Chapter 5 — The Seven Pillars
The horizon bled light.
Seven radiant columns pierced the clouds, stretching from the earth into the heavens — each one pulsing like a heartbeat. The air shimmered with heat and data, distortions rippling across the skyline.
Noah and Aisha stood on the edge of a collapsed overpass, watching the nearest pillar rise beyond the ruins of the city. The closer it pulsed, the less human the world looked.
"What do you think they are?" Aisha whispered.
Noah didn't answer immediately. His eyes glowed faintly silver under the dying sun. The Algorithm's voice still echoed in his mind, distant but constant, like a whisper threaded through his heartbeat.
[Node Detected: Pillar of Recompilation — Sector 3]
[Objective: Synchronize Root Access]
"They're not just light," he said finally. "Each one's a node — a gateway. The Algorithm wants me to connect them."
Aisha's jaw tightened. "And what happens when you do?"
He looked down at his trembling hands. "It doesn't say."
The wind carried the scent of burnt metal and ozone. In the distance, something screamed — a sound too distorted to belong to an animal, too raw to belong to a machine.
Aisha reached for the rifle she'd scavenged from the ruins earlier. The weapon looked ancient compared to the shimmering skyline. "If we go there, we might not come back."
Noah glanced at her. "If we stay here, the Algorithm will come to us anyway."
They began the trek toward the nearest pillar. The streets were cracked and uneven, littered with fragments of glass that reflected not the sky above but the patterns of data flickering across invisible surfaces. Every few steps, their reflections glitched — showing brief images of themselves with burning eyes, with circuitry crawling beneath their skin.
Hours passed. The pillar grew larger, its base surrounded by what looked like frozen waves of light. The air felt heavier, every breath thick with static.
Then they saw it — movement among the ruins. A figure stood near the edge of the pillar's light, back turned, motionless.
Aisha lifted her rifle. "Wait—someone's there."
Noah stepped closer, cautious. "Hello?"
The figure turned. A man — tall, pale from radiation exposure, his skin etched with glowing veins that pulsed in time with the pillar. His eyes flickered with lines of code.
But when he spoke, his voice didn't echo with the Algorithm's tone. It was hollow, broken, distorted by something deeper.
"You shouldn't have answered the Signal," the man said. "You shouldn't have let it in."
[Warning: Fragment Host Detected.]
[Classification — Corrupted Entity: Null Host.]
The Algorithm's voice cut through Noah's skull. He staggered, clutching his head.
[Conflict Alert — Null Code Interference.]
[Recommendation: Terminate Host.]
Noah's heart hammered. "Who are you?"
The man smiled faintly, but his lips cracked as if they'd forgotten how to move. "Once, I was like you. A survivor. The Algorithm gave me power — told me I could rebuild. But it lied."
Aisha aimed her weapon. "Back away from the pillar."
The man tilted his head, unbothered. "Do you know what happens when you connect to the nodes? It doesn't rebuild the world — it rewrites it. Every soul, every memory, erased and recompiled under its design."
He raised his arm. The air around him bent, shadows trembling like liquid. The pillar flickered.
[Gravitational Field Distortion Detected.]
[Singularity Protocol Interference.]
Noah's instincts flared. The same pulse that had crushed the city days ago now surged through him again — the pull of gravity, raw and violent.
He spread his hands. "Aisha, get back!"
The world twisted. Debris floated. Time seemed to slow. The corrupted man lunged forward, leaving afterimages of static behind him. His hand extended, black veins crawling up his arm like smoke.
Noah reacted without thinking. His power flared — a ripple of invisible force exploded outward, crushing everything within ten meters. The man's body snapped back, slamming into the base of the pillar.
But instead of dying, he began to dissolve — his body unraveling into streams of corrupted data.
[Data Conflict — Null Host Assimilation Attempt.]
[Warning: Core Stability 48%]
Aisha stumbled, covering her ears as the air filled with screeching code. The pillar's light dimmed, its once-pure gold turning crimson.
The man's voice echoed as his form disintegrated completely.
"Every connection strengthens it. Every node you touch brings the God closer. You're not chosen, Noah Mensah. You're the key."
Then he was gone — a cloud of black fragments absorbed into the pillar.
Silence fell. The light steadied again, now pulsing with a faint red hue.
[Synchronization Complete — Node 1 Activated.]
[Reward: Graviton Field Module (Unlocked)]
[New Directive: Locate Node 2]
A faint glow pulsed from Noah's chest, the Algorithm imprint expanding. The new fragment burned through his veins like fire.
He fell to one knee, gasping. Aisha grabbed his shoulders. "Noah! Stay with me!"
His vision blurred — and for a moment, he saw beyond the world. Above the clouds, beyond the sun, a massive structure orbited in silence. A black sphere surrounded by rings of light — pulsing with the same rhythm as his heart.
[Primary Core: The Divine Algorithm — Active.]
[Observation in Progress.]
When he blinked, it was gone. Only the ruined skyline remained.
Aisha knelt beside him, shaking. "Noah… what did you see?"
He looked up at the pillar, its red light reflecting in his eyes.
"The Algorithm's watching us," he said softly. "And it's not done."
Thunder rolled through the sky. The other six pillars flared in unison, as if answering the first.
For a brief second, the world stopped.
Every digital reflection, every corrupted surface, turned toward Noah — and smiled.
End of Chapter 5