For a full, stretched moment, no one in the engineering tower breathed.
Ethan stared at the silver-eyed woman standing in the shattered doorway.
Her armour—smooth obsidian plates lined with circuits of pale blue light—hummed softly.
Her spear—if it could be called that—was pure energy, a crystalline blade of condensed light.
She was human-shaped.
But she was not human.
Behind Ethan, Lena shifted uneasily. "Ethan… what is she?"
Ash hovered defensively between them, flickering.
[WARNING: ENERGY SIGNATURE IS EXTREMELY HIGH.]
[THIS INDIVIDUAL IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR COMBAT.]
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Not recommended for combat? Ash, an Administrator, wasn't recommended for combat."
[CORRECTION: SHE IS SIGNIFICANTLY WEAKER THAN AN ADMINISTRATOR.]
[BUT SIGNIFICANTLY STRONGER THAN YOU.]
That did not feel comforting.
The woman—Kai'Alar—tilted her head slightly, studying Ethan with a sharp, measured gaze.
"You're injured," she observed. "Burns. Cracked ribs. Overextended muscles. Yet…"
Her eyes softened with something almost like curiosity.
"…you remain standing."
Ethan tightened his grip on the metal pipe.
"Yeah, well, standing's the easy part. Talking to aliens? A bit new."
Kai blinked.
"Alien?"
"You're not from Earth."
"No," she said simply. "I am not."
That confirmed it.
Lena stepped forward before Ethan could stop her. "Who are you? What do you want with him?"
Kai's expression shifted—from curious to amused.
"So protective," she murmured. "You care deeply for him."
Lena flushed. "That's not—! I mean—I'm just—!"
Kai ignored her flustered sputtering and turned back to Ethan.
"I am Kai'Alar," she repeated, "Envoy of the Iridescent Dominion. I was dispatched the moment the Administrator you encountered was… destroyed."
Ethan swallowed hard.
"So you're here for revenge?"
"No," Kai said. "Had I been here for vengeance, the building you shelter in would already be dust."
Lena's breath caught.
Kai continued, "I came to verify the anomaly's existence."
Ethan blinked. "You keep calling me that. 'The anomaly.'"
"Yes," she said. "Because that is what you are."
Her silver eyes burned with a strangely warm intensity.
"You possess a system that should not exist."
Ethan stiffened. "Trust me, I've gathered that much."
"No." She stepped closer, her armoured boots clicking lightly against the marble floor. "You misunderstand. It is not that your system is rare, or flawed, or illegally modified—although all of those are true."
Ethan fought the instinct to back away.
"Then what is it?"
Kai's voice lowered, almost reverent.
"Your system was erased from the universe entirely. Its code was deleted from all future timelines. There should not be even a memory of it left."
Ethan froze solid.
Lena whispered, "Erased? But… It's still here."
"Exactly," Kai said.
She moved closer—so close Ethan could see faint patterns shifting beneath her armour's surface.
"You, Ethan Vale… should not exist in your current form."
Ethan's skin prickled.
"I wasn't even trying to exist in any special form," he muttered. "I'm just—me."
Kai gave him a faint smile. "Yes. And yet, you disrupted something ancient. Something delicate."
Ethan frowned. "What?"
She held up her hand. Tiny glyphs of light rotated above her palm like holographic runes.
"The System."
Ethan's stomach dropped.
"You already know it governs your world now," Kai said. "You know it transformed your reality. But you do not know its history."
Ash flickered anxiously.
[WARNING: IRRELEVANT TRANSFER OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.]
[REQUESTING PERMISSION TO MUTE.]
Kai shot the cube a disdainful glance.
"You are an incomplete assistant with corrupted directives. Be silent."
Ash sputtered.
[R—RUDE.]
Kai returned her attention to Ethan.
"The System is… old. Ancient. Older than the first civilisations. Older than the first galaxies to stabilise. It was not created to empower."
She paused, letting the words sink in.
"It was created to control."
Ethan exchanged a look with Lena.
Her expression reflected his disbelief.
"Control what?" Ethan asked slowly.
Kai's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Unpredictable life."
Ethan's heart thudded.
"That's… humanity?" he asked.
"Humanity is one instance. There have been countless before. Each time a species demonstrates unpredictable growth or evolution, the System intervenes. It assigns classes, roles, and limitations. It prunes chaotic variables."
"And my system?" Ethan asked.
"That," Kai said, "is worse."
Lena's brow furrowed. "Worse in what way?"
Kai looked Ethan dead in the eyes.
"Your system is an anti-system. A contradiction. A weapon against rules. It evolves without permission. It grows without limitation. It disrupts the balance that the System enforces."
She took another step forward, her voice gaining intensity.
"It makes you… dangerous."
Ethan swallowed hard. "To whom?"
Kai held his gaze.
"To everything."
A shocked murmur rippled through the room.
Ethan's throat tightened. "I never asked for this. I didn't even want a system. I just… wanted to survive."
"And that," Kai said, "is why you intrigue me."
He blinked. "Intrigue you?"
Kai extended her hand.
Palm open.
Unarmed.
"Come with me," she said softly. "Let me take you away from Earth. Let me train you. Let me help you understand what you are—and what you can become."
Ethan stiffened.
Lena gasped, stepping between them.
"No!" she snapped, standing defensively in front of Ethan. "He's not going anywhere with you!"
Kai's silver eyes narrowed, though not in hostility.
"You misunderstand, human. If he remains here, he will bring destruction not only to himself but to all of you."
Ethan stepped forward. "Meaning?"
Kai tapped the side of her arm.
A holographic projection flickered to life—a map of Earth covered in red dots.
Ethan's stomach lurched.
"What are those?"
"Administrator signals," Kai said. "More than a dozen. They are searching for you, Ethan Vale."
Lena looked horrified.
"They're… coming here?"
Kai nodded solemnly.
"In forty-eight hours, perhaps less, they will descend. When that happens, your world—your entire planet—will become the battleground for their hunt."
Ethan felt cold all over.
Not fear.
Not shock.
A bone-deep weight settling into his chest.
"Ethan," Lena whispered, "we have to move. Now. We have to hide or—"
"There is nowhere to hide," Kai interrupted.
"Then we fight," Lena snapped.
Kai smiled sadly. "Against Administrators? Your hope is admirable. It is also futile."
Lena clenched her fists. "Then we evacuate—"
"To where?" Kai asked gently. "This world has been tagged as unstable. No safe zone will remain."
Ethan exhaled shakily.
"So… what?" he asked. "What's your angle here? Why help me?"
Kai lowered her hand.
"Because I am an anomaly, too."
Ethan blinked.
"What?"
Kai's silver eyes glowed brighter.
"I defected from the Dominion. Because I oppose the System. Because I have seen what it does to worlds like yours. And because I believe you are the key to changing everything."
Lena looked between them, confused and tense.
Ethan felt dizzy.
"You're saying I'm some kind of… chosen one?"
Kai shook her head.
"No. Not chosen. Just… alive, when you should not be."
She held out her hand again.
"Come with me. Let me teach you. Let me help you survive what comes next."
Silence.
Everyone watched Ethan.
Lena grabbed his hand.
"Ethan… please. Don't go with her."
He looked at her—into her frightened eyes, into the fear she wasn't bothering to hide anymore.
Then he looked at Kai—
calm, powerful, with answers he desperately needed.
Two paths.
Two futures.
And no time.
Ethan swallowed hard.
His voice came out quiet, but steady:
"I'm not leaving Earth."
Kai's eyes widened slightly.
"Why?"
Ethan looked around the room.
"These people need me."
And then he met Lena's gaze.
"She needs me."
Lena's breath caught.
Kai stared at him for a long moment.
Then she smiled.
Soft.
Almost proud.
"Then I shall stay as well."
Ethan blinked. "What?"
Kai deactivated her spear.
"If you will not leave Earth… then I will remain and fight with you."
Lena's jaw dropped. "You—you're staying?!"
Kai nodded.
"I will help you prepare, anomaly. I will help you survive the coming Administrators. And I will help you unlock the full potential of your impossible system."
Ethan felt something shift deep inside him.
Hope.
Real hope.
But then Ash pulsed sharply.
[WARNING.]
Everyone froze.
[A NEW ADMINISTRATOR SIGNAL HAS ENTERED LOW ORBIT.]
Kai's face darkened.
"They're early."
Ethan steadied himself.
The war was coming.
And he wasn't ready.
But he wasn't alone anymore.