The Omega Core was colder than expected.
The moment the submersible doors opened, a strange pressure wrapped around Ronin's chest—not just from the ocean depths, but something heavier. Like eyes in the dark. Watching. Judging.
The corridor ahead shimmered faintly, walls lined with bioluminescent symbols that seemed to shift if you looked too long. The air buzzed—not with electricity, but with… memory.
Kael stepped forward, eyes wide. "This place is alive."
Kai placed a hand on the wall. "It remembers us."
Ronin took the lead, his fingers tracing the cold surface. "Then let's wake it up."
They walked carefully through the circular hallway, passing rusted control panels and shattered containment pods. Some pods still had remains—bones curled in fetal positions, others half-melted by time or power surges. It wasn't just a lab. It was a graveyard.
Ruby spoke quietly, "How many were like us?"
Kael answered, "Dozens… maybe more. Failed batches. Versions that didn't survive memory sync. Or those who resisted the programming too soon."
Kai looked away. "I remember their screams."
Suddenly, the corridor twisted.
Literally.
The floor tilted thirty degrees to the left. Ruby stumbled, catching herself on Ronin's arm.
"What the—did the building move?"
Kael's eyes widened. "No. Our minds did."
A soft chuckle echoed from the end of the hallway. Feminine. Familiar.
They turned.
There she stood—barefoot, long black hair drifting like smoke around her head, golden eyes glowing like twin suns.
Elira.
R-05.
Her voice purred through the corridor. "You finally came home."
Ronin stepped forward, cautiously. "We didn't come for games, Elira."
"Oh, I know." Her smile was serene. "You came for the code. For the truth."
"Where is it?" Kael asked sharply.
But Elira didn't answer. She drifted closer without walking, feet gliding inches above the ground. "Kael, still sharp as ever. And little Kai… still carrying too much pain."
Her gaze fell on Ruby. "You're new."
Ruby raised a weapon. "Back off."
Elira tilted her head, intrigued. "Protective. Loyal. I like her." She looked at Ronin. "Is she yours?"
Ronin said nothing.
"That's adorable," Elira continued, ignoring the tension. "But pointless. Emotions here are dangerous, Ronin. This place feeds on thought. On belief. You remember what happened to R-06, don't you?"
Ronin's jaw tightened. "You twisted him."
"No," Elira said calmly. "I freed him."
Kael shouted, "You corrupted him! You fed him incomplete code and made him attack us!"
Elira blinked slowly. "Did I? Or did the code show him what he truly was?"
Kai stepped forward. "Where's the original? The Final Sequence?"
Elira's smile faded.
Then, she turned and walked into the wall—vanishing like mist.
The wall behind her shimmered.
A doorway appeared.
Without a word, Ronin walked through.
Inside the Memory Chamber
It was like stepping into someone's dream.
The room was spherical, floating in blue light. No floor. No ceiling. Just energy beneath their feet and memories projected across the walls.
Thousands of moments flickered like broken film reels—each one a piece of Ronin's life, Kael's training, Kai's fears.
A projection played—Ronin as a child, strapped to a table, wires running into his spine.
"Subject R-01N1N: Immune to neural overwrite." "Recommend memory suppression injection."
Another image—Kael in combat, fists surrounded by kinetic shields, blood pouring from her ears as alarms blared.
Kai cried out, clutching his head. "Make it stop…"
Ronin turned to him, holding him upright. "Stay focused. This isn't real. They're echoes."
Elira's voice came from nowhere and everywhere. "This is real, Ronin. Your past is your weapon now."
Kael gritted her teeth. "You said we came for the code. Where is it?"
The chamber shifted.
A single pedestal rose from the center, holding a black cube—smooth, pulsing, humming with restrained energy.
"The Omega Protocol," Elira's voice whispered.
Ronin stepped forward.
Elira materialized in front of the cube. "But once you touch it, there's no going back."
"What do you mean?"
"It will unlock everything. Every suppressed memory. Every pain. Every loss. Every moment they wiped from your minds to make you obedient." She looked at Kael. "You'll remember your sister."
Kael froze. "I… had a sister?"
Elira nodded. "And they made you forget."
She turned to Kai. "You'll remember the day they first cloned you."
Kai stepped back, shaken. "I'm not… the original?"
"No one is."
Finally, she looked at Ruby. "And you… you'll see what Ronin was meant to be."
Ruby looked at Ronin. He was breathing heavier now, sweat forming on his brow.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
Ronin looked at the cube.
He didn't know.
He had come this far searching for answers, but now they stood in front of him—and they were terrifying.
What if the truth changed everything?
What if he couldn't come back from it?
Kael stepped beside him. "Whatever's in there… we face it together."
Ronin nodded.
He reached forward.
Touching the Omega Protocol
The moment his fingers brushed the surface of the cube, light exploded.
He screamed.
Not in pain—but in overwhelming awareness.
He saw everything.
His first breath.
The syringe in his neck.
The doctor who hesitated before starting the integration process.
The alien ship crashing into the Arctic.
The moment the Council decided to create him.
Not a soldier.
Not a savior.
A weapon.
And then—something else.
A dark figure. Watching from the void.
Eyes like black stars.
Whispers in a language that wasn't language at all.
He heard one word clearly:
"Aethernal."
Ronin Collapses
When the light faded, Ronin lay on the floor, gasping. His skin glowed faintly under his shirt. The runes on his arms had shifted—more complex now, interwoven with alien script.
Kael helped him sit up. "Are you okay?"
Ronin looked at her. "I know who I am now."
Elira stepped back. "Then the game begins."
Suddenly, the walls of the chamber cracked.
Sirens began to wail.
Kai shouted, "She triggered the fail-safe!"
Ruby grabbed Ronin's arm. "We have to get out!"
The exit corridor reappeared, but everything shook violently. Pieces of the ceiling began falling.
Elira smiled. "Good luck."
She vanished in a swirl of smoke.
Escape from the Core
As they ran through the shaking halls, the runes pulsed faster and faster.
Kael led them through collapsing tunnels. Kai used his powers to hold back crashing debris. Ruby dragged Ronin forward.
They reached the submersible just as the chamber behind them imploded.
The hatch sealed.
The vessel launched.
Above them, the Omega Core began collapsing—burying its secrets beneath a mountain of ocean pressure.
Back on the Surface
Hours later, they emerged under moonlight.
Soaked. Exhausted. Changed.
Ronin stood silently on the shore, looking at his hands.
Kael stepped beside him. "What did you see?"
Ronin didn't answer for a while.
Then, quietly: "We're not just weapons. We're not even human anymore."
Ruby took his hand. "You're still you."
Ronin looked into her eyes.
"For now."
He turned to the others.
"There's something bigger coming. That word I heard—'Aethernal'—it's not just a name. It's a warning."
Kai stepped forward. "Then what do we do?"
Ronin's eyes glowed.
"We fight."
To Be Continued...
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