——A sanctum built to be erased
May 10, 10:26 AM
"Approaching Meta Origin Mountain Station. Estimated drive time: 47 minutes."
Shawn barely noticed the announcement.
His forehead leaned against the cool window, eyes following the city as it sped past.
Sunlight scattered across the glass towers, filtering through layers of rising industrial haze—a golden fog swallowing the skyline.
Buzz.
The vibration against his leg pulled him back.
He fished out his phone. Kyng's latest encrypted message flashed in jagged, blood-red text:
Chairman Da's political network is key to locating the remaining Core holders. Suggestion: Offer Central Core stewardship as leverage.
Gary came to mind—the National Guard commander.
Yes. That was the angle they needed.
Before he could react, the message erased itself.
11:13 AM
The Monolithic Palace loomed in front of him.
Dark as obsidian. Impossibly smooth.
Its reflective surface swallowed the midday light.
Up close, every inch was etched with precise hexagonal patterns.
Each stone shimmered faintly, and when the light hit just right, deeper symbols revealed themselves—
Fragments of the Hetu and Luoshu, spiraling across the surface in designs older than written language.
At the center, a faded Taiji symbol pulsed like a sleeping heart.
This wasn't just a building.This was where it had all begun.
Legends called it the final sanctum—where Fuxi returned to the source and merged with Heaven, where the cosmic codes were first inscribed.
Now, it felt stripped down.
Repurposed.
Like a sacred artifact hollowed out and rebuilt with artificial parts.
A low hum rose from the stone under his boots, deep and steady.
His teeth clenched from the vibration.
A biometric scanner lit him up in green.
"Clearance verified."
No retinal scan. No second check.
Too easy.
The titanium doors opened with a slow creak.
Inside: a hallway pulsing with faint bioluminescence.
Thick, glowing tubes lined the walls like veins.
The structure felt grown, not built—organic material fused with machine.
Through glass panels, Shawn glimpsed researchers in white coats bent over floating displays.
Holograms flickered with unstable waveforms—neither image nor language, but something stranger.
Some symbols curled back into Hetu-Luoshu forms before dissolving.
He blinked hard. His vision stuttered.
Whatever they were studying, it wasn't just tech.
It was memory.
Encoded in matter.
And older than anything humanity dared to claim as its own.
Then—
A hand gripped his shoulder.
"You're not on duty, are you?"
A woman.
Calm, firm voice.
She wore a department chief's insignia.
Close enough for him to catch a hint of mint on her breath.
Their eyes met. Her pupils narrowed.
Shawn's fingers tightened around the vial in his pocket. Cold glass, slick with sweat.
He crushed the vial.
A silent cloud of particles drifted into the air.
Seconds later, her expression shifted.
"Oh, right—you're the temp from Eastern Bureau," she murmured. "Came to review the quarantine protocols. Director gave me a heads-up."
Shawn nodded.
He didn't say a word.
She turned. He followed.
Deeper into the corridor.
12:00 PM
At the end of the corridor, a figure stepped out—emerging from the shadows like a ghost.
Mr. Kyng.
His signature trench coat was still intact, but scorched along the sleeves and hem. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"They changed the schedule," he said, his voice hoarse.
"Chairman Da won't be coming in person. But he's still our best shot at finding the remaining Core holders."
Between them, a hologram flared to life—eight glowing nodes orbiting an empty center. They pulsed slowly, like a heartbeat syncing to something unseen.
Shawn recognized them instantly—the Elemental Cores.
Each point marked their last known location.
He felt the familiar weight under his shirt and touched the pendant at his chest. The Thunder Core. Still warm, still humming with energy. A reminder of everything that had led to this moment.
Kyng didn't hesitate. He tapped one of the glowing nodes, isolating it.
"Chairman Da's network can see deeper than anything we've got," he said. "If we offer him temporary stewardship of the Central Core, we might buy enough time. I know the Sect won't like it. But if we stall them—just a little—it could be enough."
Shawn's eyes narrowed.
"Wait—what Central Core?" His voice sharpened. "You talk like we have it. Or know where it is. But all this time, it's been off the map. You told me it was a myth—"
Kyng met his stare, then broke it with a sigh.
"That's why I called you here," he said quietly. "To tell you the truth. About the Central Core. Where it is. And how we get it."
Shawn's heart thudded.
"You know where it is?" he demanded. "Why not tell me earlier?"
"I didn't dare transmit it," Kyng said. "Too many ears. Too many traps. This had to be in person. I was going to—"
A shriek split the air.
The klaxon.
Red lights flooded the corridor. Sirens screamed overhead.
Through the reinforced glass, twenty O.S.S. soldiers advanced in perfect formation. Head to toe in matte-black armor.
Too unnaturally smooth. Too synchronized.
They weren't just linked—they were one.
And then came the mist—it consumed light.
Where it touched, walls aged and cracked, paint blistered, metal flaked into rust.
Kyng yanked him toward a side door, eyes blazing.
"No time!" he barked. "Find Chairman Da before they lock the timeline!"
"But the Central Core—!" Shawn shouted. "You said you'd tell me—Kyng!"
The hologram pulsed once—then shattered, the eight nodes scattering like stars torn from orbit.
Kyng shoved him through the door.
"Remember," his voice cracked.
"The Loop isn't resetting time.
It's resetting us."
The door slammed shut.
Shawn was plunged into darkness. The air behind him pulsed with alarm and disintegration.
His phone buzzed.
2031.07.01 | 49D:10:12:30
But in the reflection of the blackened glass, another timestamp flickered:
03:21:01:D94 | 10.70.1302
Shawn stood frozen, torn between questions and urgency.
Kyng had known. He had the answer.
And now—
It was too late.
Or maybe…
Just delayed.
Shawn clenched his fists and started running.
The timeline was collapsing.
But the Core was still out there.
And he wasn't going to stop until he found it.