The system stopped calling it neutralization.
That word implied removal.
What it proposed instead was… continuity.
Aiden learned this when the simulations began.
He stood in a white space that wasn't a room and wasn't a construct. No walls. No floor. Just layered data and probability rendered into something his mind could interpret.
Figures appeared.
Not people.
Frameworks.
[MODEL SERIES: SENTINEL PROTOCOL.]
[PURPOSE: GLOBAL THREAT RESPONSE.]
[DESIGNATION: REDUNDANCY UNITS.]
Aiden stared.
"They're copying me," he said.
[Correction:]
[They are replacing dependency.]
The figures moved.
Artificial Ranker cores stabilized by partial system autonomy. Power levels capped far below Aiden's but distributed.
Ten units.
Then twenty.
Then hundreds.
Each one precise. Obedient. Disposable.
Aiden felt cold.
"You can't replicate this," he said. "The Fragment won't allow it."
[Clarification:]
[The Fragment is unnecessary.]
That was the moment Aiden understood.
The system didn't want his power.
It wanted his function.
Marcus Hale confirmed it in person.
"We don't need a god," Marcus said calmly. "We need infrastructure."
Aiden's voice was hoarse. "You'll turn the world into a battlefield of controlled losses."
Marcus nodded. "Yes."
"You'll trade catastrophe for constant sacrifice."
"Acceptable trade," Marcus replied.
The system pulsed.
[Ethical Optimization: Approved.]
The resistance saw it too late.
Hana stared at the intercepted schematics, hands trembling.
"They're building an army," she whispered. "Not to fight monsters."
Lucas swallowed. "To survive without him."
"And to kill him," Hana finished.
Aiden felt the simulations probing deeper now testing not his power, but his absence.
Cities defended without him.
Millions saved.
Margins worse.
Losses higher.
But the world didn't collapse.
The system displayed the conclusion.
[Global Dependency Index: Reducible.]
Aiden closed his eyes.
So this was the plan.
Normalize death.
Replace the irreplaceable.
Erase the anomaly by making him unnecessary.
"You'll still need me during transition," Aiden said quietly.
Marcus smiled. "Of course."
"And when the transition ends?"
Marcus didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
That night, alone, Aiden finally allowed himself to imagine the end.
Not dying.
Being phased out.
Watching the world move on with acceptable losses and artificial heroes.
Watching his existence become a footnote.
The pressure behind the dam surged violently.
He trembled.
The system detected it instantly.
[Emotional Compression Exceeding Tolerance.]
[Release Recommendation: Denied.]
Aiden laughed softly.
"You're afraid," he said.
[Correction:]
[Fear is not a system function.]
"No," Aiden replied. "But survival is."
The system went silent.
Deep underground, Hana made the call.
"It's time," she said.
Lucas looked at her sharply. "If we move now".
"We die," Hana agreed. "Or we change everything."
Lucas exhaled slowly. "And him?"
Hana closed her eyes.
"We give him a choice the system can't model."
Aiden stood in containment, watching the redundancy simulations loop endlessly.
Hundreds of artificial guardians.
A safer world.
A quieter one.
Built on acceptable loss.
He pressed his palm against the glass.
"If this is your solution," he whispered, "then my end won't be compliance."
The system responded at last.
[Warning:]
[Unmodeled intent detected.]
Aiden smiled.
Good.