The message played again in the silence.
"If you are reading this, you are my son. You are the last hope."
Elian didn't move. His breath caught in his throat.
That voice. It was his father.
Not a machine's voice. Not a fake one. It was him.
The way he used to sound when he hummed while fixing wires or whispered bedtime stories late into the night.
Mira stood frozen beside him. Her hand was shaking slightly. "Elian… that's him."
He nodded slowly. "I know."
The message kept playing.
"I don't have much time. If this reached you, it means I failed to stop them. It means you survived. And I'm proud of you, Elian."
Elian's jaw tightened. His metal hand curled into a fist.
"I used the last AI core not to build a weapon, but to give you something they can't touch. A mind that feels. A soul that chooses. I built it into you. Because I trust you. I believe in you."
The voice wavered now, like he was holding back tears.
"You will be hunted. They will fear you. But you must survive. And if you ever feel lost... remember who you are. You are my son. And you are the last hope."
The message ended.
Silence filled the room, but it didn't feel empty. It felt heavy. Like the whole world had stopped to listen.
Elian turned his back to Mira. "He didn't say goodbye."
She took a slow step closer. "He didn't have to. He gave you everything."
The bot beside them floated silently. Its green light dimmed, glowing a soft blue. It was calm now. As if it understood.
"We have to go," Mira said gently.
They left the hidden room. As they walked down the next corridor, Elian felt something pulsing beneath the floor.
"I feel it again," he whispered.
Mira looked at him. "What?"
"The heartbeat."
She knelt and touched the floor. Her eyes widened. "It's not just you. It's real. Something's alive down here."
Then the sound came. A metal shriek behind them. Sharp. Twisted.
Elian grabbed Mira's hand and ran.
They didn't speak. They didn't look back.
But the sound followed.
Up above, in the control tower, Director Vance stared at a blinking signal on a screen.
The boy had gone deeper. Past the limits. Into the place no one dared go.
"He's inside the core," someone said.
Vance's eyes narrowed. "He's still alive. That means the Machine knows."
"She's on the move," another voice whispered.
Vance didn't blink. "She's coming."
Back in the tunnels, Elian and Mira slammed a door shut behind them.
Silence.
They backed away slowly.
Elian turned to find something carved into the metal wall.
A circle inside a triangle.
His father's symbol.
He touched it.
The wall opened.
Inside was another room. Brighter. Wider. Filled with old screens and tools.
Mira stepped inside first. "This is a lab."
Elian followed. "It's his lab. He rebuilt it down here."
In the center of the room stood a metal pod.
Inside it, wrapped in cloth, was something large.
Elian uncovered it.
A new bot. Bigger than the one that followed him. Sleek. Heavy. Dark blue.
He reached out to touch it.
The moment his hand touched metal, the bot powered on.
Its eyes lit up.
"Elian Vale," it said. "System online. Companion unit Echo is now active."
Elian stepped back. "What are you?"
The bot turned its head. "I was made for you. By your father."
Mira looked up. "It's awake."
"I'm not ready," Elian whispered.
The bot looked at him.
"You don't have to be," it replied. "You just have to survive."
Then the noise returned.
This time, it wasn't just one sound.
It was many.
Screeching. Clicking. Crawling metal coming closer from the dark.
They were surrounded.
And they were not alone anymore.