Archeon handed Kai a small device that looked like a compass, but instead of pointing north, its needle spun freely before settling on what seemed to be empty air.
"This will guide you through the dimensional layers beneath the central tower," Archeon explained. "The memory nexus exists in the space between realities. You'll need to phase-shift through at least three dimensional barriers to reach it."
"How do I phase-shift without equipment?"
"Your neural resistance isn't just a defense—it's also a key. Memory merchants can naturally slip between dimensional boundaries when they concentrate. You've probably done it before without realizing it."
Kai thought back to the times he'd felt like reality was shifting around him during difficult extractions. "The moments when everything feels... unstable?"
"Exactly. That's your mind accessing the quantum field directly. With practice, you can control it."
Archeon led him to a different section of the archives, where the walls seemed to shimmer and bend. "Try it here. Focus on the space between your thoughts, the moment between one heartbeat and the next."
Kai closed his eyes and reached out with his consciousness. He felt the familiar sensation of memories flowing around him, but this time he didn't try to extract or control them. Instead, he let himself drift with the current.
Suddenly, the air around him became thick and viscous, like moving through water. When he opened his eyes, the archive chamber looked different—older, with stone walls instead of metal, and crystals that glowed with different colors.
"Well done," Archeon said, but his voice sounded distant and echoed strangely. "You've shifted into a parallel layer of the archives. This is where we keep the memories from dimensions that have already been harvested."
Kai looked around at the darker crystals. "These are from dead worlds?"
"The Architect's previous conquests. Each crystal contains the final memories of an entire reality before it was consumed." Archeon's expression was grim. "This is what happens when the dimensional barriers fail."
The weight of what Kai was seeing hit him like a physical blow. Thousands of crystals lined the walls, each one representing the death of a universe.
"How many?"
"We've counted over ten thousand harvested dimensions. And that's just the ones we know about."
Kai forced himself to focus. "How do I get back to our layer?"
"The same way you got here. Feel for the boundary and push through it."
It took several tries, but Kai eventually managed to shift back to the familiar blue-lit archives. The experience left him drained but more confident in his abilities.
"Now you're ready for the nexus," Archeon said. "But there's one more thing you need to understand. The Architect isn't just a collector of memories—he's a memory himself. A living construct made from the collective consciousness of the first dimension he destroyed."
"What does that mean?"
"It means he can't be fought with conventional weapons or even advanced technology. The only thing that can stop him is another consciousness powerful enough to overwrite his existence. That's why the dimensional stabilizer requires perfect neural resistance—it's not just a machine, it's a weapon that uses your mind as ammunition."
Archeon handed him a small crystal containing Dr. Voss's final memory. "This will show you the way to the stabilizer once you reach the nexus. But remember, using it will fundamentally change you. You'll be connected to every dimension simultaneously. Some memory merchants who've attempted it have lost themselves in the infinite possibilities."
Kai pocketed the crystal and picked up the dimensional compass. "What about Maya? How do I find her in the nexus?"
"The real Maya will be connected to the core processing chamber, where the Architect stores the templates for his constructs. If you can disrupt the connection without damaging her original memories, she should return to normal."
"And if I can't?"
Archeon was quiet for a moment. "Then she'll be lost forever, just like the billions of others whose memories have been absorbed into the collective."
Kai took a deep breath. "Is there a back way out of here?"
"Follow the maintenance tunnel behind the archive core. It leads to a subway station that's been abandoned for decades. From there, you can reach the central tower without being detected by the constructs."
As Kai prepared to leave, Archeon called out to him. "One last thing. If you succeed in stopping the Architect, the dimensional barriers will reset. Every harvested reality will have the chance to regenerate from the stored memories in these crystals. Your decision won't just save our dimension—it could restore all of them."
The responsibility felt overwhelming, but Kai knew there was no other choice. He made his way to the maintenance tunnel, following Archeon's directions through a series of narrow passages that led steadily upward.
After an hour of climbing, he emerged into the abandoned subway station. The platform was covered in decades of dust, and ancient advertisements for products that no longer existed peeled from the walls.
The dimensional compass began spinning faster as he approached the central tower. Through the dirty windows of the station, he could see the massive structure stretching up into the clouds, its surface covered in what looked like veins of light.
"The memory nexus," he whispered.
Somewhere inside that tower, Maya was being held prisoner, and the Architect was preparing for the final harvest of their dimension. But now Kai had the tools and knowledge he needed to fight back.
He just hoped it would be enough.