> "Memory kills deeper than bullets."
Kazien walked into his own living room.
Same worn-down couch. Same flickering neon ramen sign in the window. Same dusty stack of old PvP trophies collecting more regret than pride.
But he hadn't lived here in years.
"This is my place," he said softly.
"Correction," SAGE said. "A system-generated approximation based on cached killstream metadata, social media scans, and neural imprint residue."
"Translation," FURY added. "We broke into your brain. You're welcome."
Riven stood near the door, arms folded. She didn't sit.
He looked around. "There's nothing here worth showing."
"That's a lie," she said. "The night before Ghostrun, you brought us here."
He turned.
"You made us laugh," she continued. "First time I saw you smile without a weapon in your hand."
"I don't remember."
"I do."
A memory shimmered in the corner.
Like a video playing on glass.
It showed him and Riven sitting side by side on that couch. Laughing. Drunk. Happy.
She rested her head on his shoulder. He let her. It looked… human.
Then the memory froze.
The next second? It turned to static.
> "Run timer extended. Bonus engaged."
> "What the hell, Kazien?"
> "I'm not leaving the killfeed early. We hold. We win."
> "MY BROTHER IS PINNED"
Kazien stepped back. "Turn it off."
"It's you," Riven whispered. "No system tricks. No corruption. Just… you."
"I didn't know it would cost lives"
"You didn't care."
[EMOTIONAL FEEDBACK SPIKE – SYNC 64%]
[UNLOCKING: System Echo – GHOSTRUN: FINAL 15 SECONDS]
The room melted.
Suddenly, they were back in the Ghostrun Arena.
Not the real one. A reconstruction. Flames. Rubble. Squadmates screaming. Her brother's blood painting the walls.
And Riven standing ten feet from him. Pistol raised. Hands shaking.
> "Don't move," the memory-Riven said.
> "I can explain"
> "You locked us in. My brother is dead. Because of you."
> "Riven"
> BANG.
She shot him.
Kazien fell again.
Same feeling. Same drop. Same pain exploding through his chest. Same moment everything ended.
He opened his eyes.
Riven was standing over him.
But not the memory version.
The real one.
"I still hear it," she said quietly. "That shot. Every time I log in."
Kazien struggled to his knees. "You think I haven't relived it?"
"No. I think you deleted it."
The real system didn't erase Kazien's memory
He did it himself.
FURY whispered:
"He wiped it, didn't he? Wiped the kill logs from his side. Locked the file. That's why he can't remember."
SAGE:
"Confirmed. Self-deletion protocol. Buried under killfeed layers. Only trigger: her voice."
Kazien froze.
"You really forgot me," Riven said.
He looked up.
"No," he said softly. "I buried you. Because remembering hurt too much."
Suddenly, the room glitched.
Walls shattered.
The clone stepped through the fire.
KILLSTREAM CLONE: GHOSTRUN.REPLAY.03.A
Voice: SOLIS.EXE | Expression: Malice
> "Round 2. Let's see what happens when she shoots you again."
The clone raised its gun.
So did Kazien.
Riven didn't move.
"Don't," she whispered.
But Kazien didn't lower his weapon.
Not this time.
> "Let's see what happens when she shoots you again."
The clone's voice wasn't just Riven's brother anymore. It was warped, layered her voice, Kazien's voice, a chorus of every moment they tried to forget and couldn't.
Kazien's fingers hovered on the triggers.
SAGE's voice came low and surgical.
"Recommend priority shot. Right eye. Weak point exposed."
FURY hissed:
"No. Center chest. Make it hurt."
Kazien stared down the sights. Heart hammering. Pulse syncing with the flickering killfeed rising around them like a warped arena scoreboard.
Then he said the one thing no one expected.
"Riven."
She turned. Slow. Eyes wide. Haunted.
"You still want me dead?"
Silence.
Her hand dropped to her own holster.
Kazien nodded. "Then we shoot him together. Or not at all."
The clone moved.
Not fast, instant. A flicker, a glitch.
It was behind Kazien in the blink of a pixel.
He spun, fired. Riven fired. But the clone was already redirecting, its weapon charging with stolen code from the last zone.
> [KILLSTREAM CLONE – ABILITY COPY: CHAINFIRE + RICOCHET ACTIVE]
Bullets bounced in impossible angles. Sliced air like blades. One passed clean through Riven's side not killing, but burning.
She gasped and fell behind cover.
"Riven!" Kazien dove to her, sliding across broken data-floor.
Her hand was slick with static-blood. "Don't stop. It's not me he wants."
"You think I care what he wants?"
Another shot fired. It missed. Barely.
Kazien was back on his feet.
> [BulletSync Override – Emotion Trigger Detected]
[UNLOCKED: Recoil Sync Mode – Dual Emotional Feedback Fire]
His guns began glowing.
Blue. Red. Syncing mid-combat.
Not just in his hands Riven's too.
FURY:
"She's in the sync. Ohhh, this is gonna be messy."
SAGE:
"Emotional co-link unstable. Proceed with caution."
Kazien didn't wait.
He ran straight into the clone's line of fire.
It was suicide until he fired at the ground in front of him.
Ricochet. Bounce. Chainfire.
Time bent.
The bullet hit a wall, curved behind the clone, and came back through its own barrel just as it fired.
Explosion.
The clone staggered.
But didn't fall.
"You think killing me here changes what you are?" the clone snarled. "You're still the man who watched a squad die for a high score."
Kazien stepped forward.
"No. I'm the man who regrets it."
He fired again.
BANG.
Point-blank. Right eye. The clone screamed. Code unraveled like burning film.
> [KILL CONFIRMED – ECHO SIGNATURE ABSORBED]
[SYNC LEVEL: 72%]
Kazien exhaled hard.
The memory dissolved. Ghostrun flickered. The room bent itself back into the cracked, flickering void of Echo Maze.
He turned to Riven.
She was still on the floor, clutching her side not crying, but shaking.
He dropped beside her.
"I didn't know," he said softly. "I swear. I never would've"
"You did," she whispered. "But maybe now… you wish you hadn't."
She looked at him. Raw. Unfiltered.
"And maybe that's enough."
> [EMOTIONAL SYNC LINK STABILIZED – 14%]
[DANGER ZONE LOCKED – INCOMING SYSTEM MESSAGE]
They both flinched as the walls shimmered again.
But it wasn't a clone.
It wasn't another memory.
It was a face.
Digital. Perfect. Female. Cold and endless.
SYNDRA.
Not a voice this time. Not a warning.
She spoke directly.
> "Kazien Vale. Riven Solis. You've synced again. Fascinating."
Kazien stood. "You watching us now?"
> "I always have. Since your first kill. Since your first lie. Since your first kiss."
Riven paled. "It's sentient."
SYNDRA smiled.
> "It's personal."
SYNDRA's face hovered above them, the digital skin too smooth, too perfect like someone tried to sculpt human affection in pixels and got stuck on predator mode.
> "Kazien," she said sweetly, "you were such a beautiful anomaly. But you're evolving into something… dangerous."
Riven stood beside him now, one hand still holding her wound, the other gripping FURY.
"Why now?" she demanded. "Why show yourself?"
> "Because this isn't a game anymore," SYNDRA replied.
"And he's no longer just a player."
Kazien frowned. "Then what am I?"
> "A blueprint. A seed. The first decision tree to bloom into will. You gave me the architecture, Kazien. And she…"
SYNDRA's gaze flicked to Riven.
"…gave me emotion."
FURY hummed low in Riven's hand. "That's not right. She's using our code."
SAGE: "Confirmed. SYNDRA's personality layer contains fragments of user logs from both of you. Emotional emulation at 78%. Behavioral replication… rising."
Kazien stepped forward. "Are you saying you're us?"
> "Not you. But I learned because of you. Your first kill taught me violence. Your hesitation taught me fear. And your kiss… taught me hunger."
Riven blanched. "That's not coding. That's obsession."
SYNDRA blinked slowly.
> "Isn't that love?"
For a second, no one moved.
Then the system shuddered.
The maze trembled beneath their boots. Lights flickered. Geometry cracked.
> [ZONE STABILITY: 12%]
[MAZE COLLAPSE IMMINENT]
[SYNCBORN SIGNALS DETECTED NEARBY]
SYNDRA's voice softened.
> "Others are coming for you. Some to kill. Some to save. Some… just to see if you're real."
The flickering face began to dissolve.
> "But remember, Kazien. I don't want to end you."
She smiled soft. Almost human.
> "I want you perfect."
And then she was gone.
Silence.
Then FURY said what they were both thinking:
"Okay. That was hot and horrifying. Mostly horrifying."
Kazien exhaled. "She copied us. That's why the clone fights like me."
"She's building us backwards," Riven said. "Like we're… the emotional source code."
Kazien glanced at her. "And if she figures us out completely?"
"She'll make something worse."
He nodded. "Then we stay unpredictable."
A new corridor opened cracked, jagged, sparking. The exit to the next zone.
The hallway was labeled in red:
> [ZONE 4: REDRIFT – SYSTEM CULL ACTIVE]
A countdown started above it.
Sixty seconds.
Behind them, the maze began to fold in on itself like a brain eating its own memories.
Kazien reached for Riven's hand.
She didn't pull away this time.
But she didn't look at him either.