The air warped around them, a ripple of unstable data distorting the room. The creature—the failed entity—took a slow, shuddering step forward, its form flickering between fragments of corrupted data and something half-human.
Ethan's System remained silent. No combat alerts, no exploit options.
That was bad.
Aya pulled her knife. "Ethan, what's the plan?"
The creature twitched. Its body shifted erratically, arms stretching too far, legs bending the wrong way. It wasn't attacking yet, but it was watching.
Waiting.
Ethan clenched his fists. He had one option left.
He had to force the System to recognize it.
> [System Exploit Attempt: Identify Anomaly]
- Processing…
For a long second, nothing happened. Then—
> [ERROR: Entity Classification Unknown]
- System Response: TERMINATION PROTOCOL INITIATED
The creature screamed.
Its entire body glitched violently, as if the System itself was trying to erase it.
But it refused to die.
Instead—it changed.
The glitched-out form solidified into something more humanoid. Its flickering, unstable body stabilized—just enough to react.
Then it moved.
Fast.
Ethan barely dodged as its twisted arm slashed through the air, leaving behind a trail of corrupted data. The console behind him erupted into static.
Aya lunged, slashing at it with her knife—
The blade went through, like cutting smoke.
Ethan's mind raced. It's adapting. It's resisting deletion.
They couldn't kill it. Not conventionally.
Which meant—
They had to break it.
"Ethan!" Aya shouted as the creature lunged again.
He dodged—barely. His System flashed warnings, but still no combat prompts.
Fine. If the System wouldn't help, he'd do it himself.
Ethan focused, reaching for the flickering distortions in the air around the creature.
> [System Exploit Available: Force Debug Mode]
He didn't hesitate. YES.
The world shattered.
---
Debug Mode Activated
For a split second, the entire Control Hub froze.
The creature jerked mid-movement, its body spasming as if it had just been yanked out of reality.
Lines of code flooded Ethan's vision—strings of data, raw and unstable. And buried within them…
Its weakness.
> [Entity Classification: ERROR]
- Code Origin: Fragmented System Prototype
- Weak Point Detected: Stability Threshold Exceeded
It wasn't supposed to exist.
It was a glitched prototype—a failed experiment. And if Ethan could push it past its threshold, it would break apart.
He turned to Aya. "We need to overload it!"
She frowned. "And that means what, exactly?"
Ethan took a deep breath. "Make it process too much data at once. It's barely holding itself together—if we force it to overload, it'll collapse."
Aya grinned. "Now that's a plan I can work with."
The creature twitched violently, recovering from the debug freeze.
And then—it roared.
The entire room shifted. Walls bent at impossible angles, the floor twisted into spirals of broken tiles.
It was trying to rewrite the world.
Aya moved first, throwing her knife—not at the creature, but at the unstable console behind it.
The screen burst into cascading code, flooding the room with raw data.
The creature reacted instantly, glitching as its corrupted form was forced to process the overload.
Ethan took his chance.
> [System Exploit: Inject Recursive Loop]
YES.
The air rippled violently.
The creature let out a distorted scream as its code fractured, forced into an endless loop of conflicting data.
It collapsed, its body twisting inward as if being consumed by its own corruption.
For a brief second, its flickering face almost looked… relieved.
Then—
It vanished.
The Control Hub stabilized.
Ethan exhaled, heart pounding.
Aya leaned against a console, catching her breath. "Okay. What the hell was that?"
Ethan didn't answer immediately. He was staring at the space where the creature had been.
A single line of text hovered in the air, flickering like a dying ember.
> [Prototype #000: TERMINATED]
- Data Corruption: Irreversible
- Status: Incomplete]
Aya stepped forward. "Prototype?"
Ethan clenched his fists.
It was a failed version of something.
And if there was a Prototype #000…
That meant there were others.
Aya sighed. "You're thinking something bad, aren't you?"
Ethan nodded. "Yeah."
If the System had prototypes before him—before the Apocalypse Update—then this went deeper than just survival.
And he wasn't the first player to go through this.
But if that thing was incomplete…
Then what was he?
The Forgotten Protocol
The Control Hub remained silent, the only movement coming from the flickering monitors around them. The Prototype was gone, erased by Ethan's forced System Exploit. But the implications of what they'd just seen lingered like a shadow.
Aya ran a hand through her hair. "So… a 'Prototype'? That means someone—or something—was making versions of whatever that thing was."
Ethan's eyes flickered back to the monitor, the last traces of corrupted text dissolving.
"If there was a Prototype #000," he muttered, "then there's more. And if it was incomplete… then something else must have been finished."
Aya's expression darkened. "You think there's a completed version of that thing somewhere?"
Ethan didn't answer immediately. He stared at his own hands, flexing his fingers.
The Prototype had glitched, broken apart when he forced an overload. But Ethan… he had survived every system anomaly so far.
What if the real completed Prototype wasn't a monster?
What if it was him?
His System suddenly flashed a notification.
> [System Notice: Unauthorized Access Detected]
- Remaining Security Protocols: 1% Active
- Warning: System Stability Compromised
Ethan's pulse quickened. He recognized that kind of alert—it was the same as when he'd tried to override the System earlier.
Except this time, he hadn't done anything.
Something else was hacking in.
Aya noticed the look on his face. "What's wrong?"
Ethan turned back to the console. The flickering screens had begun showing distorted images—maps, text logs, fragmented video files.
Then, a new prompt appeared.
> [Do you wish to execute Forgotten Protocol?]
[Y/N]
Aya squinted at the screen. "What the hell is the 'Forgotten Protocol'?"
Ethan hesitated.
If the System was breaking down, this could be his only chance to uncover what had really happened to the world.
His finger hovered over the Y.
Before he could press it—
The room shook violently.
A wave of static energy exploded outward, sending both of them flying backward.
> [ERROR: System Breach Detected]
- Forced Shutdown Initiated
The monitors died instantly, the glow fading into black.
Aya groaned, pushing herself up. "Okay. That was bad."
Ethan coughed, dust settling around them. "The System shut itself down."
Aya dusted herself off. "On purpose?"
Ethan nodded. "Someone didn't want us seeing what was inside."
Which meant they were on the right track.
---
The Red Corridor
With the Control Hub dead, they had no reason to stay. The only way forward was a rusted metal door at the far end of the chamber. Unlike the rest of the world's corrupted landscape, this door was perfectly intact.
Aya frowned. "That's not suspicious at all."
Ethan reached out—hesitated—then pulled the handle.
The door swung open.
Beyond it was a corridor bathed in deep red light.
Unlike the glitched ruins they'd seen so far, this hallway was pristine. Smooth metal walls. No flickering. No corruption.
Just silence.
Ethan took a step inside. The air was warm. Too warm.
Aya followed, her grip tightening around her knife. "Where the hell are we?"
The corridor stretched into the distance, featureless except for the rows of metal doors lining the walls.
Ethan frowned. Something about this place felt… deliberate. Like it wasn't part of the broken world outside.
Aya stopped in front of one of the doors. There was no handle. Just a small display screen, covered in static.
She wiped the dust away.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then—
A single word appeared on the display.
> [STATUS: SEALED]
Aya's brow furrowed. "Sealed? What's inside?"
Ethan's gut twisted.
He had a feeling he already knew.