---
Two Days Later — Outskirts of Deadzone Theta
The road ahead was jagged with rusted bones of war machines, half-buried in ash and overgrown with twisted roots that pulsed faintly with Core energy. Every step was a reminder — the world hadn't healed. It had only learned to breathe through the scars.
Alex moved in silence.
The dragon system whispered in his head, its voice less intrusive now, more like a breath behind his thoughts.
> "Your resonance is adapting. The Core within you is stabilizing… but barely."
He felt it too — that strange pulse in his chest, like a second heartbeat. Since the escape from Vault Omega, the burning in his blood had dulled to an ember. But beneath it coiled something vast, like a winged beast pacing in the dark, waiting for a sky worth flying through.
They were six now, traveling through the wastelands on foot after abandoning their stolen hovercraft — its engine had finally succumbed to Dominion tracer tech.
Kaela limped slightly, her injured side still bandaged but healing. Lena kept to the rear, eyes sharp, her twin Coreblades strapped to her back. Juno, the muscular older teen with bull-DNA, carried their supplies in silence. Dr. Rez, the older medic with owl-mutant traits, remained near Kaela, checking her vitals often.
And then there was Alex — silent, half in awe, half in fear of himself.
He was no longer just the quiet kid from Ardent Hill.
He was the first dragon mutant in human history.
And everyone knew it.
---
Nightfall — Campfire beneath the Ruined Archways of Aelion's Outer Wall
"I still can't believe we're doing this," Kaela muttered, staring at the sky, her breath visible in the cold. "Aelion. The last free mutant city… until it fell."
Lena stirred the fire with a piece of scorched rebar. "We don't have a choice. It's the only place left that still has an intact Core Nexus. If we can get inside, we can stabilize Alex's mutation and scan for other Apex signatures."
Dr. Rez added, "And possibly access records from before the Collapse. The original Apex wasn't a myth. The dragon line was real, hidden from history by all three factions."
Alex sat apart from them, watching the sparks rise.
"Why me?" he asked finally. "Why did this happen to me?"
The group fell silent.
Then, surprisingly, it was Juno who spoke.
"I don't believe in fate. But I do believe in patterns." He stared at the fire, eyes flickering like amber. "Power doesn't just choose. It echoes. Reacts. Your blood must carry something old… something dangerous."
Kaela looked at Alex. "Do you feel it… changing you?"
Alex hesitated. "I feel like there's something inside me watching. Like a second version of me. But older. Smarter. Hungrier."
Lena finally stood. "We rest tonight. Tomorrow, we enter Aelion. And whatever answers are buried there… we dig them up."
---
Flashback — 73 Years Ago, Aelion Core Nexus
A young woman knelt before the Nexus Core, its spiraling veins of golden light pulsing in rhythm with her breath. Her name was Seren, last of the known Apex hybrids — a direct descendant of the first dragon-mutant.
Behind her, war raged.
Factions tore each other apart.
She laid a single crystal at the Nexus base — a dragon-scale fused with Corestone.
> "One day," she whispered, "a child will be born who carries this legacy. Not to rule… but to remind the world what it means to choose."
She closed her eyes and vanished in a burst of golden flame.
The crystal remained.
Waiting.
---
Present — Entry Gate of Aelion's Outer Sector
The ruins of Aelion rose from the wasteland like the skeleton of a forgotten god.
Towering buildings cracked open like ribs. Glowing moss clung to walls that once held labs, schools, markets. It had been a sanctuary — until the Syndicate and Dominion had carpet-bombed it twenty years ago in a joint betrayal.
Kaela stopped at the gate, eyes misted. "My mother lived here," she whispered. "Said it was the only place that didn't treat her like a weapon."
Alex touched the broken gate. It thrummed faintly beneath his hand.
> "Core resonance detected," the dragon system whispered. "Residual Apex signature… deep underground."
"Something's here," Alex said. "Something calling me."
They entered.
---
Beneath Aelion — The Core Echo Chamber
After hours of winding through collapsed corridors, avoiding pockets of unstable radiation, and disabling a half-functional Syndicate minefield, they reached the chamber.
It wasn't just a lab.
It was a tomb.
Rows of preserved hybrid pods lined the walls, all long dormant. In the center was the Nexus — now dark, but intact.
As Alex approached, his Core pulsed wildly.
> "Place your hand on the pedestal," the dragon system instructed. "Let the Core read you."
Alex did.
Golden light exploded from the base, scanning him. Symbols appeared midair — ancient glyphs in a language none of them understood.
Then a voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.
> "Bloodline confirmed. Apex Designate recognized. Synchronization: 67%."
Lena gasped. "It's real…"
> "Core memory retrieval… initializing."
And then the world around them shimmered — and changed.
---
Core Memory Projection — Seren's Last Stand
The room was gone.
In its place, they stood within a memory — a full, living holographic echo of Seren, standing before a council.
"I begged them not to use the Apex line for war," she said to the projection of faction leaders. "The dragon resonance doesn't want conquest — it wants balance. But you made us into monsters."
One Dominion general responded coldly. "You're too powerful to be allowed freedom. If you won't serve, you'll be erased."
Seren's eyes burned.
"You'll try."
In a flash, she erupted into golden flame, wings spreading wide, and the memory cut out — violently.
---
Back in the Echo Chamber
Alex staggered.
Sweat poured from his forehead. His back burned.
When Kaela turned to him, her eyes widened.
His shoulder blades had begun to crack — thin, gold-veined lines pulsing where wings might one day emerge.
"You're… transforming," she said.
Alex gritted his teeth. "It's not just me. It's a message. They left this behind for someone like me. To finish what they started. Not war. Not conquest…"
He turned to the group.
"But balance."
Juno frowned. "Balance doesn't sound very helpful when everyone wants to kill us."
Kaela smiled faintly. "Balance is exactly what we need. If he can awaken the Apex system fully… he could shut down Dominion core-links. Even override lower-level mutations."
Lena added, "He could also become the most hunted person alive."
Alex looked at the Nexus once more.
It had dimmed — but not gone out.
> "Synchronization: 71%."
And rising.
---
Elsewhere: Syndicate Skyship "Wraithfang" — En Route to Aelion
Lord Kairo stood at the helm, surrounded by floating data projections.
"Report," he ordered.
Varka's voice crackled through.
"We traced a pulse from the Aelion Nexus. Dragon resonance confirmed. They've activated the Core."
Kairo smiled.
"So… the boy finally reached his cradle."
He gestured to the soldiers behind him — all enhanced with beast mutations and wearing veiled tech suits.
"Prepare the retrieval squads. We'll take him alive. If we can corrupt the Apex Core… the world will kneel."
And in the shadows of the ship, someone else listened — a spy planted long ago by the mutant resistance.
They slipped away unseen, whispering one word into a hidden comm device:
> "They're coming."