The air shimmered with residual code.
Particles of light drifted through the ruined citadel, forming faint trails that pulsed like heartbeat rhythms. Elias took a cautious step forward, watching the holographic woman's form flicker with static.
Her armor bore the same sigil as the Architect Path—fractured gears entwined by golden light.
Her eyes—deep amethyst, artificial yet sorrowful—met his.
"I was… part of the Root," she said, voice laced with faint distortion. "When the Dominion System was sealed, I was left behind. Waiting for the next Claimant."
Elias studied her for a moment. "You waited centuries for someone like me?"
"Not centuries," she replied softly. "Cycles. Every reset, the world rebuilt itself. Empires rose, fell, and forgot. But the Legacy Code… never forgot you."
That word again — Legacy.
The one that had destroyed his life.
Now it spoke like destiny.
[AI Sovereign Veyra — Initialization 14% Complete.]
[Core Link Required for Stabilization.]
Elias knelt beside her holographic form.
"How do I link?"
"Reach into the data flow," she whispered. "The Legacy Code will do the rest."
He hesitated, then extended a hand.
Gold light flared between them, forming a thin filament of energy. For an instant, he felt something impossible — a pulse of emotion. Fear. Relief. Hope.
Then it was gone, replaced by code rushing through his neural link like fire through glass.
[Core Link Established.]
[AI Sovereign Veyra — Bound to Claimant.]
[Architect Subsystem Activated.]
Veyra's form stabilized — the flickering static resolving into a fully rendered body. Her hair shifted from white to silver, her armor reforging itself in fractal layers. When she rose to her feet, she bowed her head slightly.
"Command me, Architect," she said softly. "Your Dominion awaits creation."
Elias took a slow breath.
Around him stretched a dead fortress — broken towers, shattered gates, data ghosts flickering like windblown leaves. The system's HUD displayed the details:
[TERRITORY STATUS: FORSAKEN BASTION]
[Integrity: 8%]
[Resources: 0]
[Population: None]
"Rebuilding this will take forever," he muttered.
"Not forever," Veyra said. "Just power… and will."
He looked at his interface again.
A new icon blinked: [CREATE STRUCTURE].
The Architect Path's true strength.
[Architect Core Function: Worldshaper — Convert raw code into matter.]
He raised his hand experimentally. The ground beneath him shimmered, pixels and dust swirling into geometric alignment. Lines of energy carved themselves across the terrain, reconstructing shattered walls piece by piece.
But his neural link trembled — the system draining him like a siphon.
[Warning: Mental strain approaching threshold.]
Elias grit his teeth. "Come on… just a little more—"
The half-ruined fortress began to take form: new walls, iron gates, light streaming from reconstructed spires. Then, suddenly, he fell to one knee, panting as the code stabilized.
[Construction Complete: Foundation Level 1 — The Bastion Reborn.]
[Legacy Synchronization: 4%]
[Authority Unlocked: Local Command Protocols.]
Veyra stepped forward, her holographic hands glowing as she inspected the newly formed gate. "Functional. Inefficient, but alive," she said, turning to him with faint amusement. "You are learning quickly."
Elias exhaled, sweat dripping down his temple. "I built this system, remember? I just never expected to feel it fight back."
Veyra's gaze softened. "The Code responds to intent. You don't command it — you shape it. That's what it means to be an Architect."
He looked up at the rising fortress. His fortress.
It was crude, incomplete — but it was his.
"Then we'll rebuild it together," he said quietly. "From this ruin… to something greater."
[Dominion Established.]
[Architect Path Progression: 1%.]
[AI Sovereign Loyalty: 7%.]
[Next Objective: Awaken the Core of the Bastion.]
The world pulsed — the interface fading into the background as the twin moons rose higher. For the first time since his fall, Elias felt something stir in his chest — not anger, not despair.
Purpose.
He turned toward the citadel gates.
"Let's wake it up," he said.