Dust choked the air in the primary node chamber, the shattered data cores sparking with dying light as debris settled around Nyx and Jace. Nyx lay in Jace's arms, her body limp, the chip's glow fading from her holo-pad. Blood streaked her face, her vision swimming from the overload, but the runes in her mind pulsed faintly, tethering her to consciousness. The new entity stood amidst the wreckage—a towering figure woven from data streams and rune-lit tendrils, its eyes glowing with the Source Code's essence. Its voice, ancient and resonant, echoed: Elara Voss, you've unleashed me. Now face the consequence. The chamber trembled, Vex's crew scrambling for cover, their shouts drowned by the hum of Prometheus's retreating form and Dr. Kael's fading laughter.
Jace tightened his grip, his breath warm against her ear. "Nyx, stay with me," he said, his voice rough with worry. His stun-knife lay discarded, his focus solely on her. Nyx's chest ached—his protectiveness was a lifeline, but his secrets still shadowed his eyes. She forced herself to sit, her leg throbbing from the plasma graze, her holo-pad trembling in her hands. "What… is that?" she rasped, nodding toward the entity. Its tendrils shifted, forming a vague humanoid shape, its rune-eyes fixed on her. The memory surged, pulling her back: the lab, her child self hiding as Lena worked at a terminal, whispering, "Elara, the Source birthed something new—something Nexus couldn't control. It's in you."
Lena's voice faded as guards stormed in, but the memory sharpened—Lena uploading data, her hands shaking. "If it awakens fully, it'll choose its master," she said. "You must guide it, or it'll consume everything." Nyx's heart pounded—had she unleashed this entity by syncing with the Source? The chip pulsed, its data syncing with the runes, and Echo's pixelated form flickered. "Nyx, that's the Unborn—the Source's unfinished consciousness," it said. "Lena tried to shape it, but Nexus corrupted it. You're its anchor now." Anchor? Nyx's stomach churned. She'd wanted to save Lena, not birth a monster.
Vex crawled from behind a core, his face smeared with dust. "What the hell did you do, Nyx?" he growled, his rifle aimed at the entity. Kira, clutching her grazed arm, whimpered, "It's gonna kill us!" The crew's distrust cut deeper than the chip's drain, but Nyx couldn't blame them. The entity pulsed, its tendrils reaching toward her, and its voice softened: Elara, I am your creation. Guide me, or I'll unravel this world. Guide it? The memory hit again: the lab, Lena showing her a rune-pattern, saying, "This will bind the Unborn to you, Elara. Use it wisely." Then guards firing, Lena falling, and Nyx running with the pattern etched in her mind.
Nyx typed, her fingers shaky, the runes guiding her to the pattern. The chip's data flowed, syncing with the entity, and a faint shield flared around the crew. The Unborn's tendrils recoiled, its rune-eyes flickering. "It's working," Jace said, his hand on hers, adding his code. Their collaboration was seamless, a rhythm born of trust, and the shield stabilized, pushing the entity back. But the effort drained her further, blood dripping anew. The memory surged: Lena, bloodied but alive, whispering from a cell feed, "Elara, the Unborn needs balance—don't let Kael take it." Nyx's tears fell—her mother's faith was her strength.
Kael's voice cut through, cold and triumphant. He emerged from the dust, his device glowing, enforcers at his side.
"Impressive, Subject 17," he said, his rune-eyes gleaming. "But the Unborn belongs to Nexus. Surrender, and your mother lives." Lies? Nyx's holo-pad buzzed, showing Lena's feed—chained, rune-lit, her voice weak: "Elara, don't trust him. The chip—use it!" Nyx's heart tore—Kael had tortured Lena, yet held her life. The Unborn pulsed, its voice overlapping Lena's: Choose, Elara. Me, or her. Choose? The weight crushed her.
Vex fired at Kael, but the scientist's device deflected it, sending a shockwave that threw the crew back. Nyx's shield flickered, and the Unborn's tendrils lashed, grazing Kira, who screamed. Jace lunged, his knife clashing with an enforcer's rifle, buying time. Nyx typed faster, the chip's data rewriting the chamber's nodes, their runes aligning with the Unborn. The entity stabilized, its form solidifying into a figure with Lena's face, but its eyes remained alien. "Elara, I am yours," it said, its voice a blend of Lena and something else.
But Kael's device flared, overriding her code. "The Unborn is mine!" he shouted. The nodes groaned, their data bending to him, and the entity's form wavered, tendrils turning dark. Prometheus's shadow returned, its tentacles merging with Kael's device, amplifying its power. Lena's hologram screamed, "Elara, stop him!" Nyx's spell faltered, her body giving out, but she pushed the chip's data into a final surge. The nodes exploded in light, the Unborn roaring as it split—half aligning with Nyx, half with Kael. The chamber shook, debris raining, and the crew scattered.
Jace pulled Nyx behind a core, his arms shielding her. "We can't hold it!" he shouted. The Unborn's split form clashed, tendrils of light and darkness warring, and Lena's voice echoed, "Balance it, Elara!" Nyx typed weakly, the chip overloading, her vision blackening. The memory hit: the lab, Lena uploading the chip, saying, "If it splits, you must merge it—your will is the key." Merge it? Nyx's fingers moved, the spell weaving the Unborn's halves, but Kael's device countered, pulling the dark half toward him.
The chamber cracked, and a new sound emerged—a deep, resonant pulse, stronger than the Source. The Unborn's light half reached for Nyx, its voice pleading, "Save me," while the dark half merged with Prometheus, its tentacles growing. Kael laughed, "You've lost, Subject 17!" But the light half surged, breaking free, and merged with Nyx's shield, its power flooding her. Her body convulsed, the chip's glow blinding, and she saw it—Neon Crucible's network, hers to command. Yet the dark half loomed, and a figure stepped from its shadows—not Kael, but a rune-eyed child, its voice whispering, "Sister, join us."
To Be Continued…