The Architect sat alone in the cold metallic chamber of his underground facility, the dim blue glow of screens wrapping the room like a digital twilight. All around him, shifting holograms of Kayden, city maps, and bio-signature data flickered in the air. He didn't blink once. Not even after hours of staring.
He was thinking.
Calculating.
Planning.
The fight between Kayden and Ragna had changed everything.
He had seen Kayden's unlock—only a fraction of it—but he had seen enough to know that something ancient slept inside the boy. Something beyond his original expectations. And something dangerous.
His fingertips tapped the desk—steady, precise, rhythmic.
A sign that the Architect was unsettled.
His co-workers stood nearby, silent, waiting for orders.
Finally, his voice sliced through the hum of machines.
"First priority," he said. "We monitor Kayden. Every second. Every movement. I don't care if he's in school, at home, or asleep. If he breathes differently, I want to know."
The technicians nodded and began pulling up surveillance feeds.
The Architect continued, voice low:
"And if anything—anything at all—points toward the shadow that destroyed my drone… notify me immediately."
Even his co-workers shifted nervously at that.
The unknown figure who had intercepted his drone had shaken the Architect more than he wanted to admit. Someone with power he didn't control was moving around Kayden. That alone was intolerable.
He clenched one hand into a fist behind his back.
Someone else was interfering with his plans.
And he hated unpredictability.
---
In the adjacent chamber, Ragna and the newly empowered Vex Crew members stood in a straight line, restless like wolves ready to tear something apart. Their new abilities buzzed around them in faint waves—uncontrolled energy leaking from their bodies. None of them had fully adapted yet.
Ragna, now the strongest among them, glared toward the door, hungry for a rematch with Kayden. The power inside him demanded release.
The Architect walked in.
Silence instantly filled the room.
"You will remain still," he commanded, "until I say otherwise."
Ragna's expression twisted.
"But Kayden—"
"Kayden is not your concern," the Architect snapped, his voice cold enough to freeze the air. "Not yet."
Ragna lowered his head.
The Architect paced before them.
"If the police find even one trace of this base, or your enhancements, or the process you underwent, everything—everything—we've built collapses. And I will not allow that."
The Vex Crew swallowed hard.
They knew what he meant: if they slipped up, death wouldn't come from the police.
It would come from him.
He turned, hands behind his back.
"There is… one more issue. The other Vex Crew—the ones who ran away when the rest of you came to me for power." His voice sharpened. "They know too much. They can lead the authorities here, even if unintentionally."
Ragna's eyes flickered with anger.
He already despised those who ran.
"They must be removed," the Architect said quietly. "Quietly. Permanently."
Everyone stiffened.
Then he pointed at one man:
Jex.
The second strongest among them, but more level-headed than Ragna.
That was why the Architect trusted him with delicate tasks.
"You," the Architect said. "You will eliminate them. All of them. No witnesses. No mistakes."
Jex felt his chest tighten.
He didn't want this mission.
But refusing the Architect wasn't an option.
Not unless he wanted to end up inside one of those power-extracting tubes like Ragna had once been.
He lowered his head slowly.
"…Understood."
The Architect walked past him, whispering so only Jex could hear:
"Failure is not acceptable."
Jex nodded again, even though his stomach twisted.
---
Across the City… Kayden Couldn't Shake the Feeling
Kayden walked through school hallways as if nothing had changed, blending into crowds, keeping his head low. But inside, something pulsed—something heavy, sharp, and unsettling.
A sense of danger.
A sense that something was coming.
Every time he blinked, flashes of the fight with Ragna burned behind his eyelids. That moment when something awakened inside him. Something he still didn't understand.
He sat in class, staring at his textbook, but the words blurred.
Even Eren and Liora, sitting beside him, noticed his distraction.
"You good?" Eren whispered.
Kayden nodded even though he wasn't.
A strange instinct clawed at his mind.
As if someone… or something… was watching him from far away.
He tried to ignore it.
He tried to live normally.
But the weight in his chest never left.
---
The Architect stood before a wall of monitors, watching Ragna and the others train, testing their abilities, refining their control.
But the Architect's mind wasn't on them.
It was on Kayden.
And on the shadow figure who had destroyed his drone.
He narrowed his eyes at the broken drone displayed on the table beside him. Half melted. Half sliced cleanly.
No tool on earth could do that.
"Whatever you are," he whispered, "you aren't human."
He exhaled slowly.
He needed information.
He needed precision.
He needed control.
And Kayden… Kayden was the key.
But before he could move forward, he needed to clear all evidence.
He opened the mission file, displaying the list of names: all Vex Crew members who ran.
"Jex will handle it," he said aloud. "The rest of you will stay put. Understood?"
Everyone nodded.
The Architect stepped away.
He hated waiting.
But patience was necessary.
---
Jex walked through the underground corridor toward his room, the Architect's order echoing in his mind like a hammer:
"Eliminate them. No witnesses."
He clenched his jaw.
He didn't want to do this.
These were his old friends. His old crew. Boys he used to joke around with. Fight with. Eat with.
But everything had changed the moment they left Ragna lying unconscious and chose to run instead of seeking power.
And now the Architect wanted them erased.
Jex sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his trembling hands.
"Why did I agree to this…" he muttered.
But he already knew why.
Refusing meant dying.
And Jex wasn't ready to die.
He stood, breathing hard, and put on his dark hooded jacket—the one the Architect designed to help mask energy signatures.
He whispered:
"I'm sorry, everyone."
Then he walked out.
---
Kayden Feels the Incoming Storm
That night, Kayden lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Sleep refused to come.
His chest felt tight.
Something bad was coming.
He didn't know what.
But he knew it was close.
His fingers traced the sigil hidden beneath his sleeve unconsciously.
He shivered.
The sigil pulsed softly, like a heartbeat.
As if warning him.
Kayden sat up suddenly, breath shaky.
"Get it together," he whispered.
But the dread wouldn't fade.
And far from Kayden's home… the source of that dread was already moving
----
Rade—one of the Vex Crew who refused power and fled—walked alone through a dimly lit street. His hands were buried in his pockets, shoulders hunched.
He kept glancing over his shoulder.
Something felt wrong.
The street was quiet. Too quiet.
A faint sound echoed behind him—just a soft shuffle.
He turned instantly.
Nothing.
Just the empty street and the weak light of a flickering lamp.
He exhaled in relief and kept walking, but faster this time.
His heart beat louder with every step.
Then—
A shadow crossed the rooftop above him.
Rade froze.
He looked up.
For a moment, he thought he saw someone crouched above.
A figure.
Watching him.
Rade stepped back.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
He took another step—
And suddenly the figure dropped silently behind him.
Rade spun around—
"Jex…?"
Before he could finish, a surge of electricity burst from Jex's hand—silent but powerful.
Rade gasped, eyes widening, before his body went limp.
He collapsed unconscious before even understanding what happened.
Jex stood over him, chest rising and falling, face full of regret.
"One… done," he whispered.
He dragged Rade's unconscious form into the darkness of a narrow alley, hiding him from view.
He didn't like this job.
He didn't want this mission.
But he would continue.
Because stopping meant death.
And because the Architect ordered it.