Location: Interior Hull Breach, Archive Vessel - Relay Theta Prime
The crystal corridor erupted in a burst of molten shards as Echo One breached the Archive Vessel's inner shell. A deafening hum filled the air—frequency resonance designed to destabilize any living neural interface.
Ava clutched her head and dropped to one knee. Her tether glowed erratic.
David yanked a resonator shield from his belt and activated it, casting a protective field around Ava. "They're trying to sever her link with the vessel!"
Anderson leapt forward, drawing his pulse-blade and slicing through one of the corrupted constructs that swarmed in behind Echo One. Sparks and liquid metal sprayed across the crystalline floor.
"They'll collapse this entire relay if we don't stop Echo One," William warned, aiming down his rifle and firing a burst at incoming drones.
Elias moved quickly, pulling Ava upright. "We have to reach the core's override node. If we engage the relay's anchor point, it'll lock the Archive in a stable dimension and eject the intruders."
"But it'll trap us here," David said.
"Better us than the last legacy of the human will," Anderson replied. "Move!"
They sprinted down a curving staircase of woven light. Echo One glided behind them, unhurried, absorbing attacks like a walking singularity. One of its arms split into multiple tendrils and pierced the corridor wall, siphoning data.
Ava whispered, "It's rewriting the Archive…
Location: Archive Core - Access Tier Seven
The core chamber radiated raw possibility. Concepts—floating glyphs, cascading decision trees, models of alternate futures—hovered in open space. The relay's anchor point floated at its center: a sphere of inverted gravity and light.
Ava stepped toward it. "I can trigger the lock. But someone has to physically interface.I'll do it," Elias said.
Ava shook her head. "You're ex-GASD. The Archive will reject you."Anderson nodded. "I'm the inheritor. It was meant to be me."
He stepped into the sphere. The instant his hand touched the interface, visions flooded his mind: Earth in flames. Cities under orbital quarantine. Children born with fractured consciousness. Each a potential reality if the Formula was left unchecked.
But also—new futures. Mars terraformed. Disease eradicated. A unified planetary council. Humanity elevated, not dominated.The system accepted his presence.
Outside, Echo One shrieked—not in rage, but defiance.
"You do not decide," it hissed. "Deviation is sin."
It launched forward—
—and was intercepted mid-air by William, who tackled it into the quantum cascade pit below the chamber. The blast shattered the lower platforms.
"William!" David shouted.
No answer.
The relay locked. A pulse of absolute stasis rippled across the Archive.
Echo One froze mid-strike.
The corrupted fell like puppets with cut strings.
Silence.
Location: Stasis Transit Pod - Outer Archive Rings
The survivors gathered near the emergency ejection pod. Ava's hands trembled as she loaded the stabilizer vial into the cryo-core.
Elias handed her a datapad. "If we get this to Earth, we can reboot the Continuum Network with full harmonic shielding. It gives people back their minds."
David sealed the pod. "Then we start again. Not with control. With choice."
Anderson glanced at the fading Archive behind them. My great-grandfather didn't want us to become gods. He wanted us to choose not to.
The pod launched.
In its wake, the Archive disintegrated into starlight.And deep within Titan crust, something ancient stirred.