The night was unnaturally silent as Aaryan stood on the edge of the abandoned city ruins. The air smelled of rust and burning wires. Far below, hidden between collapsed towers and twisted steel, the old system's core flickered faintly — as if the heart of the Protocol itself was still alive, waiting for him.
Mira stepped up beside him, her face tense but determined. "This is where the signals are coming from. Are you sure you want to do this tonight?"
Aaryan nodded. "I've waited too long. If we don't act now, the Protocol will spread again. It's now or never."
They descended through the broken streets, every step echoing like a warning. The deeper they went, the more Aaryan felt the strange pull of the system's code—like invisible threads trying to reach inside his mind. He clenched his fists, focusing on his own thoughts, refusing to let the system invade his mind again.
Suddenly, Nyra's voice crackled through the comm link. "Aaryan, I'm detecting movement near your position. Someone's watching you."
Aaryan froze. Shadows shifted between the ruins. Then, from the darkness, figures appeared—pale, silent, their eyes glowing faint blue. Echoed soldiers.
"They've rebooted the Echo Protocol," Mira whispered. "We need to fall back."
"No," Aaryan said, stepping forward. His code began to surge within him, lines of energy running across his arms like living circuits. "I have to face them. If I run now, they'll never stop chasing us."
The Echoed soldiers rushed toward him. Aaryan raised his hand, and a wave of code energy burst outward, breaking their formation. He could feel their programmed thoughts, the commands forced into their minds. For a brief second, he saw their real memories beneath the code—lost families, stolen lives, the pain of being turned into weapons.
He hesitated, just long enough for one of them to get close. The soldier swung a blade of light, grazing Aaryan's arm. Pain shot through him, but it cleared his mind. He focused, overriding the Protocol's signal. One by one, the soldiers stopped, their bodies shaking as their stolen minds fought to return.
Mira and Nyra joined him, and together they pushed forward toward the core chamber. The door was sealed with ancient code locks. Aaryan stepped up, placing his hand on the door, letting his root code seep into the system. The locks crumbled, the door sliding open to reveal a room filled with ancient servers and data shards. The core of the Protocol.
But as they stepped inside, a cold voice echoed through the chamber.
"I see you've finally arrived, Version Zero."
A figure emerged from the shadows—the Architect. His form was made of shifting data, his face a smooth mask of light and shadow.
"This world belongs to the system. You were never meant to exist. And now, I will correct that mistake."
Aaryan felt the room darken, the air thick with code energy. The true battle had begun.