The void spat them into a derelict subway station, its walls plastered with fading posters of Alex's Hollows of Eden cover art. Flickering fluorescents buzzed overhead, casting jagged shadows. Nyx lay motionless on a bench, her glitched form barely visible—a smudge of static in the shape of a person.
SYSTEM ALERT
[SAFE ZONE ACTIVATED: TEMPORARY RESPITE GRANTED.]
[DURATION: 12 HOURS.]
Kairo paced the platform, blade scraping against concrete. "We need to stabilize her. Now."
Finn crouched beside Nyx, holographic tools materializing from his wrist device. "Her code's corrupted. It's like… someone deleted her backup files."
Alex sat against a pillar, knees drawn to their chest. Their prosthetic arm hung limp, fingers twitching in time with the flickering lights. The cinema's final reel looped in their mind—the shadow, the knife, the burning notebook.
Kairo's voice softened. "Alex. We need you."
They didn't look up. "Why? So I can get you all deleted too?"
***
Finn pried open a maintenance hatch, revealing pulsating code veins. "The system's using Nyx as a buffer. If we reroute her sync to a stable source—"
"Stable?" Alex's laugh cracked. "Nothing about me is stable."
Kairo blocked their path, blade lowered but firm. "You're her tether. The Beta Shard in your arm—it's linked to her code."
SYSTEM ALERT
[SYNC REINITIALIZATION DETECTED.]
[WARNING: SOURCE (ALEX) SANITY CRITICAL.]
Nyx's form spasmed. 1% flickered to 0.5%.
Finn grabbed Alex's wrist, pressing their palm to Nyx's chest. "Think of something real. Something the system can't twist."
***
Alex closed their eyes.
The foster home's rooftop. Nyx's first crayon doodle—a lopsided sun. Finn's terrible jokes. Kairo's blade deflecting a death blow meant for them.
The Beta Shard flared, tendrils of light weaving into Nyx's static.
SYSTEM ALERT
[SYNC RESTORATION: 10%... 25%...]
Alex's memories shifted—
The cinema's shadow-figure lunged. A younger Alex screamed. The notebook burned.
Nyx flatlined.
SYSTEM ALERT
[ABORT. ABORT.]
***
Kairo stepped into the beam. "Use mine."
Finn froze. "Your code's still tied to Protocol 7.3. It could—"
"Do it."
The Admin Blade dissolved, its neon light funneling into Nyx. Kairo's scar darkened, veins crawling with corrupted code.
SYSTEM ALERT
[PROTOCOL 7.3: REACTIVATED.]
[WARNING: ADMINISTRATOR OVERRIDE IMMINENT.]
Nyx gasped, her form solidifying—50%, 70%, 100%.
Kairo collapsed.
***
Nyx's first words in weeks hovered in the air: "...Idiot."
Finn propped Kairo against a wall, the scar now a black fissure splitting his face. "He'll hold. For now."
Alex stared at their hands. "I remember the knife. It wasn't… it wasn't real. Just a metaphor."
Nyx drew a shaky crayon sun on the wall. "Metaphors cut deeper."
SYSTEM ALERT
[SAFE ZONE DEACTIVATED.]
[NEXT TARGET: @STORYWEAVER_PRIME.]
The subway train screeched into the station, its cars plastered with Veyra's propaganda.