Kayden didn't notice the moment it began.
One second, he was running beside Alex, breath uneven, branches brushing his arms—the next, the world tilted,softly, like gravity took a slow inhale.
APEX flickered in his mind.
"Operator—are you conscious—?"
Kayden blinked.
The forest blurred.
Alex's hand on his wrist felt far away, muffled through water.
Phineas's voice warped.
"—KAYDEN?—HEY—HE'S STAGGERING—ALEX—"
Kayden opened his mouth to speak—but the sound came out thick.
"I…I think something's—"
His knees buckled.Alex caught him instantly.
"Kayden—look at me—stay with me—!"
Kayden tried.
He really did.
But the world folded sideways.
Colors smeared.
Light thinned.
And then—
He wasn't in the forest.
He was standing somewhere blue.
Endless, weightless blue,like the space inside a dreambefore the dream chooses a shape.
Kayden staggered.
His breath echoed.
"APEX…?Where… where am I?"
APEX's voice was faint.
"…Operator… resonance interference… memory construct…"
Memory.
Construct.
The seed.
Kayden spun slowly in the blue fog.
Shapes began forming—not fully,just outlines.
Like someone had sketched the worldbut hadn't yet decided to color it in.
A table.A chair.A handrail.A window.
Kayden's stomach dropped.
He knew this place.
A corridor.
Not from now.
Not from the future.
But from before.
A door flickered into shape.
Room 217.
Kayden's breathing hitched.
"I…I remember this."
He reached for the handle.
His fingers passed right through it.
The world shimmered.
And then the memory sharpened—as if the seed decided he was ready to see more.
The door opened on its own.
And he saw—
A child.
No older than ten.Sitting on a bed with knees pulled to his chest.Dark hair.Scared eyes.Breathing too fast.
Kayden's breath froze.
"…that's me."
The younger version trembled violently.His fingers clenched the blankets so tightthey shook.
Kayden whispered:
"Why am I…so scared…?"
The lights in the memory-corridor flickered.
Voices filled the hall.Distant shouting.
"Keep him contained!""He's slipping again!""Get the resonance dampeners—he's destabilizing—!"
Kayden's heart stuttered.
"No…no, this didn't happen—this wasn't—I don't remember this—"
APEX's voice whispered faintly:
"Memory suppression detected."
Kayden stepped closer to the boy—the younger him.
The boy's hands glowed faint blue.
Tiny.Faint.Uncontrolled.
And then the room shook.
Objects levitated inches off the ground—pillows, a lamp, even the mattress lifting under the child.
The boy sobbed, shaking.
"I'm sorry—I'm sorry—I don't want to—please make it stop—"
Kayden's vision blurred with tears.
"No…no, no—stop—don't show me this—"
But the seed didn't stop.
The memory sharpened again.
Three figures rushed into the room—faces blurred,but their fear unmistakable.
"Dampen him—NOW—!"
A machine pressed to the child's temple.
He screamed—a horrible, small, breaking sound.
The levitating objects crashed down.
The blue glow in his hands flickered—
then died.
Kayden staggered backward.
His knees hit the floor of the memory-blue space.
"No…I wasn't—I wasn't an Operator kid—I wasn't—this isn't—this isn't right—"
APEX whispered:
"Operator…this memory was sealed."
Kayden shook his head violently.
"WHY?WHO SEALED IT—??WHY WOULD THEY—"
A soft chime filled the space.
The memory faded.
The blue softened.
Kayden looked up.
Someone stood in front of him.
Not the Agent.
Not APEX.
Him.
A younger version—maybe sixteen—older than the child,younger than now.
Neutral expression.Blank eyes.
Not alive.Not dead.
A projection.
The boy spoke with Kayden's voice—flat, echoing.
"they hid you."
Kayden's breath broke.
"Hid me… from what…?"
The projection blinked.
"from yourself."
Kayden shook his head.
"I don't understand—I don't—"
"your resonance manifested early.""they panicked.""they erased it."
The boy stepped closer.
Kayden's heart thundered.
"the seed is not new."
Kayden swallowed.
"…what?"
"it is what you lost."
The projection dissolved.
Kayden gasped—
And the blue world collapsed inward.
Wind sucked at him—light bent—the forest flickered back into place—
Alex's voice shouting:
"KAYDEN—HEY—KAYDEN—PLEASE—PLEASE WAKE UP—"
Kayden's eyes flew open.
He sucked in a breath so sharp it cut.
Alex held him by the shoulders, shaking.
"Look at me! Look at me—don't leave—"
Phineas waved a flashlight inches from his face.
"HE'S BACK—HE'S BACK—DON'T POSSESS ME, KAYDEN—"
Kayden didn't answer.
He couldn't.
He only whispered:
"…they erased part of me."
Alex froze.
"Kayden…?"
Kayden's eyes filled.
"I wasn't normal.Not even before all this.They knew…even when I didn't."
APEX hummed gently—almost like sympathy.
"Operator.The seed returned what was yours."
Kayden's voice broke:
"…I don't want to be what they planned."
Alex pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Then you won't be."
And for a moment,
Kayden let himself lean into that.
But deep inside,
the resonance seed pulsed once—
quiet,warm,waiting.