hesitated.