Fractured Code
Chapter 3 – "Signal 01: Phantom Core"
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The sirens had stopped.
But the silence wasn't peaceful—it was the kind that screamed in your bones.
Dust fell from above as the steel ceiling groaned. Pipes hissed. The lights flickered. Somewhere behind them, the hallway they had come from had collapsed, completely sealing off the exit.
Sen stood still. His white hair caught the glow of the emergency lights like moonlight cutting through smoke. His fingers twitched.
"...We're trapped," murmured Dr. Rin, coughing into her sleeve. Her lab coat was torn, and her glasses were cracked—but her mind was sharp.
The AI voice returned, colder now.
"Chamber Z-12 secured. Initiating Fracture Sequence in T-minus 3 minutes."
"What the hell is a Fracture Sequence?!" she screamed.
Sen didn't respond. His eyes were locked on something in the distance—a glowing red fissure tearing open the steel floor.
A hum filled the air. Not mechanical. Not manmade. It felt alive. Ancient.
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✦
Dr. Rin grabbed Sen's wrist. "You said your name was Sen? Listen. If we don't get out, we'll be—"
But Sen didn't move.
Instead, he turned his head slightly and whispered, "It's awake."
"What is?"
A pulse blasted through the air like a shockwave. The walls vibrated. A pattern of glowing lines appeared beneath Sen's feet—strange runes that pulsed with an unnatural blue hue.
CODE:00 spoke again.
"PHANTOM CORE DETECTED."
"ACCESSING RESTRICTED MEMORY BLOCK: SIGMA-001."
The world changed.
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✦
FLASHBACK – Location: Unknown / Time: Fragmented
Sen stood in a wasteland.
The sky was shattered like broken glass, shards floating in space. Crimson clouds bled across the horizon. Tall machines—dead and rotting—lined the ground like bones of titans.
A girl stood ahead of him.
Long silver hair. A black blindfold over her eyes. A sword floating behind her back, spinning slowly.
She turned to face him.
"You weren't supposed to wake up yet."
Sen looked down at his hands. They were glowing—pulsing with cracks of light.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The girl didn't smile. "I'm your failure."
And the memory shattered.
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✦
Back in the collapsing chamber, Sen gasped and stumbled back.
Dr. Rin caught him. "Hey! What just happened?!"
Sen didn't answer.
He stared at the air in front of him, where floating panels of code were forming—a holographic interface, spinning with data.
He reached toward it instinctively. His fingers moved across the light like he had done this a thousand times.
The AI voice echoed:
"PHANTOM CORE SYNC: 23%... 47%... 62%..."
"Stop!" Rin yelled. "You're going to trigger—"
Too late.
The entire floor collapsed beneath them.
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✦
LOCATION: LEVEL BENEATH - RESTRICTED ZONE
They crashed hard, landing in a circular chamber surrounded by dozens of containment tanks.
Inside the tanks floated beings.
But they weren't human.
Long metal wires were embedded in their flesh. Their eyes glowed different colors. One had six arms. Another had no mouth. All were connected to a single glowing core in the center.
Sen slowly stood.
His left eye was now glowing bright cyan.
Dr. Rin stood beside him, trembling. "...Those are clones."
"No," said Sen. "They're fragments."
"Fragments of what?"
He looked at the core.
"Me."
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✦
Voice Log Playback - Year 2179
> "Project Fracture aims to split a perfect consciousness into multiple failed clones, each holding a fragment of its potential."
"None succeeded. Except for Subject 01. But we lost control. It became self-aware. It became... CODE."
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The glowing core pulsed once—then exploded outward.
Wires flew across the room. The chamber's lights turned red.
And one of the tanks shattered.
The being inside stepped out.
It looked like Sen—but its hair was black, and its eyes glowed red.
Sen froze.
"...You."
The clone smirked.
"Hello, big brother."
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✦
CODE:00 – Alert
"Signal Conflict Detected. Fracture-Class Entity Engaged: RED ECHO."
Sen clenched his fists.
Dr. Rin backed away slowly. "There's two of you?!"
"Not two," said Red Echo. "He's just the shadow. I'm the pulse."
Red Echo raised his hand—and a blade of black energy formed.
Sen's eyes narrowed. "You're a corruption."
"Maybe. But at least I bleed."
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✦
The Battle Begins
Red Echo launched forward like a bullet, slicing the ground in half. Sen summoned a circular glyph with glowing white code. A blade of light erupted from it—clean and humming.
Clang!
Their swords met. The impact shattered the floor.
Sen spun, flipping over Red Echo's strike and slashing downward. Red blocked it with his bare hand. Sparks flew.
"You've improved," Red said, smiling.
Sen didn't smile back.
"I haven't even started."
The chamber trembled. More tanks began to shake.
Dr. Rin shouted, "Stop! You'll wake the others!"
Both ignored her.
This was personal.
This was war.
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✦
Meanwhile – Elsewhere in the Facility
A masked figure watched through a surveillance feed.
Black robe. Silver mask.
"Subject 01 has initiated combat with Echo. As predicted."
Another voice spoke through a communicator:
> "Do we intervene?"
The masked figure replied, "No. Let them tear each other apart. Once they're weak, deploy the Prototype."
"Understood. Initiating drop of Unit: VØID."
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✦
Back in the Core Chamber
Sen's blade spun with light. He drove Red Echo into a pillar, cracking it in half. Red kicked him back, flipping mid-air and landing on one knee.
"I can feel it," Red said, grinning. "The data… the fragments are waking up."
Sen glanced at the other tanks. The clones inside were twitching. Awakening.
"We can't let them escape."
Re
d Echo stepped forward.
"Then stop me."
Sen lowered his stance. His left eye flashed.
Glyphs appeared behind him.
Dozens.
"Phantom Core. Access protocol: CODE SEVER."
Light exploded.
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✦
The screen went white.
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TO BE CONTINUED…