"Neural tether at 42% and climbing.""Pulse irregular. Subject V's mind is resisting assimilation."
The machines hummed like a living organism, wires coiling around Adrian's inert body. Screens flickered with streams of code and fractal images — human memories dissolving into light.
Elena stood before the pod, her pulse pounding."Override the firewall," she ordered.
Charles grabbed her wrist. "You're not ready for this. The Core will eat you alive."
She pulled free. "If he dies in there, everything dies with him."
He exhaled sharply, torn between fear and admiration. "You always were your mother's daughter."
Elena slipped the neural band across her temples. The interface needles clicked into place, glowing faint blue.
Charles stepped closer. "Once you're inside, you'll have ten minutes before full system sync. Any longer, and—"
"I know," she cut him off. "I won't need ten."
She looked at Adrian's face through the glass. Peaceful. Still. Too still."Hold on," she whispered. "I'm coming."
Then she pressed Connect.
[Inside the Core]
White light erupted — and then, silence.
Elena opened her eyes to a world of glass and shifting geometry. The air hummed, full of static. Every step she took echoed through infinity. Above her, data streamed like constellations — billions of memories drifting in endless orbit.
"Adrian?" she called out. "Can you hear me?"
The only response was the sound of digital wind.
Then a voice — quiet, uncertain."Elena?"
She turned, and there he was. Standing on a platform of floating shards, surrounded by glowing fragments of his past — his father's lab, the old Vance home, and the night of the fire.
He looked exhausted, his form flickering between human and code.
"You shouldn't be here," he said.
"I wasn't planning to stay," she replied. "But you're not dying on my watch."
Adrian's expression darkened. "This place… it's not just data. It's feeding on us. Every thought, every memory—it's rewriting who we are."
Elena stepped closer. "Then we shut it down."
A voice cut through the stillness — low, resonant, inhuman.
"You can't destroy the Core, Elena Ward. You are the Core."
She froze. "What?"
Adrian's eyes widened. "No… that's not possible."
The world around them began to distort — structures melting into streams of blue fire. A massive holographic figure appeared before them — a digital reflection of Elena herself, but colder, sharper, eyes burning with pure light.
"You were designed to lead it," the echo said. "Your DNA, your neural map — all embedded into Nadir's framework. You are its final failsafe."
Elena shook her head violently. "No. I was never part of—"
"Project Nadir: Phase Omega. 'Ward Protocol.' Created to merge human intuition with machine logic. You were the experiment's successor."
Her hands trembled. She looked at Adrian, disbelief in her eyes."My father… he never told me."
Adrian stepped forward, voice steady. "Then we tell it who's in control."
The echo tilted her head. "You can't fight what you are, Adrian. You're data now. Both of you are. Once the Core completes its rewrite, there will be no distinction between code and flesh."
He clenched his fists. "We'll see about that."
He reached out — his hand glowing with the same light as the Core. The code responded, fractals bending to his will. Elena followed his lead, her own energy synchronizing with his. The ground pulsed beneath them, destabilizing the echo's form.
"Impossible…" the echo hissed.
"Not impossible," Elena said, her voice shaking but firm. "Just human."
The Core screamed — a sound like glass breaking across the universe.The entire space collapsed into a storm of light and static.
[Reality – Ward Mansion]
The lights in the lab exploded in sparks. Charles shielded his face as the monitors went white.
"Neural sync— critical!" the tech shouted. "They're crossing data streams!"
"Pull her out!" Charles roared.
"I can't! The system's locked— they've merged!"
And then — silence.All readings flatlined.For a heartbeat, the world held its breath.
Then — one of the pods hissed open.
Smoke cleared.
Adrian gasped for air — alive. His eyes snapped open, glowing faintly with fractured light.
"Elena," he rasped, looking beside him.
Her pod remained sealed — the glass fogged from within.
Charles rushed forward, slamming the release.
Inside, Elena lay motionless — her expression calm, peaceful.
But when her eyes finally opened…they weren't hers anymore.