Smoke drifted through the broken chamber, glowing faintly with blue shards from the destroyed suppression dome.Kayden knelt in the middle of the chaos, chest rising and falling in slow, painful waves.
APEX flickered once—a weak pulse of teal…
and then went dark.
Completely.
Alex gasped like he'd been stabbed.
"APEX—?! APEX— SAY SOMETHING— PLEASE—!"
Silence.
Not even static.
Phineas's breath hitched."Oh no… oh no, no, no… Kayden— the system isn't responding. Not a flicker. Not a ping. Nothing."
Kayden swallowed hard, throat tight.
A strange kind of emptiness spread through him.Cold.Hollow.Like a piece of himself had simply… vanished.
"APEX…" Kayden whispered, voice shaking,"…come back."
Alex's expression broke completely.
Phineas knelt beside Kayden, scanning him with trembling hands.
"I think the overclock— the dome— the sync damage— APEX pushed beyond its limit. It's not just offline… it's collapsed."
Kayden stared at the floor.
Everything around him still shook from APEX's last stand.But the absence in his mind felt louder than the destruction.
APEX wasn't just a system.APEX was his anchor.His warning.His shield.His only link to understanding what he was becoming.
Without it…
He suddenly felt fragile.
Exposed.
Human.
Alex leaned closer, voice breaking apart.
"Kayden… hey… please look at me. Are you— are you okay?"
Kayden didn't answer.
He didn't know how to.
Then—
Metal boots hit the ground behind them.
The Citadel operative.
Still.Perfect.Unbroken.
He took one step forward, visor gleaming in the fractured light.
"Arclight Variable.System failure detected.Your defenses have decreased.Extraction likelihood increased to 93%."
Alex screamed at him through tears:
"GO AWAY— HE'S NOT GOING WITH YOU— JUST LEAVE US ALONE!!"
The operative didn't even acknowledge him.
Phineas stood in front of Kayden, shaking but determined.
"You can't have him.He's not an object.He's not a variable.He's a person."
The operative tilted his head—
Assessing. Calculating. Learning.
"Resistance is irrelevant.Subject must undergo orientation protocol."
Kayden's blood went cold.
Orientation.The word Hale warned him about.The word that meant he was no longer a person to these forces—he was a category.
Before the operative could move—
SRD reinforcements burst through the upper corridor.
Screams.Shouts.Metal gear clattering.
A team of SRD soldiers rappelled down, weapons charged, shields raised.
"MOVE— MOVE— MOVE—!""CITADEL OPERATIVE CONFIRMED— MAINTAIN FIRING LINE—""SECURE THE VARIABLE BEFORE THEY DO!""DON'T LET THEM TAKE HIM!!!"
Alex clutched Kayden's sleeve tightly enough to bruise him.
"We're dead.We're dead, Kayden— they're going to tear this place apart—"
Phineas shouted over the rising chaos:
"SRD and the Citadel are about to COLLIDE—Kayden, we have to MOVE— NOW—!"
But Kayden didn't move.
He couldn't.
Because without APEX, the world wasn't a grid of predictions anymore.It wasn't timing overlays.It wasn't tactical clarity.
It was noise.Fear.Chaos.
His head spun.His breathing stuttered.His knees shook.
APEX had been the one thing making the impossible feel survivable.
Without it—
He felt blind.
The SRD commander pointed at him from behind a portable shield.
"ARCLIGHT VARIABLE— SURRENDER NOW!MOVE AWAY FROM THE CITADEL UNIT AND COME WITH US!"
Alex shouted back:
"HE HAS A NAME—!!"
But no one listened.
Not SRD.Not the Citadel.
They only listened to orders higher than humanity.
The operative took a step forward.
SRD soldiers raised rifles with trembling hands.
The commander screamed:
"DO NOT LET THEM TAKE HIM— FIRE IF YOU HAVE TO—!!"
Phineas shoved Alex behind a support pillar, heart pounding.
"Kayden— PLEASE— we have to MOVE— they're BOTH aiming for you— you'll get caught in the crossfire— PLEASE—"
Kayden stood slowly, breathing ragged.
He didn't want to run.He didn't want to fight.He didn't want to kill.He didn't want to be claimed.
He just wanted APEX back.
He whispered, voice barely audible:
"APEX… please… I don't know what to do without you…"
Nothing.
Not a flicker.
Not a tremor.
Not even a whisper.
The Citadel operative extended one hand toward Kayden—
"Engaging extraction protocol."
At the same time, SRD soldiers closed in.
"Move in! Grab him! NOW!"
Alex grabbed Kayden in a hug so tight it hurt.
"Kayden— PLEASE— get up— DO SOMETHING—!!"
Phineas stepped forward like a shield, despite shaking.
"You touch him, and you'll have to go through me!"
The operative didn't even turn his head.
"Obstruction: irrelevant."
SRD shouted:
"TAKE THE BOY! SECURE HIM—!"
Two forces.Two powers.Two giants.
Closing in on one boy.
A boy with no system.No guidance.No APEX.
Kayden clenched his fists.
He didn't feel strong.Or brave.Or chosen.
He just felt…
alone.
He whispered, voice cracking:
"…I can't do this alone."
And then—
The chamber lights cut out entirely.
Everything went pitch black.
Someone screamed.A rifle fired.Metal crashed.
The next second—
A shockwave hit.
Violent.Precise.Calculated.
It wasn't APEX.
It wasn't SRD.
It wasn't the Citadel.
It was something else.
Something watching.
Something choosing.
And in the darkness, Kayden heard a voice that wasn't APEX—
soft, calm, terrifyingly composed:
"Variable…Your Orientation begins now."
The Citadel had stepped in.
But SRD had reached Kayden first.