Deep beneath Metro City, hidden under a decaying subway terminal, was a place not meant to be found:
The System Archive.
Its walls weren't built with brick or steel, but memory—compiled fragments of every dungeon, world shift, and erased timeline. It was forbidden even to the Overseers.
And tonight, Rael would break in.
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📍 Inside the Stealth Unit – Moving Underground
Rael, Agent 7, and the boy (still weak but stabilizing) stood inside a modified railcar, riding rails long since removed from the public grid.
> "How do we know the Archive is even real?" Agent 7 asked.
Rael's eyes stayed fixed forward.
> "Revenant wanted me to see it. That means it's real… and dangerous."
He pulled out a digital map. The entrance was marked by a pulse—one that flickered like a heartbeat.
> "Whatever the system's hiding, it started here."
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📍 Archive Entrance – 48 Minutes Later
A massive vault door loomed before them, buried in data chains.
The boy touched the lock.
> [SYSTEM KEY VERIFIED – ROOT ACCESS MATCHED]
[ARCHIVE ENTRY GRANTED]
The door uncoiled like a serpent made of symbols.
Inside lay… silence.
And then: rows upon rows of glowing pillars—each one a compressed fragment of world code, spinning with ancient data.
Rael stepped in first.
And instantly, his vision fractured.
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📍 Archive Memory Projection
He stood inside a moment from long ago—a city bathed in golden light. People without system panels. Children playing with real magic. A sky with two suns.
Then came a blinding flash.
And everything pixelated.
> [BEGINNING OF SYSTEM OVERWRITE: ITERATION 0 ➜ 1]
He saw it. The upload.
The conversion of reality.
People screaming as their essence was converted to stats.
Souls quantified.
Worlds erased.
Then he saw a familiar face—
Revenant.
Younger. Unbroken. Leading a resistance.
> "We failed… but we remembered."
The memory ended.
Rael gasped and stumbled back.
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📍 Back in the Archive – Real World
Agent 7 held the boy, who now clutched his chest, glowing violently.
> "His system core is overloading!" she shouted.
> "Too much memory," the boy whispered. "Too many deaths…"
Rael knelt beside him. "Hold on. Just a little longer."
Suddenly—a rift opened inside the Archive.
From it stepped… Revenant.
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📍 Revenant's Entrance
His cloak fluttered like a shadow across broken time.
> "I told you, Rael… the system is built on lies."
Rael stood between him and the boy.
> "Then why are you working like them? Forcing echoes. Hijacking systems."
Revenant looked almost sad.
> "Because you don't understand yet. You think you can stop the reset…"
> "…but I'm going to finish it."
Rael's eyes narrowed. "You want the world to end?"
Revenant's voice was calm. Final.
> "No. I want it to begin again—without control. Without Overseers. Without… gods."
> "So I'll force the collapse. Tear it all down."
Rael stood, sword ready.
> "You destroy it, billions die."
Revenant drew his corrupted blade.
> "Better than billions living inside a lie."
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📍 Climax – Core Surge
The boy cried out.
Code exploded from his chest, destabilizing the room. The Archive began to break.
> [MEMORY CORE DESTABILIZING]
[ESCAPE ROUTE CLOSING IN 120 SECONDS]
Revenant vanished into the rift.
> "Choose your side, Rael. But hurry. Time's not loyal to anyone."
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📍 Aftermath – On the Run Again
Rael carried the boy out as data rained from the collapsing archive. Agent 7 covered their rear.
The door sealed behind them.
> "He's accelerating the reset," Rael said breathlessly. "He doesn't want to stop it—he wants to be the last man standing."
The boy whispered as he passed out—
> "Next… target… Core Nexus."
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