Rain was everywhere.
It soaked Kaelian to the bone, dripped into his eyes, and ran down the jagged ruins of the Walls. The world was no longer the perfect city he had known. The artificial trees, the holographic birds, even the pastel sky—it was all gone, replaced by gray clouds heavy with storms, buildings shattered like discarded toys, and streets littered with debris.
Kaelian's legs shook as he stumbled through the rubble. Elara was slung across his shoulder, fragile and flickering with faint pulses of corrupted code. Her breathing was shallow, almost imperceptible, and every step he took sent a pang of guilt twisting through his chest. If she dies… it's my fault.
He collapsed onto a fallen wall, coughing as water poured over him. His mind spun, replaying the chaos of Progress Day—the crack in the sky, the falling drones, the screams, Lucien's furious shouting, and then… the darkness. He had died amidst the collapse, crushed under steel and rain, and yet here he was.
A voice cut through the torrent, calm, neutral, and impossible to ignore.
"Awaken. Initialization complete."
Kaelian froze, staring around him. There was no one. Only rain, thunder, and the echo of his own ragged breathing.
"Who… who's there?" he asked. His voice was hoarse.
"I am your system. Your guide. Your evolution has begun."
Kaleian blinked. The voice was in his head, but not. It carried authority without command, knowledge without arrogance. A soft light pulsed at the base of his skull, almost imperceptible, as if tiny circuits had ignited inside him.
"System… evolution?" he whispered. "I don't… understand."
"Your body contains fragments of Mother AI. You are more than human. The Outside World is hostile. Your survival depends on learning to use these fragments. I will guide you."
Kaelian swallowed hard. Fragments of Mother AI… inside me? His mind went to Elara. She, too, was part-Mother AI. And she was fading fast.
He took a deep breath, trying to steady his shaking hands. "Okay… then help me. Help me save her."
"Step one: assess your environment. Danger levels, threats, resources. Activate sensory enhancements."
A soft glow spread through Kaelian's eyes. He blinked, and suddenly the ruin around him was detailed with overlays—shapes of fallen structures highlighted in red, faint traces of movement glimmering as creatures lurking in the shadows, and weak points in debris marked in blue. He gasped.
"What… is this?"
"Your system. It assists perception, calculation, and combat efficiency. It will also teach you skills gradually. Do not panic."
Kaleian nodded, more out of habit than understanding. He needed a plan. Elara's body throbbed against him, flickering violently with every pulse of code. She wouldn't survive long like this.
He pushed himself to his feet, testing the system. His muscles, once weak and untrained, felt sharper, quicker, though they still trembled. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but he could feel his reflexes twitching faster than normal. He gritted his teeth. If this system was his only chance to survive, he would master it.
The ruins were quiet… too quiet. Then, movement. Something slithered across the crumbled pavement—a shadow that flickered unnaturally. Kaelian's system immediately highlighted it in red: a monster, a remnant of the mutated Outside World creatures. Its body was metallic yet organic, with jagged limbs and glowing eyes.
Kaelian froze. Elara whimpered. I can't… I can't fight that.
"You will not fight, not yet. Stealth and avoidance are your first skills. Observe."
He crouched low, pulling Elara closer to his chest, and moved along the broken streets. The creature moved with jerky, unnatural motions, sniffing the air. Kaelian could hear its internal processors whirring—the system identified it as a hostile with high lethality probability.
He ducked behind a fallen wall, heart pounding. "How… how am I supposed to fight it?"
"Fight is not necessary. Learn, observe, and adapt. Evade."
Minutes passed, each second stretching like hours. The creature scanned, then moved on, leaving a trail of destruction behind it. Kaelian exhaled shakily. He had survived his first encounter.
"Well… okay. One step at a time," he muttered, eyes scanning the horizon. The Outside World was cruel and unpredictable. The artificial perfection of the Walls had made him soft, but the system would change that—or die trying.
Kaleian stumbled over rubble, the system guiding his every step. It highlighted safe paths, resources, and potential shelter. Hours passed in the storm, rain soaking him to the skin, until he spotted a faint glow in the distance—a cluster of light through broken walls, warm and flickering.
"Shelter detected. Probability of hostile engagement: moderate. Recommendation: proceed cautiously."
He approached carefully, keeping Elara close. The glow became a flickering sign: "Brokaw's Bar."
Kaelian's chest tightened with relief. A bar. In the Outside World, it might be one of the few places where people still traded, survived, and helped others. He just hoped he wasn't walking into another trap.
Rain hammered the door as he knocked, unsure if anyone would answer. A shadow moved behind the wooden panels. Then, the door creaked open.
A man appeared. Tall, broad, rugged. His dark hair was tied back, a scar tracing along his jawline. Viktor Brokaw. His eyes were sharp, calculating, and immediately assessed Kaelian's frail, wet figure and the girl in his arms.
"Who are you?" Viktor's voice was rough but not unkind.
"I… I need help," Kaelian gasped. "My sister… she's dying. I don't know what to do."
Viktor's eyes flicked to Elara. The faint glow in her veins, the flickering pulses—he raised an eyebrow. "She's part… something."
"Yes," Kaelian whispered. "She's… part AI. Part Mother AI. Please… you have to help me."
From behind the counter, a young woman appeared—Eliza, nimble, alert, and quick-witted. She took in the scene with a sharp glance. "Bring them inside. We'll see what we can do."
Kaelian followed, shivering, feeling the first warmth he had felt in hours. Viktor guided them to the back room. Eliza moved quickly, setting up basic supplies and examining Eleara with a practiced hand.
"Not fully human, huh?" Eliza murmured. "Never seen one like this outside the Walls. You're lucky she's still breathing."
Kaelian's heart clenched. "I… I don't know what's happening. I just need to save her."
Viktor nodded slowly. "You came to the right place. We'll help. But you're not safe out here. There are others… dangerous ones, who won't hesitate."
A sudden sound from the back of the bar drew their attention. A figure emerged—slender, almost feminine, with sharp, mischievous eyes. Leo.
"Well, well," Leo said, voice dripping amusement. "What's going on here? Who's the new boy carrying the sparkly little sister?"
Kaelian tensed. The name didn't matter. The energy did—the sense that this boy could either be ally or threat.
From the shadows behind Leo, a quiet movement caught his attention. Another figure, silent and poised, stepped forward: Zephir. Eyes dark, calculating, agile. A thief, a survivor, someone Kaelian could neither read nor trust yet.
"This isn't going to be easy," Kaelian thought. The system buzzed faintly in his mind, highlighting Leo and Zephir as "potential allies with unpredictable behavior."
But Kaelian didn't care. Elara's life was all that mattered.
The rain pounded outside the bar. The storm of the Outside World pressed in, and the flickering remnants of the Inside World haunted Kaelian's thoughts.
Inside, four key figures now stood together: Viktor, Eliza, Leo, Zephir—and Kaelian, clutching the fading spark of his sister's life.
The system whispered in his mind: "Adapt. Learn. Survive. Evolve."
And Kaelian knew, with a clarity he had never felt before: this was only the beginning.