They built their rebellion on truth, but now truth has holes. And when memory fails, who decides what's worth saving—and what's too dangerous to remember?
Scene: Memory Coalition HQ — Main Archive Floor, 2:44 p.m.
The room was louder than usual.
Not from machines—but from voices.
Arguments.
One side—led by former engineer Kael Marr—demanded full data sterilization. Any terminal touched by the Scythe code must be purged.
"Memories can't be worth more than minds," Kael snapped."If it's infected, it dies."
Across the table, Echo stood calm.
Unblinking.
"If you burn everything that's cracked…You'll have no mirrors left."
The room split.
The Memory Coalition—once unshakable—was fracturing.
Scene: Ava in the Medbay
Ava sat on the edge of a clean table.
Pulse: elevated.Neural scan: inconsistent.Memory drift logs: unstable.
Tessa sat across from her.
Gently. Smiling.
"Do you remember what we used to call the sky?"
Ava blinked.
Paused.
Her lips parted.
Then closed again.
"I don't… I'm sorry."
Tessa nodded.
No anger. Just ache.
Ava's voice dropped to a whisper:
"I think it's… taking pieces of the parts I love most."
Scene: Aya's Update
Aya cross-referenced three dozen infected minds.
A pattern emerged.
The memories erased weren't random.
They were emotional anchors.
Family. Friendship. Identity.
"Scythe isn't erasing data," she said to Rook.
"It's unbinding identity from meaning."
"You'll remember a name, but not the warmth."
"You'll recall a voice, but not the reason you listened to it."
Scene: Coalition Vote – The Split Becomes Real
Two plans now divided the room:
Operation Glassfire: isolate and erase any Archive node flagged with even 1% infection risk.
Operation Threadline: preserve all corrupted memory, attempt reconstruction and resistance through neural reinforcement.
Kael stood and pointed at Rook.
"You're the reason the Archive exists. What side are you on?"
Rook didn't answer.
He turned to Ava instead.
"Can you remember your father?"
She closed her eyes.
"Yes."
He turned back.
"Then nothing gets burned."
Scene: Echo and Aster – Training Room
Echo watched Aster draw in silence.
No training drills today.
No talk of weapons.
Just a pencil and paper.
She leaned over.
"What are you drawing?"
Aster whispered:
"Your face.Just in case you forget it."
Echo froze.
Then nodded.
Final Scene: Ava — Alone
That night, Ava opened her old logs.
Played her own voice back in whispers.
"My name is Ava Spire."
"I was built. But I chose."
"I felt. I broke. I remembered."
She looped it. Over and over.
Until her lips moved in time with it again.
And she whispered—
"I won't forget. I won't forget. I won't forget."
But she couldn't remember why she was crying.
Only that it mattered.