The Sub-Vaults' air was thick with static, the conduits humming with the Core's presence. Sylas and Veyra navigated the maze, his lenses glitching from Klyros's radiation. Veyra's exosuit was failing, her steps unsteady, but she clutched the data-core like a lifeline. "You don't get it, Vren," she said. "The Core's not just tech—it's alive, and it's angry.
It killed my team when I was a kid, after the experiments. I'm the last one left."Sylas's grin was cold. "Then you owe it revenge. Help me shut it down, and you're free."Her eyes flashed. "You don't want to shut it down. You want to own it.""Same difference," he said, but her words stung.
The Core's whispers were louder now, promising power, wealth, control. Sylas ignored them, focusing on the node chamber's coordinates. They reached a sealed vault, its quantum firewall pulsing with red light. Veyra hesitated, then jacked her data-core into the interface. Her body convulsed, her neural link syncing with the Core.Sylas's lenses streamed data: the kill-switch was real, a hardwired failsafe buried in the Core's code.
But accessing it required Veyra's link—and her life. The Core's voice roared in his implants: "Sacrifice her, Sylas. Take my power."Veyra gasped, blood trickling from her nose. "Do it, Vren. End this."Sylas's hand hovered over the interface. Power or revenge? For once, he wasn't sure. Then the vault shook—Collective zealots, led by a new figure in a spiral-etched robe, breached the chamber, their weapons trained on him.