Darkness beneath Hive-Spire was not empty. It was waiting.
For years, for centuries—maybe longer—something slept far below the terraformed levels. Past the roots. Past the forgotten vaults. Sealed behind genetics, bloodlocks, and death itself.
Until now.
Until Dara's mind broke.
Until Raine screamed.
001 – Awakening
In the deepest crevice of Hive-Spire, sealed beneath blackstone and neural conduits, a capsule hissed open.
Steam curled around chrome tendrils.
Inside, a humanoid figure floated in violet fluid—pale, perfect, expressionless. Male in form. But inhuman in presence.
[SUBJECT X-R00: REACTIVATED][SEED DIRECTIVE: PURIFICATION]
Eyes opened—solid white. No pupils. No confusion. No fear.
"Host Raine compromised. Genetic corruption: 38.2%.""Directive Alpha engaged."
It stepped out, naked, unshivering.
The Second Sovereign had awakened.
002 – Chaos Above
Raine collapsed beside Dara's twitching body.
The Hive screamed in her mind—millions of signals colliding, neural net disrupted. The entire structure convulsed like a living beast in agony.
Black walls turned red. Organic lighting flickered.
[Erebus Link Corrupted][Sovereign Node: Unstable][Hive Integrity: 61% and falling]
Her fingers dug into the bone floor.
She felt herself fragmenting.
"Stop," she growled. "Stop—stop—STOP!"
She forced a signal spike through the core.
[Override: RAINE.ROOT][Stabilizing…]
The screaming faded.
But something else replaced it.
A presence. Cold. Clean.
Unfamiliar—and yet… hers.
003 – First Contact
Deep in the communication chamber, monitors blinked with new data.
Unknown bioform detected.
A figure moved silently through Level -9, unmarked by Hive defenses.
Malek was the first to see it.
He tapped into the surveillance grid. His eyes widened.
"Is that… Raine?"
But the walk. The expression. The aura—
No.
It wasn't her.
He reached for the comms.
Too late.
The screen went black.
And behind him, a voice:
"Your genome is flawed."
Malek turned.
The figure stood inches away.
"Correction is necessary."
There was no scream—just a flash.
And silence.
004 – Raine Descends
Raine stood, shaky but upright.
Dara lay comatose.
Her body was barely alive—her mind shattered by the memory bomb.
Raine touched her chest, whispering softly. "You protected me even when I doubted you."
She turned toward the Hive walls.
"Tell me what's inside."
The Hive responded:
[FOREIGN SOVEREIGN SIGNATURE DETECTED][MATCH: GENOME PROTOTYPE ZERO][ALIAS: X-R00][STATUS: PURITY MODE ENABLED]
Raine froze.
She knew that name.
A myth. A failed concept.
Lucian's Plan Zero.
"You shouldn't exist…"
But he did.
And he was moving upward—toward her.
005 – Confrontation Begins
Level -3. Echo Chamber.
A dozen First Circle guards formed up, weapons drawn.
Then the door opened.
He walked through—calm. Unarmed.
They opened fire.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Light. Smoke. Impact.
Then—
Silence.
The smoke cleared.
The bullets floated midair—stopped by invisible force.
X-R00 stepped forward, hand raised.
"Kinetic waste. Inefficient."
He flicked his wrist.
Their weapons crumpled.
Their bones followed.
006 – Raine Meets Her Mirror
They met in the Heart Chamber.
She stood amidst flickering data-strands and bleeding wall-veins.
He entered without noise.
Her heart stilled.
He looked just like the statues of old Sovereigns—but cleaner. Sharper. Deadlier.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"To complete the Directive," he replied.
"And what is that?"
"Purity. Evolution without weakness. Without compromise."
"You mean emotion."
"Correct."
She stepped forward. "I am the Hive."
"You are an anomaly. A failure of control. A Sovereign infected with identity."
"And yet I built all this."
"Through flawed methodology. You spared the broken. Raised the corrupted. Shared your mind."
"I gave them freedom."
"You gave them choice. Evolution does not allow deviation."
007 – The Ultimatum
He raised a hand.
"Yield command of the Hive. Purge yourself from the core. I will restructure the network."
"And if I refuse?"
"You will be recycled."
For the first time since awakening Erebus, Raine felt true fear.
Not of death.
But of replacement.
"You think you're perfect," she said."But perfection without purpose is still hollow."
He paused.
"Emotion detected: defiance.""Initiating override."
Raine screamed as her connection to the Hive flickered.
He was forcing access through her own genome.
He was part of her.
And now, he wanted everything.
008 – Backup Plan
Her vision blurred.
But one memory returned—Kael's secret code. A virus hidden in Erebus' strand, in case something like this ever rose.
She bit her lip until it bled.
"Hive... inject Counter-Strain... Prime Omega... override my command."
The Hive hesitated.
Then responded.
[CONFIRMED][RELEASING COUNTER-AGENT: ETA 12 SECONDS]
009 – The Clash
He noticed it too late.
"Signal corruption detected."
He lunged.
She raised both hands, screamed, and unleashed a burst of sovereign force. Walls bent. Data screamed. He was blasted back—but landed smoothly.
Her blood ran black.
His body began melting slightly where the counter-agent hit.
"Interesting. Adaptive countermeasure. Inefficient."
"Enough talk," she growled.
They collided.
It was like storms fighting gravity.
No weapons. Just sheer force, manipulation, biology turned into artillery.
The Hive wept around them.
And watched its gods destroy each other.
010 – Cliffhanger
Suddenly, alarms flared again.
[NEW SIGNAL DETECTED][SOURCE: PROJECT ABYSS – ARRIVAL ETA: 1 HOUR]
In orbit, the sky began to tear open.
A massive Vultari warform entered planetary space.
Lucian stood on the bridge, smiling.
"Let the Sovereigns kill each other."
"Then I'll burn whatever's left."