Three days.
That's how long Nyx wandered the broken shell of the world—no food, no sleep, no answers.
Just static, shadow, and silence.
The city didn't have a name anymore. Its official title was erased in the Digital Collapse. Locals—if you could call the scavengers and echo-dwellers locals—just called it Deadwake.
And Nyx? He was already starting to believe he didn't belong to any world at all.
---
He crouched inside the hollowed-out husk of an old monorail station, hunched beside a broken terminal. Cold wind hissed through the shattered windows, carrying with it distant howls of corrupted machines. His Cipher Eyes pulsed faintly, scanning the darkness.
> VEX: "Energy spike. To your left."
He didn't hesitate. He dove behind the wreckage a split second before a razor-thin bolt of violet plasma seared through the air, scorching the concrete.
"Whoever you are," Nyx muttered, rolling to his feet, "you better be ready for a fight."
Another bolt. This one grazed his shoulder.
Then came the voice. Cold. Calculating. Female.
> "Target confirmed: Cipher-class anomaly. Terminate with prejudice."
She dropped down from above—a flash of steel and silver-white hair. Her boots hit the ground with silent precision. Her eyes glowed amber, scanning him.
> [ID Match: EIRA SOLSTICE – Sovereign Core Enforcer, Rank: Omega Sable]
Nyx's breath hitched. Sovereign Core.
The ones who created the Obsidian Protocol.
"You're one of them," he growled, eyes glowing brighter. "You're the reason I can't remember who I am!"
Eira didn't reply. She flicked her wrist, and her gauntlet snapped open, forming a plasma blade. In one motion, she lunged.
Nyx raised his arm—and the world fractured.
A hexagonal barrier of light and shadow erupted around him. The blade collided with the shield, sparking as the barrier bent physics like paper. Nyx winced—every defense drained energy. He couldn't hold it long.
"You're not stable," Eira said, backing off slightly. "Your readings are off the scale. This isn't just about containment anymore."
"You want to contain me?" Nyx said bitterly. "Then why not tell me what I am first?"
Her expression shifted—just a flicker. Regret? Pity? No. Professionalism resumed.
> Eira: "You're Subject 0. The only survivor of Project Seraphim. The living Cipher."
The words hit him like a glitch to the brain.
He remembered metal rooms. Scientists whispering. Needles. Screams. His body shaking as white light devoured everything around him.
Then her voice again.
> Eira: "I was there… the day you burned the sky."
Nyx's vision blurred. That scar in the sky above Deadwake—he did that?
He staggered back. "No. That's not—no, I would've remembered—"
> VEX: "She's not lying."
> Nyx: "Then why don't I remember it?"
> VEX: "Because your memory was split. Fragmented. That's what I am—your leftover pieces."
He dropped to his knees, the world tilting.
And Eira? She stood silently, blade still raised—but not attacking.
"If you're here to kill me," he said through clenched teeth, "just do it."
She lowered the weapon slightly. "I was sent to. But looking at you now…"
Her eyes softened. "You're fighting it. The corruption. The rewrite code. That means there's still a part of you left."
"What part?"
> Eira: "The part that remembers her."
She stepped closer and held out a small data crystal.
> [LYRA.vr – Damaged Memory Archive]
Nyx stared. The symbol on it—a shattered halo. Same as the one from the wall.
"She's alive," Eira said. "But she won't be for long."
Nyx's hand trembled as he took the crystal. When it touched his skin, it flickered with code—and a voice echoed faintly inside.
> Lyra: "N-Nyx… don't let them… take your name…"
Static swallowed the rest.
He gritted his teeth. A sharp wind blew through the ruins, sending up dust and data motes. In the distance, warning sirens began to echo. Sentinel units. En route.
"You coming with me, or against me?" Nyx asked.
Eira paused.
Then clicked her blade shut.
"I'll give you three days," she said. "To find the truth. After that, if you lose control—I'll be the one who ends it."
Nyx nodded once, silently slipping the crystal into his coat.
As the city roared awake with red warning lights, the Cipher and the hunter stepped into the storm.
Together.