Chapter 8 – Prototype Administrator
Kai couldn't breathe.
The words remained on his screen.
«Welcome back, Dr. Kai Mercer.
Prototype Administrator #7.»
"No."
His voice came out as a whisper.
"No... that's impossible."
The notification didn't disappear.
It remained there, glowing coldly in the darkness of the tunnel.
Kai's hands trembled.
His entire life flashed through his mind.
Working odd jobs.
The apartment.
The hospital.
His brother.
The fire.
The countless ordinary memories that made him who he was.
None of them belonged to a scientist.
None of them belonged to an Administrator.
None of them belonged to a man standing in a secret facility minutes before the end of the world.
So why did the face in the recording belong to him?
---
Pain exploded behind his eyes.
Kai dropped to one knee.
A flood of images slammed into his mind.
A laboratory.
A circular chamber.
A machine larger than a skyscraper.
Scientists screaming.
Emergency sirens.
A countdown.
And himself—
Wearing a white coat.
Arguing with someone.
---
The memory shattered before he could hear the words.
Kai gasped.
Blood dripped from his nose.
---
Memory Recovery Interrupted
Recovery Progress: 0.3%
Further Recovery May Cause Neural Damage
---
"Who am I?" Kai whispered.
For the first time since the Reset began, he wasn't sure.
---
Then the tunnel lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
---
A new notification appeared.
One that wasn't from the System.
The text was handwritten.
Just like the warning from before.
---
Stop Digging.
---
Kai's heart skipped.
---
You Were Given A New Life.
Take It.
Forget.
Survive.
---
Then a final sentence appeared.
---
Or We Will Remember For You.
---
The message vanished.
---
Silence returned.
But only for a moment.
Because somewhere ahead...
Something moved.
---
Kai activated Battle Map.
Blue lines spread through the tunnel.
Immediately, his expression changed.
The map wasn't empty.
Not even close.
There were dozens of life signatures ahead.
All stationary.
All clustered together.
---
Survivors?
---
Carefully, Kai approached.
The tunnel opened into a massive underground station.
His flashlight illuminated rows of benches.
Vending machines.
Broken advertisements.
A collapsed train.
And people.
Hundreds of them.
---
Kai froze.
None of them moved.
Not a single one.
Men.
Women.
Children.
All sitting perfectly still.
Eyes open.
Staring forward.
Like statues.
---
Unknown Status Detected
Target Classification: Unavailable
System Access Denied
---
Kai's instincts screamed.
Run.
Run now.
---
A little girl suddenly turned her head.
Her eyes locked onto him.
Then she smiled.
---
Every other head in the station turned at the exact same moment.
---
Hundreds of faces.
Hundreds of smiles.
---
And all of them spoke in perfect unison.
«"Administrator Seven."»
---
The station lights exploded.
Darkness swallowed everything.
---
Then a single massive eye opened beneath the train tracks.
An eye larger than a bus.
An eye that should not exist.
An eye that had been sleeping beneath the station for a very long time.
---
A voice shook the entire underground network.
«"At last..."»
«"One of my creators has returned."»
---
WORLD EVENT TRIGGERED
Dormant Entity Detected
Designation: ███████
Threat Level: UNKNOWN
Administrator Presence Confirmed
---
And for the first time since the Reset began...
The System itself sounded afraid.