Scene 1 – The Sky Burns
The night sky wasn't supposed to bleed.
But above Neo-Arcadia, the heavens shimmered red fractured like glass. Thousands of shards of data and ash rained down, painting the floating city in fire.
Below the burning skyline, Aiden Kael sprinted across a collapsing bridge of steel and code, plasma rifle slung over his back. His heartbeat echoed in his ears a steady, mechanical rhythm.
SYSTEM WARNING:Code Integrity: 12% Critical instability detected.
He didn't have time to care.The squad behind him was dying and his corrupted Code was the only thing keeping them alive.
"KAEL! The west arc is collapsing!" a voice shouted over comms. "We can't hold"
"Fall back!" Aiden yelled, his boots slamming into the bridge's edge. He raised his hand glowing blue lines flared across his arm.
The air rippled.
Reality bent.
The collapsing metal twisted itself midair, reforming into a massive shield that blocked the incoming artillery blast. The explosion tore through the barrier but scattered harmlessly.
Code Rewrite: Successful.Memory Fragment: Deleted.
Aiden stumbled, grabbing his head.Memories something precious slipping away again.
He couldn't remember his mother's face anymore.
Scene 2 – Static Between Worlds
Darkness. Silence.
Then a whisper.
"You used it again."
Aiden opened his eyes to find himself standing in a vast field of light. Floating petals of digital code drifted around him, each one humming with quiet energy.
At the center stood a girl.Long silver hair. Eyes like galaxies. Barefoot, glowing faintly against the void.
"Lyra…" he murmured.
She tilted her head, her expression unreadable.
"You're rewriting the world too often, Aiden. Each rewrite erases something inside you."
He clenched his fists. "Then let it erase me. As long as I can save them."
Her gaze softened sadness flickering behind her calm.
"You can't save others by destroying yourself. That's not what you were created for."
"Created?"
Before he could speak, the world shattered fragments of light falling away.
Scene 3 – The Interrogation Chamber
A blinding light. A metal chair.Aiden's wrists were bound by code chains.
The air hummed with the sound of Authority Protocols government AIs monitoring him.
Rhea Orlan stood before him commander, childhood friend, now his interrogator.Her face was pale, her eyes filled with conflict.
"Aiden… what did you do out there?"
He didn't answer.He only stared at his reflection in the glass watching the faint blue code lines still crawling under his skin.
"Your Code's corrupted," Rhea said. "Do you even realize what that means? The Dominion sees you as a weapon now not a person."
A bitter smile. "Maybe they're right."
"They're ordering your termination."
Silence. The world seemed to still.
Then, the lights flickered the chains vanished.A whisper echoed in Aiden's mind.
"Run."
Lyra's voice.
Scene 4 – Escape
The alarms screamed through the Arcadia facility.Aiden sprinted down the corridor, bullets of light ricocheting off the walls.
His body moved on instinct years of training fused with something inhuman. He leapt through glass, dropped two stories, rolled, and emerged into the rain-soaked streets of the lower district.
Neon signs reflected in puddles. Steam hissed from vents. Above him, the colossal towers of Neo Arcadia loomed like the ribs of a dying god.
He could still hear Rhea's voice on the comms.
"Aiden! Stop! They'll kill you if you run"
"Then they better hurry," he said quietly, vanishing into the mist.
Scene 5 – The Voice in the Rain
He stopped beneath an overpass. Rain dripped down his face, mixing with tears he didn't realize were there.
"Lyra," he whispered. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because," she said, her voice echoing softly inside his mind, "I was written into your soul long before you were born."
Lightning flashed — and for a moment, he saw her reflection beside him, half-transparent, reaching out her hand.
"You're not corrupted, Aiden," she whispered. "You're the last Architect."
The screen of the world glitched rain turning into falling code.
To Be Continued…