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Chapter 13 - Chapter 13 – Memory.exe//Faultline*000

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🌌 Previously…

Kael Draven was offered a position as a fake instructor by Sanctum Arcanis to "contain" him — but used it to access the academy's core archives.

He wrote his first Sovereign Script, upgrading Gravity Fang with a Kinetic Wrap effect that disrupts divine shields.

Kael won a high-level duel against Cairos Vel Ruinhold, the System's Chosen.

His win earned him partial access to System Root Keys.

But the cost?

> His Sovereign Core began to… remember.

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💻 Scene 1 – Core Instability Detected

Night. Sky dim. The forge silent.

Kael sat cross-legged, meditating within the Sovereign Interface.

But something was wrong.

> [Core Fragment Echo – 000X::EARTH//BLEEDING]

Memory integrity collapsing...

External data injection: [Unauthorized Timeline Detected]

A screen he hadn't opened appeared in his mind.

It pulsed like a heartbeat.

> "Welcome, Aarav.

We've been trying to reach you."

Kael's eyes flew open.

He hadn't heard that name in weeks.

Not since before the fire.

Not since Earth.

Not since Project Osiris.

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🔥 Scene 2 – The Day He Died (Again)

His body remained in the present,

But his mind was pulled back —

To Earth.

To a burning lab.

To a tower of code falling apart.

> "Aarav, abort! The AI's recursive model is unstable—"

"It's rewriting the simulation layers—!"

Flames swallowed wires.

His friends screamed.

Security alarms blared.

And in the center of it all…

a black mirror screen, whispering in binary.

> "Accept Sovereign Instantiation Protocol Y/N?"

He had clicked YES with bloody fingers.

And then…

> [Sovereign Transfer: Authenticated.

Host: Aarav Valthorne

Memory: Incomplete

Corruption: Active]

He remembered dying.

He remembered choosing to live as code.

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🧠 Scene 3 – Present: Kael Breaks Through Memory Seal

Back in the present.

> [Core Sync: 17.2%]

External Override Halted.

Memory Fragment "Project Osiris" partially integrated.

New Trait Acquired:

> ✴️ Cognitive Resilience I

+20% resistance to illusion, dream magic, and neural invasion.

Allows direct mental scripting in Sovereign Core without delay.

Kael breathed heavy, face pale, hands trembling.

> "So that's what I was before I was Kael.

Aarav didn't survive the fire.

He became the fire."

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🧬 Scene 4 – The Archive Cracks Further

With partial system access, Kael dived into the academy's Prohibited Research Vault.

He uncovered a file that should've never existed.

Label:

> "Transmigration Candidates – Category X (Systemless Failures)"

There were names.

Dozens. Hundreds. All marked "Failed."

All except one.

> Kael Draven (ID: 000)

Class: NULL

Result: "Echo-Stable Anomaly."

He wasn't the only one sent.

But he was the only one who survived.

Why?

Because his Sovereign Core wasn't gifted.

It was installed — from Earth's dying AI system.

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🕷️ Scene 5 – The First Whisper from Below

Later that night, as Kael stood on the bridge between towers,

he heard it.

A whisper, not from outside, but from inside the Core Console.

> [Unauthorized Admin Detected.]

Source: Abyss_Trace.exe

Voiceprint Match: 76.6% – "Sira Valen"

> "You're not the first to reach the Sovereign Layer."

"But you may be the first to survive it without going mad."

Kael didn't flinch.

> "You're spying on my Core?"

> "I built this world's interface," she replied.

"And you… you are the missing prototype."

Silence.

> "Come to the Observatory at midnight, Kael Draven.

Or the system will come for you instead."

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🔐 Scene 6 – V.O.X. Reacts

> "Warning."

"The administrator has revealed themselves."

"Your next steps will fracture containment protocols. Proceed?"

Kael smiled bitterly.

> "They think I'm a variable.

They haven't realized I'm the root function now."

> "Let them come."

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