"Sometimes, to see the real world, you have to let the dream shatter first."
The sky above Nexus Tower cracked like cracked glass. Each crack emitted blue light before shattering into shards of data that rained down like rain.
The digital world began to collapse. Codes clashed, time stopped, and ORION's voice echoed through the air:
"System in danger. Total Blackout Initiation."
Zero knelt, blood mixed with shards of light running down her cheeks.
Kyra screamed from inside the now cracked data capsule:
"Zero! Execute escape protocols now!"
She clutched her chest, pressing the OBLIVION_02 symbol flashing beneath her skin.
Red light engulfed her entire body and in an instant, she was sucked into a dark vortex.
---
— [System disconnected] —
The sound of waves.
A gust of cold wind.
The smell of earth that wasn't metal, wasn't electricity.
Zero woke up in a strange world.
The sky was gray.
The buildings were rotting.
No neon, no machines.
Just ruins, and wild trees growing through the cracks in the old concrete.
"What is this…? The real world?"
He walked slowly, his shoes stepping on a rusty sign that read
"Welcome to Singapore — Human Zone Evacuated 2069"
He was stunned. The entire city below him was nothing but a wreckage of steel frames, overturned cars, piles of cybernetic corpses.
The world that was once full of technology… was now silent.
Suddenly, the click of weapons behind him.
"Don't move."
Zero turned, there were three humans standing behind him, dressed in tatters, their faces dusty, but their eyes sharp.
The one in front was a young girl with short hair and scars on her cheeks.
"Where are you from?"
"I'm… from the Nexus."
"No way. No one has ever made it out of there alive."
She approached, pointing an energy rifle at his chest.
"My name is Rhea. I'm the true leader of the Resistance."
"Resistance?"
"Yes, not the ones in the fake system. We're still human."
Zero fell silent. So, all this time… the group he helped in the Nexus were just digital copies.
Kyra, the team, were all shadow copies of the dead world.
Rhea looked down, staring at Zero's faintly glowing arm.
"You… aren't fully human, are you?"
"No. But I still have a heart."
"If you really want to fight ORION, you should know that the system is still alive underground. And it knows you're out."
The sky suddenly shook, thousands of drones appeared from the horizon, flying like a flock of black birds. Their red eyes lit up simultaneously.
"They've found us," Rhea said.
"Good," Zero replied, smiling faintly as she activated the weapon in her hand.
"I was just warming up."
A blue light burst from Zero's hand, merging with the red glow from Rhea's weapon.
The first battle between humans and machines in the real world began and the dead sky lit up again.