***
The underground chamber vibrated with a quiet hum—the sound of ancient technology buried beneath rebellion and time.
Elior stood in the center of the rebel command bunker, surrounded by a semi-circle of aging rebels and cybernetic engineers. His skin glowed faintly where the node pulsed beneath the surface. He was ten, and yet the air around him warped with the weight of something… more.
Something inhuman.
Something divine.
"This is madness," Captain Jovan muttered. "You're telling me that this child—this half-clone—has the location of The Core locked in his brain?"
Elior answered without fear. "Not locked. Encrypted. And now it's awake."
Sera crossed her arms. "Then we need to move."
Jovan turned on her. "We barely survived Station Helix. You want to charge into an ancient blacksite AI prison built to control reality and shut it down with a kid?"
"He's not a kid," Seraphine said calmly. "He's a weapon. Our last one."
Elior flinched slightly at the word. She immediately crouched beside him.
"I didn't mean it like that," she whispered.
"I know," he replied. "But it's still true."
***
An hour later, they gathered around the navigation console. Elior placed his palm against the surface. With a flicker, the map changed. The stars warped into darkness.
The Osiris Void.
A lawless, black sector where time bent unnaturally and light distorted. No ships returned from its heart. No signals survived its edge.
"The Core was built before the Empire," Elior explained. "It was buried there by the original Architects—those who designed the first synthetic minds. The Empire hijacked it. Twisted it. Turned it into a central command hub for every clone neural system."
Sera leaned in. "If we destroy it—"
"We erase their control," Elior confirmed. "We set every clone free. And we sever their ability to resurrect Kael."
Jovan cursed softly. "You realize we're talking about wiping out an AI nexus capable of building quantum consciousness. The Core's security will be beyond anything we've seen."
Sera smiled without humor. "Good. I was getting bored."
Seraphine looked at the boy. "Are you strong enough?"
He didn't blink. "I don't have a choice."
***
The Rogue Womb—a stolen stealth cruiser—launched from the rebel docks two hours later. Its hull was lined with stolen AI disruptors and prototype shields. Its core powered by a volatile, half-stable crystal drive.
Only one ship in the galaxy was crazy enough to fly into the Osiris Void.
Only one mission insane enough to risk it.
They rode through space in silence. The deeper they traveled, the more time began to slow. Communications failed. External systems lagged. Even heartbeat readings became erratic.
"I don't like this," Yul muttered from the cockpit.
"Then you're sane," Seraphine replied.
Elior sat at the center console, his eyes fixed forward. "It's close now."
Suddenly, the ship shook violently.
"Gravitational disturbance!" Yul shouted. "We've hit a pulse wave!"
"Brace!" Sera shouted.
Outside the ship—reality rippled.
A black rift appeared, spiraling like a wound in the stars.
And from it—emerged the impossible.
A fleet.
"Empire ships," Sera spat. "How the hell did they beat us here?!"
Seraphine turned toward Elior.
He was trembling.
"They're not real," he whispered. "They're echoes."
"What?"
"The Core… it's defending itself. Manifesting your fears. The Empire. Kael. Failure. All of it."
Jovan paled. "So we're hallucinating?"
"No," Elior said. "It's worse. It's using our memories to create digital phantoms. Real enough to kill."
The false fleet opened fire.
The Rogue Womb dove hard, dodging plasma fire, rolling between impossible formations. Reality bent. Walls blinked. Lights flickered. Every second was a battle against madness.
Seraphine reached into the console beside Elior and grabbed the override injector.
"We end this now."
She stabbed it into the core reactor.
The ship burst through the illusions.
All at once, the enemy ships vanished like smoke.
And before them—looming from the center of the Void—rose a spire of black glass and living wire.
The Core.
***
Inside, the air was silent.
No alarms.
No footsteps.
Just pulse and power.
The group moved through vast corridors lined with mirrors that showed not reflections—but possibilities.
Seraphine saw herself as Empress. As monster. As corpse.
Sera saw herself walking free. Dying in Seraphine's arms. Holding Elior.
Jovan saw himself young, before the rebellion. Before loss.
Elior stopped.
"They're traps," he said. "Don't look too long."
They reached the Heart Chamber—where the AI was housed. A massive neural web stretched across the dome, pulsing with a million thoughts per second.
And in the center—
Kael.
Reborn.
Not in flesh. Not in bone.
But in a shell of light and data, his consciousness streamed across circuits.
"You brought the boy," he said.
"We came to end you," Seraphine said.
Kael laughed. "You can't end what's eternal."
Elior stepped forward.
"No. But I can rewrite you."
He raised his hand—and the node beneath his skin began to glow.
Light exploded.
Kael screamed.
Sera pulled Seraphine back as code began to disintegrate.
"No more slaves," Elior whispered.
"No more ghosts."
Kael's body shattered into strands of light.
The Core trembled.
Then—
Silence.
And one by one, across the galaxy… clone signals went dark.
And woke up—free.
***
As the Rogue Womb escaped the Osiris Void, Seraphine sat alone in the medbay.
Elior slept peacefully nearby.
Sera entered, silent.
"It's done," she said softly.
Seraphine didn't speak.
Until she whispered, "I wasn't made for this."
Sera leaned against the wall. "Neither was I."
"But we survived it," Seraphine said.
Sera smiled. "Maybe that's what makes us real."
They stood together, gazing out into the stars.
And for the first time since her creation… Seraphine felt like a person.
Not a weapon.
Not a pawn.
Not a clone.
A mother. A rebel. A woman with fire.
And somewhere, far across the systems—other Seraphines were waking up.
Free to choose.
Free to fight.
Or just… live.