Rix crashed her hover-bike onto the steps a second later. "Kaelen! Get on!"
"No time," Kaelen rasped, his skin knitting back together slowly. "The door."
The massive golden doors of the Sanctum were sealed. Rix ran to the control panel. She jacked in her cyber-arm. "It's encrypted! 256-bit rotating cipher. It will take me ten minutes!"
"You have ten seconds," a voice boomed.
The doors opened slowly. Standing there was an old man in white robes. He held a staff topped with a mechanical sun. High Priest Valen.[Level: ???][Class: System Administrator (Local)]
"You have caused quite a mess, Glitch," Valen said calmly. Behind him, the interior of the Sanctum was shaking as the city tilted.
"Move," Kaelen said. "I'm going downstairs."
"Downstairs?" Valen smiled sadly. "To the Tomb? You think releasing the Ancestor will save you? It will delete us all."
Valen raised his staff. [Command: /Freeze_Target_ID_Kaelen]
Blue chains of code erupted from the ground. They wrapped around Kaelen. Kaelen couldn't move. He couldn't use Fluidity. He couldn't Shadow Jump. He was Paused.
"The System is absolute," Valen said walking forward. "I can edit your reality, boy."
Valen placed the tip of his staff on Kaelen's forehead. [Command: /Delete_File]
Kaelen felt his mind unraveling. His memories were fading.