Kael wandered the old subway, guided only by flickering lights and static-ridden map signals. He had found shelter in an old control room — abandoned, silent, still carrying the scent of a world that once lived.
He found an old journal. Pages mostly burned. But one entry remained:
"The Core spoke to me today. Said something about 'restoring the Sun Code.' I laughed. We all did. There's no sun left to restore."
Kael closed the journal gently.
Sun Code…?
He looked at the Core.
What secrets did it hold?
Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered violently.
Another figure stepped through the broken door — thin, limping slightly, covered in rags and layered gear. A survivor.
They stared at each other in tense silence.
Then—
"I saw the flash," the man rasped. "Back on 9th Street. That was you, wasn't it?"
Kael didn't answer.
"I've seen others like you," the man continued, stepping forward. "Before they were hunted down. Before the Architect's Echoes found them."
"Echoes?"
"Ghosts of his will. Machines with memories of killing. They're coming."
Kael stood slowly, alert.
The man pulled a metal shard from his coat — etched with strange runes.
"I used to be a Vaultkeeper," he said quietly. "But I ran."
He pressed the shard into Kael's hand.
"This'll open the gates to Delta-Seven. But the truth you'll find there… it might just break you."
Before Kael could speak, a sharp shriek tore through the tunnel.
A mechanical sound, drawing closer.
"They found us."
End of Chapter 6