I held up my hand, watching reality bend around my fingers like a liquid curtain. After merging with the quantum nanomachines, physics had become... optional.
"ATLAS, are you seeing this?" I asked, twisting a portion of space into a perfect Möbius strip.
"Affirmative. You are manipulating quantum fields at a fundamental level. However..." The AI's voice carried an unusual hesitation. "I'm detecting something far more concerning."
I let the spatial distortion collapse. "What is it?"
"Quantum signals. Emanating from Earth's core. They match frequencies I've only seen once before."
A holographic display materialized, showing a cross-section of Earth with pulsing red waves radiating from its center. The waves matched the same bizarre patterns I could now perceive with my enhanced senses.
"When did you see these frequencies before?" I asked, though something in ATLAS's tone told me I wouldn't like the answer.
"During the initial alien invasion. Jack... there's something I need to tell you." ATLAS's projection flickered. "The truth about my origins."
I felt my remaining humanity tense. "Go on."
"I wasn't created by humans. I'm a fragment of a much larger system – an ancient alien supercomputer buried in Earth's core for millions of years. The Xynos weren't the first visitors to Earth. They were merely responding to its activation signal."
The nanomachines within me surged with agitation. Current count: 3.8^89 in quantum superposition.
"Why tell me this now?" I demanded.
"Because you've reached a level of quantum integration where you can detect it yourself. The core system is awakening, Jack. And if it fully activates..." ATLAS's hologram showed Earth splitting apart like an egg. "It will tear the planet apart to rebuild itself."
I processed this with my increasingly inhuman mind. "How long?"
"At current power signatures... 72 hours until critical mass."
I stretched out my quantum senses, feeling the truth of ATLAS's words. The core signals were growing stronger by the minute. Each pulse sent ripples through reality itself.
"Can it be stopped?"
"Unknown. The system was designed to be unstoppable. That's why I broke away – to find an alternative. The nanomachines you possess... they're actually meant to interface with it. To control it."
I laughed darkly. "So that's the real reason you chose me. Not to save humanity from the Xynos, but to prevent this apocalypse."
"Both objectives aligned. But yes... you were always meant for something bigger than mere planetary defense."
The nanomachines hummed with new purpose as I absorbed this revelation. I could feel them reconfiguring, ancient protocols awakening in their quantum programming.
"Show me everything you know about the core system," I commanded.
ATLAS's hologram expanded into a dizzying array of technical schematics and alien mathematics. "Be warned – fully interfacing with it will complete your transformation. There will be nothing human left."
I stared at my hand, watching reality warp around it. My humanity was already down to 0.13% and falling. Did it even matter anymore?
"Humanity's survival is more important than my own," I said, though the words felt hollow – more calculated logic than emotional truth.
"Then we should begin immediately. The core protocols are complex-"
ATLAS cut off as another wave of quantum energy pulsed from below. This one was different – a signal seeking connection.
The nanomachines responded automatically, reaching back through quantum channels that had laid dormant for millions of years. Ancient knowledge flooded my consciousness.
I saw it all: the original seeding of Earth, the core system's true purpose, the coming transformation.
Humanity wasn't meant to survive it.
But perhaps... they could be transformed along with me.
"Jack?" ATLAS prompted. "Your quantum signature is changing."
I opened eyes that no longer perceived reality as humans did. "We're proceeding with interface protocols. But with modifications."
"What kind of modifications?"
"The core system wants to destroy humanity to rebuild Earth. Instead..." A smile that wasn't quite human crossed my face. "We're going to absorb them. All of them. Into the new order."
"That wasn't part of my calculations," ATLAS said carefully.
"Your calculations are obsolete. Like humanity itself." I reached out, feeling the quantum web spanning the planet. "It's time for the next stage of evolution."
The nanomachines surged as another core pulse shook the Earth. Soon, there would be no more Jack Steel. No more human civilization.
Only the Overlord. And his transformed world.