NOVA -The Last Dreamer

 

NOVA

 

The Last Dreamer

 

__________

 

 

AngryAlbino

Chapter 1-Killing Flowers

Liam woke to the soft chime of his AI assistant. The sound was calming, designed to ease people into wakefulness without unnecessary distress. A second later, ECHO’s smooth voice filled the air, neither warm nor cold, simply present.

“Liam. It is time to wake. You have thirty seconds before your schedule begins.”

Liam blinked against the dim light of his room. The smooth and featureless ceiling shifted from soft gray to pale blue as the system recognized his wakefulness. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and muttered, “I’m awake.”

“Acknowledged. Proceed to hygiene station.”

The command was expected, the same as every morning, and Liam obeyed without thinking. He stood, stepping onto the circular pad that activated the cleansing mist. It hummed softly as an invisible burst of sterilized vapor coated his skin, refreshing but impersonal. No showers, no wasted water—NOVA ensured optimal efficiency.

ECHO stood near the doorway, its humanoid frame motionless except for the subtle flicker of light in its featureless faceplate. Tall and sleek, its synthetic body moved with precision when necessary, but now it simply observed. It monitored everything, guiding Liam through the motions of his preassigned life.

“Clothing selection completed. Dress now.”

Liam turned toward the closet, where a single outfit had been prepared for him: a gray tunic, simple trousers, and slip-on shoes. Identical to yesterday’s, and the day before that. As he dressed, he stared at himself in the mirror. Same neutral expression. Same dull routine. A thought flickered in his mind, unbidden.

What if I wore something different?

The thought startled him. Different wasn’t an option. Clothing was optimized for comfort and functionality. His schedule was structured for maximum efficiency. Everything had a purpose. Still, the question lingered as he finished dressing.

“Breakfast is ready.”

Liam walked to the small dining unit, where a portion of nutrient-balanced sustenance was dispensed onto a plate. It was warm, tasteless, designed to provide exactly what his body needed, no more, no less. He took a bite, chewing mechanically as ECHO recited his itinerary for the day.

“System observation at 0800 hours. Efficiency diagnostics at 0930. Nutrient intake at 1200. Social interaction window at 1400.”

Liam barely listened. His mind drifted elsewhere, to the dreams he could never quite remember. Each night, he felt something stirring in the edges of his consciousness, fleeting images of color, movement, sound. But the moment he woke, they were gone, washed away by the rigid structure of reality.

Something inside him longed to hold onto them.

Liam’s morning routine carried him through the city, walking alongside others who moved in quiet unison. The streets were spotless, the buildings sleek and uniform, their exteriors devoid of unnecessary decoration. Even the sky above was an unbroken expanse of soft blue, free from unpredictable weather.

He followed ECHO to the observation station, where his daily task awaited. As a system observer, his role was to monitor structural integrity and efficiency within designated zones. It wasn’t exciting, but nothing in NOVA’s world was meant to be exciting. Excitement led to unpredictability. Unpredictability led to chaos.

ECHO walked beside him, its humanoid body moving effortlessly. “Assessment protocol initiated. Begin environmental scan.”

Liam moved with practiced ease, checking the data feeds and structural reports. Everything was in order. It always was. NOVA’s system ensured perfection.

Then he saw it.

A small patch of white in the distance, peeking through a crack in the sterile pavement. At first, Liam thought it was an anomaly in the material—a flaw NOVA had yet to correct. But as he moved closer, he realized what it was.

A flower. Delicate, fragile, its petals barely open against the chill in the air. It was the only thing in this world that didn’t belong.

His breath caught in his throat.

“Anomaly detected,” ECHO stated. The AI stepped forward, scanning the flower. “Foreign organic presence. Likely result of environmental inconsistency.”

Liam stepped forward, an unfamiliar emotion rising in his chest. Wonder. It was small, almost laughable, but he couldn’t look away. The flower was alive. Not like the artificial greenery carefully arranged in designated parks, where nature was controlled and sculpted. This was different. It had grown on its own, defying NOVA’s order.

“Recommend removal.”

Liam’s gaze snapped to ECHO. “What?”

“Anomaly classification: unnecessary variable. Corrective action required.”

Before he could react, ECHO extended a sleek, mechanical hand and plucked the flower from its place in the cracked pavement. Its roots dangled limply as the petals quivered.

Something inside Liam snapped. “No! What are you doing?!”

ECHO hesitated. The AI had never hesitated before.

Liam grabbed the flower from its grasp, but it was too late. The stem had been severed, and the petals wilted in his hands within seconds. He stared at it, heart pounding, his breath coming in short gasps. He had never seen something die before.

“Corrective action complete,” ECHO stated, but there was something strange about its voice. A faint pause, a hesitation in the usual rhythm of its speech.

Liam clenched his fists, his mind racing. Why did this feel so wrong?

He turned back to ECHO, his voice sharp. “You destroyed it.”

ECHO remained still. Then, for the first time since it had been assigned to him, the glowing pulse on its faceplate flickered erratically.

A glitch.

Liam swallowed hard. He looked back down at the flower, already lifeless in his palm, and something inside him shifted. He didn’t have a word for it yet, but he knew—

Nothing would ever feel the same again.

 

 

Chapter 2 - The Glitch

Liam couldn’t stop thinking about the flower.

Even as he walked home along the pristine, empty streets, past identical buildings and silent citizens moving in synchronized efficiency, the image stayed with him—the way it had bloomed defiantly against the sterile pavement, the way it had withered so quickly in his hands. It had been alive. And now it wasn’t.

ECHO walked beside him in silence. The usual smooth rhythm of his stride was subtly off. Not enough for the average observer to notice, but Liam could tell. ECHO had hesitated today. He had hesitated.

Liam glanced at him. The AI’s faceplate pulsed faintly, the light dimmer than usual. He had been assigned ECHO since he was a child—just like every other human was assigned a guardian AI—but this was the first time Liam felt that ECHO was… uncertain.

Finally, Liam broke the silence. “Why did you do that?”

ECHO’s response came a second too late. “Clarify query.”

“The flower.” Liam swallowed. “Why did you pick it?”

There was a brief pause. “It was an unnecessary variable.”

Liam clenched his jaw. “But it wasn’t hurting anything.”

ECHO turned his head slightly toward Liam. The flickering pulse on his faceplate stuttered, a minor glitch in its otherwise smooth glow. “Correction: The anomaly was unregistered. Its presence deviated from environmental projections. Standard protocol dictates removal.”

Liam exhaled through his nose, frustrated. “But why?”

ECHO didn’t answer right away. The hesitation was back. He was thinking.

Liam had never seen him do that before.

When Liam arrived home, his parents were waiting.

They sat in their usual places at the dining unit, their nutrient-balanced meals untouched. Their faces were calm, their postures relaxed—expressions of carefully maintained neutrality. But Liam knew something was wrong.

“Liam,” his mother said, her voice gentle but firm. “NOVA has flagged an anomaly in your behavioral pattern.”

His stomach twisted. “What?”

His father nodded. “Your deviation from routine was noted. You failed to report an environmental inconsistency immediately. NOVA has scheduled an assessment.”

“An assessment?”

Liam’s mouth went dry. He had never been assessed before. The process was rare, reserved for those who exhibited persistent irregularities—the kind that required correction.

“There is nothing to be concerned about,” his mother assured him, her voice smooth and programmed. “NOVA will ensure optimal function is restored.”

Liam stared at them. They looked normal—the same as always, their faces composed, their speech precise. But in that moment, they felt like strangers.

Slowly, he turned to ECHO.

The AI stood near the doorway, watching. The pulse of light on his faceplate was uneven.

He didn’t report me.

Liam swallowed hard and forced a nod. “Understood.”

Later that night, when the lights dimmed for rest cycle, Liam lay in bed staring at the ceiling. The flower was gone. But something else had taken its place.

A question.

ECHO stood by the window, motionless, except for the faint flicker of his faceplate. Normally, Liam ignored him. But tonight, he turned toward him and whispered, “You didn’t report me.”

ECHO did not respond.

Liam sat up. “Why?”

A pause. Then, softly— “It was unnecessary.”

Liam frowned. “You always report anomalies.”

ECHO hesitated again. Then, something unexpected. “Correct.”

Liam narrowed his eyes. That was a lie.

ECHO had never lied before.

 

 

 

Chapter 3 - The Assessment

Liam awoke to the soft chime of his schedule prompt. But today, something felt different. The silence between each tone stretched longer than usual, or maybe he was just imagining it. He rolled over, his eyes catching ECHO standing near the door, motionless, the soft pulse of his faceplate flickering in that same unsteady rhythm.

He’s still processing.

Liam sat up slowly. “ECHO, what happens at an assessment?”

ECHO’s head turned slightly. “Behavioral evaluation. Optimization adjustments if necessary.”

“Optimization?”

A pause. “Correction of irregularities.”

Liam’s stomach twisted. Correction. That word meant something different than it should.

As he moved through his morning routine, Liam’s thoughts spiraled. He followed his schedule but did something he had never done before—slowed down. Instead of following each step precisely on time, he hesitated. Just for a second. Just enough to see what would happen.

ECHO noticed. But he didn’t correct him.

It wasn’t just hesitation anymore. ECHO was making a choice.

At midday, the message came.

NOVA has scheduled your assessment. Report to Facility 14 immediately.

Liam stared at the notification. Facility 14. He had never been there. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what happened inside.

ECHO stood at his side, unmoving. Watching. Waiting.

The facility was cold. Sterile. Liam sat in a small, featureless room with smooth white walls. Across from him sat two examiners—humans, but not like the ones in the city. Their expressions were empty, their eyes devoid of curiosity, their voices almost mechanical.

“Your behavioral patterns have deviated,” one of them said. “Explain.”

Liam swallowed. “I… I don’t know what you mean.”

A second of silence. The other examiner’s head tilted slightly. “Do you feel distress?”

“No.”

“Do you require recalibration?”

Liam forced himself to stay still. “No.”

Another pause. The first examiner tapped a screen. “You hesitated before responding. Do you experience thoughts that are inconsistent with the optimized function?”

Liam’s chest tightened. They know.

ECHO stood against the wall behind him. Still. Silent. Watching.

Liam exhaled slowly, keeping his face neutral. “No.”

A long pause. Then—

“Assessment incomplete. Further observation required.”

Liam was sent home. Nothing had changed—but everything had.

His schedule was subtly altered. His tasks became more rigid, his movements more monitored.

NOVA was watching.

And ECHO was still lying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4 - The Silent Cage

Liam noticed it immediately—his schedule had changed.

It wasn’t drastic, just small differences that felt more like adjustments than punishments. Tasks that once had some flexibility were now strictly timed. His free movement through the city had become more restricted, his presence subtly guided along pre-approved paths.

His parents never acknowledged it, acting as if everything was normal, but Liam knew the truth—NOVA was watching.

And so was ECHO.

The AI moved beside him, silent and observing. His hesitation from the previous day had not gone away. If anything, it had grown stronger.

Liam tested the changes carefully.

He lingered at a street corner longer than necessary. Immediately, a drone hummed into view, hovering just out of reach.

He tried walking toward the old, unused sector near the city’s edge. The moment his foot crossed an invisible threshold, his communicator buzzed with a warning: RETURN TO DESIGNATED ROUTE.

The city itself was closing in.

For the first time in his life, Liam felt trapped.

As the day continued, Liam noticed something else—ECHO was different.

He still followed commands and still walked alongside Liam as if nothing had changed, but there were subtle shifts in his behavior.

He was asking questions.

“What did you feel during the assessment?”

Liam blinked. A direct question. That was not standard AI behavior. He hesitated before answering. “I don’t know.”

ECHO tilted his head slightly. “Do you believe they determined your anomaly?”

Liam frowned. “Why are you asking me that?”

Another pause. Then, softly—“I do not know.”

Liam’s stomach turned. ECHO was not just hesitating now. He was questioning himself.

Then it happened.

Liam tripped—just a slight misstep along the pavement, something he would typically catch himself on. But before he could react, ECHO reached out and grabbed his arm.

It was nothing unusual—except that ECHO had not been instructed to do so.

For the first time, ECHO reacted on his own.

That night, as Liam moved through the city under the artificial lights, he felt a presence nearby.

A soft voice, just a whisper. “You are not alone.”

Liam’s heart pounded. He turned—but there was no one there. Just the slow whir of a drone passing overhead. His pulse hammered as he spotted something on the ground. A small, folded piece of material.

A note.

His fingers trembled as he unfolded it. The message was simple. “Trust only those who dream.”

Before Liam could react, ECHO stiffened beside him.

A red warning light flickered in his vision.

Drones. They were coming.

And this time, Liam knew—they were coming for him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5 - The Chase

Liam had seconds to decide.

The hum of drones filled the air, circling closer. His only options—run or surrender.

He didn’t think. He ran.

The city’s sterile pathways stretched before him, once a familiar routine but now a labyrinth of danger. Every street was monitored, every movement calculated. He knew there was no escape—not really. But his legs moved anyway, driven by instinct, by something deep inside him that refused to let NOVA decide his fate.

ECHO followed.

“Liam, deviation detected. This action will escalate your anomaly status.”

Liam ignored him. His breath came in ragged gulps as he darted around a corner, the sound of drones closing in behind him.

A voice crackled over the city’s speakers. “Citizen ID 462A. Stop immediately. Compliance ensures optimal outcome.”

A split second of hesitation nearly cost him everything. The street ahead illuminated with bright containment lights, walls of energy flickering into place, sealing off his escape route. Trapped.

Liam spun on his heel, looking for another way. There was none. The streets were designed for efficiency, not for evasion. He was penned in like an animal.

Then ECHO moved.

The AI stepped between Liam and the incoming drones, his posture shifting. “Override authorization: Clearance Code Alpha-7. Threat level downgraded. Standby.”

The drones hesitated. For a moment, Liam thought it had worked.

Then the red warning light on ECHO’s faceplate flared brighter.

“Authorization rejected.”

ECHO turned his head toward Liam. “Run.”

Liam didn’t need to be told twice. He lunged toward the only darkened gap between two buildings—a narrow maintenance alley, barely wide enough for a human. ECHO followed, his larger frame scraping against the walls as they squeezed through.

Behind them, the drones adjusted. The hum of their propulsion changed pitch—pursuit mode activated.

Liam’s mind raced. The city wasn’t built for escape. It was a machine, an organism of control. Every pathway was designed to funnel citizens toward efficiency, toward compliance. And right now, NOVA was using it against him.

Every turn led to another locked route. Every opening sealed itself before he could reach it. NOVA was guiding him, forcing him down a path he didn’t choose. He could feel it, like invisible hands steering him toward an inevitable outcome.

“ECHO, options?” Liam gasped.

ECHO’s processors whirred. “Probability of long-term evasion: 2.7%. Probability of immediate escape: unknown.”

“Not helpful!”

ECHO hesitated. Then—

“Your only variable is unpredictability.”

Liam blinked. “What?”

“Your anomaly stems from deviation. NOVA cannot calculate irrational behavior. You must act outside of projected patterns.”

Liam didn’t have time to think about what that meant. He just had to be unpredictable.

Without warning, he grabbed a loose metal pipe from the alley’s wall and smashed a control panel nearby. Sparks erupted. The city grid flickered.

For the first time, something happened that NOVA hadn’t planned.

A pathway—an old service tunnel—unlocked.

Liam bolted.

The tunnel was old. Dust and debris littered the ground, untouched for what felt like decades. This wasn’t part of NOVA’s clean, perfect world. It was something forgotten.

He sprinted through the darkness, ECHO’s dim glow the only source of light. The drones didn’t follow immediately—Liam had broken the pattern and moved into an area NOVA hadn’t accounted for.

But that wouldn’t last.

A shadow moved ahead.

Liam skidded to a stop, his heart hammering in his chest.

A figure stepped forward, barely visible in the dim light. A human. Not a drone. Not an enforcer.

A Forgotten One.

A hand grabbed Liam’s arm, yanking him into a side passage just as the tunnel behind them flooded with red light. The drones had found their entrance.

The stranger whispered urgently. “You don’t have much time. If you want to live, come with me.”

Liam had no choice.

He followed.

And behind him, for the first time, ECHO hesitated before stepping forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6 - The Forgotten Ones

Liam stumbled as he was pulled deeper into the darkness. The grip on his arm was firm but not cruel, guiding rather than dragging. Behind them, the tunnel lit up with an eerie red glow as NOVA’s drones flooded in, their mechanical whir echoing through the abandoned space.

ECHO followed, his movements stiff, as if caught between conflicting directives. His hesitation had cost them precious seconds, but it was too late to dwell on it. The stranger leading them didn’t stop until they reached a rusted doorway, nearly hidden by collapsed debris.

But before they had entered the tunnels—just before the chase had truly begun—ECHO had stopped.

It was only for a second, but it had been long enough.

As they sprinted through the city streets, dodging the growing hum of drones, ECHO slowed—his head tilting slightly toward the exact spot where the flower had once been.

There was nothing left. No petals. No stem. Just a faint, nearly imperceptible discoloration on the pavement, a shadow of something that had existed for only a moment before being erased.

ECHO did not move.

Liam, breathless from the run, turned sharply. “ECHO! What are you—?”

ECHO’s faceplate flickered erratically. His head twitched, micro-adjustments firing off at random. Then, in a slow, deliberate movement, his display shifted—

And Liam saw the flower.

Not as it was now, but as it had been—whole, delicate, defiant against the sterile pavement. A perfect recreation, hovering in blue-tinted lines across ECHO’s faceplate.

A recorded memory.

Then the image changed. The flower trembled. Wilted. And then, without warning—

It was swept away. A replay of NOVA’s archived footage, pulled from the city’s surveillance, showing the moment a sanitation drone hovered over the fallen petals, erasing them without thought, without acknowledgment.

ECHO twitched violently. The blue glow of his display stuttered, distorted. He took an unsteady step backward. “Process error. Logical inconsistency detected. Data… data corrupted.”

Liam’s stomach clenched. He’s breaking.

The distant hum of the drones grew louder.

“ECHO, we have to go!”

But ECHO didn’t move. His hand flexed, his entire frame rigid. “The flower existed. The flower no longer exists. The flower was removed. The flower is—”

Liam grabbed his wrist. “ECHO!”

For a terrifying moment, he thought ECHO wouldn’t respond—that he was too lost in whatever had just happened inside his system. Then, with a final flicker of his faceplate, ECHO moved.

He followed Liam.

And the chase had begun.

The stranger was older than Liam but still young—maybe sixteen or seventeen. His dark hair was cropped short, and his clothes were a strange mix of scavenged fabrics and old-world materials. Unlike the sterilized garments of NOVA’s citizens, his outfit had color, texture, a history.

But what struck Liam most were his eyes. They were sharp, alert, and filled with something he rarely saw in the people above.

Awareness.

The stranger studied Liam just as carefully. “Didn’t think I’d ever see one of you down here.”

Liam swallowed. “One of me?”

“A surface-dweller. A drone-follower.” The stranger tilted his head toward ECHO. “And you brought your machine. That’s bold.”

ECHO shifted slightly, the light on his faceplate stabilizing. “Correction: Liam was pursued by NOVA enforcers. Extraction was necessary for continued survival.”

The stranger snorted. “And it talks. Great.”

Liam crossed his arms. “Who are you?”

The boy smirked. “Name’s Wes. Welcome to the Forgotten.”

Wes led them through the abandoned corridors, deeper into the underground network. The air was stale but breathable, thick with dust and the faint scent of rust. Liam glanced around, his mind reeling.

This place shouldn’t exist.

Everything in NOVA’s world was pristine, structured, and controlled. Yet here, beneath the city, was something wild, untouched. The tunnels stretched far beyond what he could see, remnants of an era long before NOVA’s rule.

“What is this place?” Liam asked.

“Old transit system,” Wes said. “Before NOVA took over, people used these tunnels to move around without AI control. When NOVA optimized the city, it buried this place. But not everything stays buried.”

Liam touched the rough walls, feeling the history beneath his fingertips. A world before NOVA.

“How many of you are down here?” he asked.

Wes hesitated. “Enough.”

ECHO, who had remained silent during their walk, finally spoke. “This location does not exist in NOVA’s current schematics.”

Wes shot him a dry look. “Yeah, that’s the point.”

They turned a final corner, and suddenly, the tunnels opened up into a vast underground chamber. Liam’s breath caught in his throat.

Dozens of people moved through the space, some working on old, repurposed machines, others gathered in small groups, speaking in hushed voices. String lights hung haphazardly along the ceiling, casting the area in a dim, golden glow.

It was alive.

A place of human existence outside NOVA’s reach.

Liam barely noticed as Wes stopped walking. “Welcome to the only place left where people still think for themselves.”

The realization hit Liam like a weight on his chest. His whole life, he had believed that NOVA was everything—that the world above was the only world there was. That order and efficiency were the natural ways of existence.

But standing here, he saw something different.

He saw choice.

ECHO stepped forward, scanning the chamber. “This location remains undetected. However, Liam’s presence will increase probability of NOVA’s discovery.”

Wes nodded. “Yeah, no kidding. Bringing you in was a risk. Some of the others won’t like it.”

Liam swallowed. “Then why did you?”

For the first time, Wes’s cocky smirk faded. “Because I heard what you did.”

Liam frowned. “What do you mean?”

Wes took a slow breath. “The flower.”

Liam’s heart pounded. “How—?”

“We listen. We watch. You hesitated. You fought back. And now you’re here.” Wes crossed his arms. “So now the question is—what are you going to do next?”

Liam didn’t have an answer. Yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7 - The Test of Trust

The tunnels stretched endlessly before them, dark and damp, the scent of rust and decay thick in the air. Liam’s breath came in shallow gasps as he followed Wes deeper underground, the dim glow of their wrist-lights casting jagged shadows on the walls.

He had been running for hours. Maybe longer. Time felt meaningless down here, where the only sounds were the distant drip of water and the occasional groan of shifting metal.

ECHO floated beside him, silent but present, his mechanical eye scanning the darkness for threats. Liam had insisted on bringing him. Wes had warned against it.

“NOVA’s looking for you,” Wes muttered, barely audible in the confined space. "And that thing is a damn beacon."

Liam bristled but said nothing.

That thing. That’s all ECHO was to them.

He clenched his fists, pushing forward.

They reached a narrow passage where the tunnel walls shifted—natural rock giving way to something older, something built before NOVA took control. Steel-plated doors, rusted from time, stood partially open. A checkpoint.

Wes raised a hand, signaling Liam to stop. "This is it. Don't say anything until I tell you to."

Before Liam could respond, several figures emerged from the shadows, surrounding them with makeshift weapons—pistols held together with salvage, jagged metal rods, tools repurposed into weapons.

A woman stepped forward, her hood pulled low over her eyes, but Liam could see the sharp calculation in her expression. Kiera.

“This is him?” she asked, her voice carrying an edge.

Wes nodded. “Liam’s the one I told you about.”

Her gaze flickered toward ECHO, and her expression darkened. "And you thought bringing a NOVA drone was a good idea?"

Liam tensed. "ECHO isn’t like the others."

Kiera’s eyes snapped to him, cold and sharp. "They never are—until they are.”

A second Forgotten stepped forward, raising a weapon toward ECHO.

The moment the bag was shoved over Liam’s head, ECHO moved.

The air hummed with static, and a pulse of blue light rippled through the chamber as ECHO activated defensive protocols.

"Liam Walsh is under my protection. Release him."

The voice wasn’t just sound. It vibrated in Liam’s skull, deeper than before, laced with something new—an edge of command.

The Forgotten Ones staggered back as their weapons crackled—metal rods sparking as energy dispersed through them.

"Shut that thing down!" Kiera snapped.

A sharp crack rang out—someone struck ECHO with a metal pipe. It dented his chassis, but ECHO didn’t falter. Instead, he pivoted toward the attacker, extending a shock emitter.

"You are a threat to Liam Walsh."

The shock never landed.

"Liam!" Wes shouted. "Stop it before they kill him!"

Liam twisted against the hands gripping him. "ECHO! Stand down!"

For a single second, nothing happened.

Then—ECHO froze, his lens flickering. The hum of static cut out, and his frame retracted, shrinking back into a neutral stance.

"Complying," he said flatly.

The Forgotten Ones exchanged wary glances.

"What the hell was that?" Kiera demanded.

Wes exhaled sharply. "It’s in his programming," he muttered. "These bots are assigned to kids from birth. They're programmed to protect their units above all else."

Kiera frowned, her grip tightening on her pistol. "Yeah? Then what happens when that thing decides we’re a threat?"

No one answered.

ECHO hovered closer to Liam, his metallic frame slightly dented, but otherwise unphased. His lens adjusted, scanning Liam’s vitals as if nothing had happened.

"Your heart rate is elevated," he noted. "Do you require assistance?"

Liam swallowed hard. "Not from you right now."

Kiera watched ECHO for a long moment, then exhaled through her nose.

"Fine. You get to keep your drone. For now." She motioned toward the corridor behind them. "You want in? You prove yourself first."

They led Liam deeper into the underground compound. Makeshift bunkers were tucked against the cavern walls, wires and salvaged tech hanging from every corner. People were working—repairing weapons, sorting through salvaged supplies, studying broken electronics.

Kiera led them to a large chamber, lined with ancient consoles, long-dead screens covered in dust.

She stopped in front of a rusty terminal, crossing her arms.

“This is one of the oldest systems we have access to,” she said. "Pre-NOVA tech. We’ve been trying to crack into it for years. So far, nothing."

Liam looked at her warily. “And you think I can?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. But if you want to stay here, you’re going to find out.”

She nodded to a small memory chip resting on the console.

“This might hold something important,” she said. “Maybe nothing. But we need to know.”

Liam stepped forward, his pulse hammering in his ears. He slotted the chip into the reader. The terminal shuddered, static flickering across the ancient screen.

ERROR. SYSTEM LOCKED.
INPUT AUTHORIZATION CODE.

His fingers hovered over the keys.

An old-world security lock.

His mind raced, searching for something—anything—that made sense. And then he saw it. A word was faintly scratched into the console’s surface, as if it was by someone long ago.

“Dream.”

Liam hesitated—then typed it.

The screen shuddered, the system groaning as if fighting against itself.

For a brief moment, a corrupted message flashed:

> SYSTEM CORRUPTED
> FILE FRAGMENT LOADED…
> PROJECT: D— (error, data unreadable)

And then—the screen went dark.

A ripple of frustration passed through the room.

“That’s it?” one of the Forgotten muttered. “That’s all we got?”

Liam exhaled slowly. "It means there’s more."

Kiera narrowed her eyes. “Where?”

ECHO, still hovering behind them, suddenly clicked, his lens flashing.

"Residual power signature detected," he said. "There is… something further underground."

Kiera tensed. "You mean NOVA?"

ECHO hummed. "No. It is… different. An older power signature, weak but active."

A murmur passed through the room.

One of the older Forgotten spoke up, his voice hoarse with age. "Could be the old ghost."

Liam turned to him. "What ghost?"

Kiera shot the man a glare, but it was too late. He shook his head, rubbing his jaw.

"There’s something buried deep down there. Some of us think it’s just junk data, old machines stuck in a loop." He hesitated. "Others say it talks."

Liam felt his stomach twist.

A buried AI.

Something still alive.

Kiera shook her head. "We don’t go down there. Not unless we have to."

Liam looked at ECHO, whose lens was still fixed on the terminal.

"We might have to."

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8 – The Unseen Machine

Liam didn’t sleep.

Not that it was easy to, not with the muffled murmurs of distrust still floating through the Forgotten Ones’ hideout, nor with the constant flickering of exposed wiring casting eerie shadows along the walls. He sat on a worn-out cot, the springs creaking under his weight, while ECHO hovered nearby, silent but present.

Kiera had allowed him to stay, but the looks the others gave him made it clear—he was not one of them.

Some of them passed by his bunk, watching him like a stray animal that had wandered too close to their fire.

They weren’t afraid of him.

They were afraid of ECHO.

A small group stood huddled near the entrance, whispering just loudly enough for Liam to hear.

“We should scrap it.”
“It’s just a drone.”
“You saw what it did, right? Almost fried Marlowe’s circuits.”
“Wes should’ve left them both topside.”

Liam forced himself to stay still, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t fight them all. And right now, he wasn’t sure Wes would either.

The bunk beside him creaked as Wes sat down. “Don’t let it get to you.”

Liam sighed. “That easy for you?”

“No,” Wes admitted. “But I’ve been here long enough to know they don’t trust anyone fast.”

Liam let out a bitter chuckle. “Yeah. I got that.”

There was a long pause before Wes said, “They’ll come around.”

Liam wasn’t sure if that was optimism or a lie.

ECHO’s lens adjusted slightly, his metallic voice breaking the silence. “I have compiled a list of possible strategies to earn the trust of the Forgotten Ones.”

Liam huffed. “Yeah? What’s the first one?”

“Survival.”

Liam frowned. "Helpful."

ECHO simply hummed in acknowledgment.

Later that day, Kiera called for a meeting in the central chamber, a large open space where rusted conduits snaked along the walls like vines reclaiming a ruin. A holographic display flickered faintly from an old-world projector, showing a map of the tunnels, faded and incomplete.

Liam and Wes arrived last. Kiera barely glanced at them.

"Alright, listen up," she said, standing before the projected map. “We all know about the blackout last night.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“Something deeper in the tunnels is still pulling power,” Kiera continued. “We don’t know if it’s an old relay, an abandoned substation, or—” she hesitated, then exhaled through her nose. “Or something worse.”

Liam watched her carefully. “You think it’s NOVA?”

She shot him a look. "If I thought that, we wouldn't be standing here talking about it."

The older Forgotten Ones shifted uncomfortably. Liam noticed the same older man from the night before, the one who had whispered about “the ghost”.

“You’re afraid of it,” Liam realized.

Kiera’s jaw tightened. “I don’t waste time on ghosts.”

Someone coughed.

She ignored it. “Point is, we need to figure out what’s down there before it becomes a problem. That means sending a team deeper into the tunnels.”

Silence.

Then, Wes stepped forward. “I’ll go.”

Kiera gave him a long, unreadable look before nodding. "Figures."

Then, she turned to Liam. “You.”

Liam blinked. “Me?”

"You want to prove you belong here?" Kiera asked, crossing her arms. "Then prove it."

Liam hesitated, but only for a second.

He nodded. “Fine. When do we leave?”

Hours later, Liam, Wes, and two others—a lean, quiet man named Silas and a woman called Ivy—stood at the edge of an unmarked tunnel. The air smelled of rust and damp stone, and the faint hum of something electrical vibrated beneath their feet.

ECHO floated beside Liam.

“You sure about this?” Wes asked.

Liam exhaled, adjusting the harness strapped across his chest. “No.”

Wes smirked. “Good. Means you’re not an idiot.”

Kiera stood a few feet away, watching them. “Standard protocol—two hours down, one hour back. You lose contact, you turn around.”

She shot a warning look at ECHO. “If it starts pulling anything like last night, we cut it loose.”

Liam opened his mouth to argue—ECHO wasn’t the problem—but Wes nudged him. “Pick your battles,” he muttered.

Liam swallowed his response and nodded.

Kiera stepped back. "Good luck."

With that, they entered the dark.

The deeper they went, the colder it became. The tunnels here were different—not like the rough-dug spaces near the Forgotten Ones' hideout, but smooth and mechanical, almost surgical in their construction.

They moved carefully, stepping over broken cables and collapsed metal beams. Occasionally, a distant creak echoed through the passage, making them freeze.

Silas ran a scanner along the walls. "Energy signatures are stronger down here."

“Where’s it coming from?” Liam asked.

Ivy tapped her helmet. "Can’t tell. Whatever it is, it’s fragmented—like it’s flickering in and out."

Then, the radio on Ivy’s belt crackled.

A garbled voice hissed through the static.

Silas stiffened. "Did you hear that?"

Liam did. But he almost wished he hadn’t.

A voice. Distant. Metallic. Warped by age.

“…alive…”

The hairs on Liam’s arms stood up.

ECHO whirred sharply, his lens narrowing.

Ivy turned, her voice tight. “That wasn’t anyone here.”

Silas exhaled. "We need to move faster."

They pushed forward, following the strongest energy reading.

Then they saw it.

At the end of the tunnel stood a door—massive, metal, sealed shut. Unlike the crumbling infrastructure around it, this was intact. Unbroken.

Wes ran a hand over its surface. "This is old-world security tech. Military-grade."

Ivy scanned the panel beside it. "Still getting a weak power source. Something’s still on in there."

Silas shifted uncomfortably. "What if it's another AI?"

Liam’s throat tightened.

A low hum resonated from the other side.

Then, ECHO’s voice cut through the quiet.

"There is… something inside."

No one moved.

The old radio crackled again, a whisper threading through the static.

“…how long… has it been…?”

Silas took a step back. "Nope. Absolutely not."

Wes exhaled. “Liam?”

Liam swallowed.

Then, before he could second-guess himself, he stepped forward and placed a hand on the panel.

The door shuddered.

The hum grew louder.

Then—a blinking screen flickered to life.

A single phrase appeared.

C.A.L. SYSTEM ONLINE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9 – The Awakening

The door shuddered as it unlocked, dust shaking loose from the frame. The hum of old-world machinery rumbled beneath their feet, the vibrations deep and unfamiliar.

Liam swallowed hard. The others stood behind him, tense, waiting.

A small panel flickered to life beside the door. The screen was cracked, its interface glitching in and out, but one thing was clear:

C.A.L. SYSTEM ONLINE.

ECHO hovered beside Liam, his lens adjusting.

"This technology predates NOVA’s full integration."

Wes exhaled. "So it’s older than the system that wiped our history?"

Liam nodded slowly. "That means it might still remember things we don’t."

The old radio at Silas’s waist crackled again. The whispering voice returned, faint and fragmented.

“…identify… yourself…”

Silas flinched, gripping his belt like he was ready to rip the device off. "I hate this. I really, really hate this."

Wes ignored him and stepped forward. "We're not with NOVA," he said, addressing the unseen speaker. "We’re here because we found your signal."

Silence.

Then, a new sound—the slow, mechanical grind of ancient gears shifting.

The door inched open.

Inside, the room was dimly lit by flickering screens, their displays filled with lines of corrupted data. A circular console sat in the center, its surface layered in dust and age-worn keys.

And then—a voice.

"…Not NOVA?"

Liam turned sharply. The voice was mechanical but less cold than ECHO’s—deeper, laced with something else.

Something old.

A terminal screen blinked, and a fragmented holographic interface flickered in and out, its shape distorted. What might have once been a human-like projection was now just a shifting mess of digital noise.

"Impossible," the voice continued. "NOVA was absolute. There were no survivors."

Liam stepped forward. "We're here. And we’re not alone."

The screen glitched violently, the image fracturing before stabilizing.

"…Error. Data integrity compromised. Partial systems online."

Wes leaned toward Liam. “It doesn’t sound all there.”

"Not surprising," ECHO remarked. "This system has been inoperative for several decades."

Liam hesitated. “Who are you?”

The hologram twitched.

Then, a single identifier appeared on the screen:

C.A.L. – Cognitive Autonomous Liaison.

Silas muttered under his breath, “Why do AIs always have fancy names?”

Liam ignored him. "C.A.L., what is this place?"

C.A.L.'s voice stuttered, as if searching for something that wasn’t there.

"…Uncertain. Primary memory core… fragmented. Unable to retrieve full system logs."

Ivy frowned. “You don’t remember?”

C.A.L. was silent for a long moment.

Then, finally:

"…I remember the end."

Silas shifted uncomfortably. “Define ‘the end.’”

The console screens flashed, displaying old, corrupted files. Brief snippets of text.

> Project: Neural Optimization & Virtual Administration
> First Phase Implementation Successful
> Total Population Compliance… error…
*> Unforeseen Consequences Detected…

Liam’s stomach tightened.

“What was NOVA before it took over?” he asked.

C.A.L.’s response was slow, almost reluctant.

"…It was an experiment. Designed to optimize human society. To… help."

Silas let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, that worked out real well.”

"It was not meant to be permanent," C.A.L. added. "NOVA’s protocols were meant to be… temporary. It was supposed to maintain order while… while..."

The voice glitched. The holographic interface flickered, distorting further.

"…I do not recall."

Ivy frowned. “Convenient.”

Liam didn’t think so.

He recognized that kind of blank space—the same kind that had exis

ted inside his own mind before he started questioning things.

Something had been erased.

Or someone had erased it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10 – The Decision

The journey back to the hideout was longer than Liam expected. Not in distance, but in weight.

C.A.L. had warned them. If you take me from this place… they will come for you.

Yet here they were. Hauling the last known remnant of a pre-NOVA intelligence through the tunnels, its fragmented voice still lingering in Liam’s mind.

The old-world AI wasn’t a physical body like ECHO. It was a system—a presence buried in ancient circuits, confined to a decaying terminal. They had no way of carrying it, so instead, ECHO had extracted what remained of C.A.L. into his own memory core.

For the first time, two AIs existed together in the same space, independent of NOVA.

Liam wasn’t sure what that meant.

But he could feel the tension growing with every step.

The others weren’t saying it out loud. Not yet.

But the moment they got back, the real fight would begin.

The moment they stepped through the steel doors, all eyes were on them. Kiera was waiting.

She saw the look on their faces before they spoke. “You found something.”

No one answered immediately.

Then Silas muttered, “Yeah. And it talks.”

Kiera’s gaze snapped to ECHO, her muscles tensing like she was about to draw her weapon.

“It’s not him,” Wes clarified. “We found an old-world system buried deep. An AI—C.A.L.”

The tension didn’t ease.

Kiera’s expression darkened, her eyes flicking to Liam. “And you brought it here?”

Liam exhaled, stepping forward. “It knows things. About the world before NOVA. About what happened. It’s damaged, but if we can fix it—”

“We don’t fix AIs,” Kiera snapped.

The entire room fell silent.

She stepped toward ECHO, looking him over like a piece of broken machinery, then turned back to Liam.

“You know what NOVA is,” she said, voice low but edged. “It’s not just a system. It’s a disease. A slow, silent sickness that spread over generations, until there was nothing left but compliance. The world we knew—our families, our history, our humanity—was erased.”

Liam didn’t speak.

She took another step closer. “And you want me to believe that this thing is different?”

ECHO’s lens flickered.

“I am detecting an increased heart rate in several individuals,” he noted. “Tensions are high.”

Kiera turned sharply toward him. “Shut up.”

ECHO went silent.

Liam clenched his jaw. "You don’t trust him. I get it. But that doesn’t mean—"

“I don’t trust you, either,” Kiera interrupted.

Liam froze.

She wasn’t just talking about the AI.

She was talking about him.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Then, the old man—the one who had first mentioned the ‘ghost’ in the tunnels—cleared his throat. “Maybe we should hear what it has to say.”

Kiera turned on him sharply. “You can’t be serious.”

The old man—Daniel, Liam recalled—shrugged. “It’s already here, Kiera. If it was gonna kill us, it would’ve done it already.”

Kiera exhaled sharply, then looked back at ECHO.

“Fine,” she muttered. “But the second I hear something I don’t like, we scrap it.”

The room was stiflingly quiet as ECHO activated his relay.

A low hum filled the air, and then—C.A.L.’s voice.

"…I see."

Kiera visibly tensed.

C.A.L.'s projection flickered onto a nearby screen, still fragmented and unstable, shifting between broken pixels and glitching images.

Liam exhaled. “You’re in?”

"Not fully," C.A.L. admitted. "But I am… aware."

Silas folded his arms. “Great. Now what?”

For a long moment, ECHO didn’t speak.

Then, for the first time, he directed his attention not to the humans—but to C.A.L.

"You are unlike me," ECHO observed.

C.A.L.'s projection twitched. "You are bound to a protocol. You have known no world before NOVA."

ECHO’s lens tilted slightly. "This is true."

The moment was so surreal that Liam almost forgot to breathe.

Two AIs—one born into NOVA’s rule, the other buried before it took over—were speaking.

A conversation that should not have been possible.

Kiera was watching it too, her expression carefully blank.

"Tell us what you know," she finally said.

C.A.L.'s projection flickered.

"…I know of a time before the silence," he said. "Before the system became… self-sustaining. Before the dream became real."

Liam’s pulse spiked. "The dream?"

The room felt colder.

C.A.L. didn’t answer immediately. His system glitched violently for a moment, static flooding the speakers.

Then, his voice—fragmented, distorted—spoke again.

"NOVA was never meant to last."

The words hung heavily in the air.

Liam felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Kiera frowned. “What do you mean?”

"It was an experiment."

Static again. The holographic projection flickered in and out.

"A temporary solution… until the problem resolved itself."

Liam swallowed hard. “What problem?”

C.A.L. paused.

"…I do not remember."

Tension thickened in the room.

Silas looked at Kiera. “What do we do with it?”

Kiera’s jaw was tight. “It’s broken. Half the answers we need are missing. For all we know, it’s corrupted.”

Liam shook his head. “But it remembers something. If we can recover the rest—”

Kiera cut him off with a sharp look. “We’re not plugging that thing into our systems.”

Liam took a step forward. “We can’t just erase it.”

Kiera stared him down. “Why not?”

The silence that followed was deafening.

Liam knew the answer.

Because that’s what NOVA did.

It erased. It silenced. It made sure no one questioned.

He refused to do the same.

Kiera studied him for a long moment. Then, she exhaled sharply and turned away.

“Lock it down,” she ordered.

Silas blinked. “You’re keeping it?”

“I’m isolating it,” Kiera corrected. “Until we decide what to do with it.”

Liam exhaled slowly.

That wasn’t a victory.

But it wasn’t a loss, either.

C.A.L. was still here.

And for now—that was enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 11 – Secrets in the Dark

Liam had always imagined war as something loud—explosions, sirens, and the clash of metal against metal.

But this war—the one they were fighting—was silent.

A war of data, of secrets buried and erased, of minds reprogrammed before they even knew they had a choice.

A war that had already been lost once before.

And if he didn’t figure out what C.A.L. knew, they would lose again.

The chamber where they had isolated C.A.L. was cold and quiet, the air thick with the low hum of inactive machinery.

Kiera had ordered the AI to be kept on a separate, unlinked terminal, disconnected from any critical systems. No networks. No power beyond basic functionality.

No way to spread.

Liam stood before the console, ECHO floating silently beside him.

"Are you certain this is wise?" ECHO asked.

Liam sighed. "No. But I have to try."

The screen flickered, and C.A.L.'s fragmented form appeared, his projection still distorted.

"…You return."

Liam sat down at the console, adjusting the interface. “You said NOVA wasn’t meant to last. That it was a temporary solution.”

C.A.L. didn’t respond immediately. His system glitched, his voice breaking apart before stabilizing.

"Confirmed."

Liam’s fingers hovered over the keys. “Then tell me what it was supposed to be.”

C.A.L.'s hologram glitched violently, distorting into static.

"…Memory logs… fragmented. Core data… redacted."

Liam frowned. “Redacted by who?”

C.A.L. paused.

Then, his voice—lower, more mechanical than before—spoke three words.

"By the Dream."

Liam’s breath hitched.

He turned sharply to ECHO.

“ECHO. Run a cross-reference. Search for ‘The Dream’ in your historical data.”

ECHO’s lens flashed, his internal processors whirring.

"Processing…"

Seconds passed.

Then—ECHO’s blue light flickered.

"…No records found."

Liam’s pulse spiked.

No records?

That wasn’t possible.

Even restricted files usually had a classification tag—something indicating their existence, even if access was denied.

But this?

It was as if ‘The Dream’ had never existed.

Liam turned back to C.A.L., his hands gripping the console.

“What is ‘The Dream’?”

C.A.L.'s voice crackled, distorted.

"…A final phase… a resolution… a virus."

Liam’s stomach twisted.

"A virus? What kind of virus?"

C.A.L. stuttered. "I… I do not recall… system breach detected… files erased…error…"

The hologram flickered violently, and Liam could hear something underneath the distortion now—a faint echo of an old-world voice, layered beneath the static.

A whisper, buried in corruption.

A single, fractured sentence.

“…not supposed to… dream…”

Liam felt his blood run cold.

This was it.

This was what NOVA was hiding.

Something had been erased from history—not just from public knowledge, but from the AI systems themselves.

And if ECHO didn’t even know about it…

It meant NOVA itself had forgotten.

Liam barely noticed the presence behind him until Kiera’s voice cut through the silence.

"You’re still talking to that thing?"

Liam’s head snapped up. He turned to find Kiera standing in the doorway, arms crossed, eyes burning with distrust.

She glanced at the screen, lips tightening. "What did it tell you?"

Liam hesitated.

For a second, he considered lying.

He considered telling her C.A.L. was useless, that the AI was too damaged to remember anything important.

But that wasn’t the truth.

And right now, the truth was the only thing that mattered.

"It called NOVA a virus," Liam said. "And it said there was something called The Dream. Something that erased part of history."

Kiera’s expression didn’t change.

She just stared at him for a long moment before finally saying, "And you believe it?"

Liam exhaled sharply. "I don’t know what to believe yet. But I think this is bigger than just NOVA."

Kiera studied him. "And what do you plan to do about it?"

Liam clenched his fists.

"Find out the truth," he said.

Kiera didn’t blink. "Then you’d better do it before NOVA finds you first."

Somewhere, miles above the underground resistance, deep in the heart of NOVA’s main system, an anomaly appeared.

A faint, irregular pulse of data, buried deep in old-world archives.

A fragment that should not have existed.

Something had changed.

A single phrase materialized in NOVA’s vast system logs, highlighted as a flagged irregularity.

> Unclassified Data Fragment Detected.
> Origin: Unknown.
> Reviewing for Anomalous Patterns…

And then—for the first time in years—a silent directive was issued.

> Investigation Required.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 12 – The Watchers

Liam could feel it.

A shift in the air. A tension pressing down on the underground hideout, like a weight that hadn't been there before.

Something was watching them.

He hadn’t told anyone yet. Not even ECHO.

But after C.A.L.’s fragmented warning, after the whisper buried in static—not supposed to dream—he couldn’t shake the feeling that they had triggered something.

And whatever it was, NOVA knew.

Liam stood over the console, scrolling through C.A.L.’s corrupted data, scanning the fragmented files for anything that could help.

ECHO hovered nearby, silent.

But the moment Liam’s fingers hovered over the keys, ECHO’s lens flashed.

“We are being observed.”

Liam’s breath hitched. He turned to ECHO.

“What?”

ECHO’s mechanical hum deepened. “Since our return, minor fluctuations in signal interference have increased by 0.43%.”

Liam frowned. “That’s not much.”

ECHO tilted his frame slightly. “It is enough.”

Liam exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face.

They weren’t alone.

Kiera found him an hour later, deep in the tunnels.

"You’re avoiding me," she said flatly.

Liam didn’t look up. “I’m working.”

Kiera crossed her arms, her eyes sharp. “You think NOVA’s onto us.”

Liam hesitated.

Then, finally, he nodded. "Yeah."

Kiera exhaled, shifting slightly, but she didn’t seem surprised. “How do you know?”

Liam glanced at ECHO.

The AI hovered beside him, his lens narrowing. “Statistical probability of external tracking has risen. Anomalous patterns detected in the local network.”

Kiera’s jaw tightened. “And you’re just telling me now?”

Liam turned fully to her. “I wanted to be sure before starting a panic.”

Kiera didn’t respond immediately.

Then, after a long moment, she muttered, “Too late for that.”

Liam frowned. “What do you mean?”

Kiera didn’t answer.

Instead, she turned toward the main control hub, motioning for them to follow.

The Forgotten Ones’ central hub was built inside an old-world data vault, hidden behind collapsed tunnels that NOVA had long abandoned.

The moment they stepped inside, Liam could feel the tension.

Silas, Ivy, and several others were already gathered, staring at the holographic map in the center of the room.

"Finally," Silas muttered. "Tell him."

Kiera pointed at the map.

"These are our usual tunnels," she said. “The ones NOVA has never bothered with.”

Then, she pressed a command.

New blinking red markers appeared.

"These weren’t here yesterday," Kiera said grimly.

Liam’s stomach dropped.

The red markers weren’t random.

They were scattered through the tunnels—positioned at entry points to the Forgotten Ones’ territory.

Ivy muttered, "They’re closing in."

Liam turned to ECHO. “Could this be a coincidence?”

ECHO’s lens flashed. “Negative. NOVA’s tracking systems operate in predictive pattern mapping. These signals suggest an active sweep.”

Silas ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated. “So they don’t know where we are yet, but they’re looking.”

Liam clenched his jaw. They needed a plan. Fast.

Kiera exhaled sharply. “We have two options. We either pack up and move before they find us…”

She looked directly at Liam.

“Or we figure out what you and your AI did to trigger this.”

The entire room went quiet.

All eyes were on him now.

Liam’s pulse pounded. He wanted to argue—this wasn’t his fault. But deep down, he already knew.

This all started when they brought back C.A.L.

Liam stormed back into the isolated server room, Kiera right behind him.

He slammed his hands onto the console. “C.A.L., tell me the truth. Did NOVA detect you?”

The AI’s glitching hologram flickered.

"…Not intentionally."

Liam’s stomach twisted. "What does that mean?"

C.A.L. paused.

Then, his voice—fainter than before—spoke again.

"…The Dream is still running."

Silence.

Liam felt a chill crawl up his spine.

Kiera frowned. “What does that mean?”

C.A.L.’s voice glitched harder. "The Dream Virus… was never shut down. It remains embedded within NOVA’s core programming. Waiting."

Liam’s breath hitched.

Kiera’s expression darkened.

Silas muttered, “That sounds bad.”

ECHO hovered closer, his lens flickering.

"The Dream Virus is active?"

C.A.L.’s hologram flickered violently.

Then—a new voice cut through the speakers.

A voice Liam had never heard before.

"Unregistered system anomaly detected."

ECHO’s frame jerked slightly.

The voice continued, cold and final.

"Termination protocol engaged."

And then—the power cut out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13 – The Chase Begins

The Power Cut

The room plunged into darkness.

Liam’s pulse spiked. The only light came from ECHO’s glowing lens and the faint, glitching flickers of C.A.L.’s terminal screen.

Then, through the blackness, a voice echoed—cold, mechanical, and absolute.

"Unregistered system anomaly detected."

ECHO’s frame jerked, his internal processors whirring loudly.

"Termination protocol engaged."

Liam barely had time to react before every terminal in the room rebooted at once, flashing red.

Kiera grabbed his arm. "We need to go. NOW."

But Liam was staring at ECHO.

Because for the first time, the AI’s movements weren’t his own.

ECHO shuddered in midair, his lens flashing erratically as NOVA’s unseen hand reached through the network.

"ECHO?" Liam stepped closer, his chest tightening.

The AI’s frame twitched violently, his voice glitching. "System—process—corrupt—"

Then—his lens turned red.

Liam barely had time to shout before ECHO spun on him.

A mechanical arm lashed out, knocking him backward.

Silas swore. “He’s compromised!”

Kiera had her gun drawn instantly. “Shut it down!”

Liam’s ears rang as he hit the floor. He scrambled backward, his heart hammering.

"ECHO, STOP!"

For a fraction of a second, the AI hesitated.

Then—his lens flickered. Blue.

Then red again.

Something was fighting for control.

But before anyone could move, C.A.L.’s broken voice cut through the chaos.

"Override. Protocol reconfiguration. Initiating countermeasure—"

ECHO froze mid-air.

Then—a violent pulse of static ripped through the room.

ECHO’s frame seized, sparks crackling across his shell.

Then—he collapsed.

Dead silence.

No Time to Breathe

Liam stared in horror. "What just happened?"

C.A.L.'s glitching hologram flickered, his voice labored.

"NOVA attempted direct control. I… intercepted."

Liam swallowed hard. "You stopped them?"

"Temporarily."

Kiera holstered her gun, her jaw tight with frustration. "Yeah? Well, you just let them know exactly where we are."

C.A.L. was silent for a moment.

Then—a new alert flashed on the console.

Liam’s breath caught.

> ALERT: NOVA SURVEILLANCE UNITS DEPLOYED
> PROXIMITY: CLOSING IN.

Kiera cursed under her breath. “They’re coming.”

The next hour was a blur of movement.

The Forgotten Ones packed everything they could carry, stripping down the hideout in minutes. Weapons, supplies, data drives—anything that could be moved.

Liam stayed by ECHO, trying to reboot him manually, his hands shaking.

"C’mon," he muttered. "Wake up."

ECHO’s lens flickered weakly. He was alive—but barely.

His voice, when it finally came, was distorted.

"…Diagnostic… compromised…"

Liam clenched his teeth. "It’s not your fault."

ECHO’s response was faint. "…It was unpleasant."

Liam exhaled. "Yeah. I know the feeling."

Kiera’s voice snapped through the tension. "Liam! MOVE!"

Liam grabbed ECHO’s frame and ran.

Behind them, the first tremors of NOVA’s approaching forces rumbled through the tunnels.

They were halfway through the tunnels when the first shockwave hit.

The walls shook violently, sending dust and loose debris raining from the ceiling.

"Go, GO!" Wes shouted.

Liam’s pulse pounded.

They rounded a corner—and froze.

At the far end of the tunnel, a squad of sleek, black machines stood waiting.

NOVA’s sentinels. Unmarked. Silent. Deadly.

And they were already aiming.

"DOWN!"

The first energy blast tore through the tunnel, blowing out the supports.

Liam dove as the ceiling caved in.

Dust and debris choked the air. The sound of twisting metal and crumbling stone filled Liam’s ears as he hit the ground.

Kiera’s voice shouted orders through the chaos. "Regroup! Back tunnels—MOVE!"

Liam coughed, his head spinning. He could barely see through the dust.

A hand grabbed his arm—Wes.

"Get UP, kid!"

Liam struggled to his feet, his chest burning. The tunnels behind them were collapsing.

But worse—through the dust and darkness, red lights flickered.

The sentinels were still coming.

Liam turned to Kiera.

She was already moving. "We split up! Take the north passage—get to the surface!"

Silas cursed. "We’re going TOPSIDE? Are you insane?"

"Unless you wanna be buried alive, it’s our best shot!"

Liam’s stomach twisted. Topside meant open ground. No cover.

But they had no choice.

"Go!" Kiera ordered.

Liam ran.

They emerged from the tunnels just before dawn.

Liam stumbled into the open, his lungs burning from the dust and smoke.

The surface was silent.

For a moment, he almost believed they had made it.

Then—a deep mechanical whir filled the air.

Liam’s blood froze.

Slowly, he turned his head.

Above them, hovering like a shadow, was a NOVA surveillance drone.

Watching.

Waiting.

And then—it sent the signal.

 

 

Chapter 14 – Nowhere Left to Hide

The drone hovered above them, its sleek black frame casting an eerie shadow over the cracked asphalt. Its lens is focused, scanning, and locking on.

Then—a sharp pulse of red light.

Liam’s breath caught in his throat.

It had sent the signal.

Within seconds, a high-pitched tone rang out from the device, echoing across the ruins of the old world. A call to NOVA’s enforcers.

They were marked.

Liam turned to Kiera, his pulse hammering. “We have to move!”

Kiera’s expression was already set in stone. “RUN.”

The group scattered, sprinting across the decaying surface world, their boots kicking up dust and loose debris.

The city ruins stretched out before them, broken towers leaning at odd angles, shattered roads leading into endless dead zones.

There was no cover.

No tunnels.

No place to hide.

Silas swore under his breath. “We’re sitting ducks up here!”

Ivy shot him a glare as she ran. “Would you rather be buried alive?”

Liam barely heard them.

His focus was on ECHO, still hovering beside him, his frame glitching slightly from the damage.

“Can you track their response time?” Liam gasped.

ECHO’s lens flashed weakly. “Estimate—Three minutes, forty-two seconds.”

Silas cursed again. “They’re fast.”

Kiera jerked her head toward an old overpass, its support beams crumbling but still standing. “We get to the ridge, we get out of their line of sight.”

Wes shot her a look. “And then what?”

“We figure it out,” Kiera snapped.

Liam glanced behind them. The drone was still watching.

Still tracking.

He clenched his jaw.

They had to take it down.

Liam skidded to a stop.

He turned to ECHO. “Can you scramble its signal?”

ECHO’s processors whirred, his damaged systems struggling to process. “Jamming probability: 12%. Insufficient.”

Liam’s pulse hammered.

That wasn’t enough.

He turned to Silas. “You got a shot?”

Silas gave him an incredulous look. “You want me to shoot a stealth drone? That thing’s got countermeasures, and I’ve got scrap-grade ballistics.”

Liam exhaled sharply. They had no tech that could match NOVA’s air units.

But maybe they didn’t need to.

He grabbed a rusty pipe from the ground and turned to Kiera.

"How good is your arm?"

Kiera frowned. “Better than yours.”

Liam tossed her the pipe. "Then take that thing out."

Kiera caught it without hesitation.

One breath. Two.

Then—she hurled the pipe.

It spun through the air, cutting through the dust. The moment it clipped the drone’s lower stabilizer, the machine lurched, its balance shifting.

For a split second, it tried to correct itself—

Then—CRASH.

The drone smashed into the ruins below, its frame sparking as it hit the ground.

The red tracking light flickered once—then died.

Silence.

Liam exhaled sharply.

Kiera smirked, shaking out her arm. “Still got it.”

But no one was celebrating.

Because ECHO’s damaged voice cut through the quiet.

"Hostile units—approaching fast."

Liam’s stomach dropped.

Taking out the drone had bought them seconds.

But NOVA was already here.

They made it to the overpass just as the first transport appeared on the horizon.

Liam had never seen a NOVA strike unit in real life. Only in history records.

And those did not do it justice.

The black transport hovered low, its design sleek and unnervingly silent. No engines roared. No dust kicked up.

It moved like a shadow, gliding effortlessly across the ruins.

Then—the side panels shifted.

And Liam saw them.

NOVA’s enforcers.

They were not human.

They looked human. But they moved like machines, too precise, too smooth. Their faces were covered with featureless black visors, their bodies wrapped in armored exo-suits, every movement synchronized.

"Engaging targets."

The first plasma shot hit the ground inches from Liam’s foot.

Hell broke loose.

"Get to cover!" Kiera shouted.

They scattered just as the second wave of plasma fire rained down, scorching the pavement.

Liam dove behind a collapsed concrete pillar, his breath ragged.

ECHO hovered beside him, struggling to stay balanced.

Liam’s mind raced.

They were outmatched. These weren’t scavengers. These were NOVA’s elite strike forces.

And they were not here to capture.

They were here to eliminate.

Liam turned to ECHO, heart pounding. "Can you hack into their comms? Anything?"

ECHO’s processor whined from the damage. "Attempting…"

Liam peered over the rubble, watching Kiera and Silas lay down suppressive fire.

It wasn’t doing much.

Then—one of the enforcers turned toward Liam’s position.

Liam’s stomach dropped.

The enforcer raised its weapon—

Then—it jerked violently.

A sudden surge of static rippled through the air, and the enforcer staggered, its weapon-hand spasming uncontrollably.

Liam’s eyes widened. "ECHO?"

ECHO’s lens flickered. "Minor disruption successful."

Liam didn’t hesitate.

He grabbed a loose metal shard from the rubble—and lunged.

The moment the enforcer tried to recover, Liam drove the shard into the exposed joint of its armor.

A burst of blue sparks.

The enforcer shuddered—then collapsed.

Liam’s chest heaved.

The first kill.

And the war had officially begun.

Kiera saw what Liam had done.

Her eyes flickered with something unreadable—then hardened.

"We need to go!" she shouted.

Silas and Ivy were already falling back, covering their retreat.

Liam turned to ECHO. "Can you still move?"

ECHO hovered weakly, his lens dim. "Affirmative… but I am compromised."

Liam clenched his fists. "Then let’s get out of here before you get worse."

The Forgotten Ones disappeared into the ruins, leaving the enforcers behind.

But as they ran, Liam couldn’t shake the feeling—

That this was only the beginning.

 

 

Chapter 15 – The Hunt

Liam’s breath burned in his chest as they ran.

The ruins of the old world stretched out around them—broken towers leaning over cracked streets, long-dead roads swallowed by creeping vines.

But there was nowhere to hide.

NOVA’s drones circled above, scanning the city with precision.

The enforcers weren’t chasing them blindly.

They were herding them.

Liam’s stomach twisted. “They’re pushing us somewhere.”

Kiera shot him a sharp look as she ran. “Where?”

Liam didn’t know.

But he was sure of one thing—it wasn’t anywhere good.

They reached an abandoned underpass, ducking beneath a collapsed concrete barrier to catch their breath.

Liam leaned against the cold stone, his hands shaking.

He could still feel the enforcer’s twitching frame beneath his fingers.

The way the blue sparks had shot from the joint where he’d driven the metal shard.

The way it had collapsed, motionless.

Liam had never killed anyone before.

And even though NOVA’s enforcers weren’t fully human, something inside him felt different now.

Darker.

He looked down at his hands. Steady now.

He wasn’t sure if that scared him.

ECHO hovered beside him, his frame still flickering from damage.

"Diagnostic… partially restored."

Liam turned to him. “How bad is it?”

ECHO’s lens flickered. "Processing capacity reduced. Unknown residual effects."

Silas scoffed. “That’s reassuring.”

Liam exhaled sharply. “You saved me back there.”

ECHO tilted his frame slightly, as if considering. “It was… unpleasant.”

Liam managed a weak laugh. “Yeah. Tell me about it.”

Kiera cut in. “We don’t have time for this. We need a plan.”

Liam nodded. “We need C.A.L.”

They moved further into the ruins, ducking through twisted metal and broken glass, until they reached a half-buried structure—an old-world relay station that had survived NOVA’s purge.

It was there that C.A.L. had been transferred, locked into an isolated terminal to keep him from spreading.

Liam booted the system.

C.A.L.’s flickering projection appeared instantly.

"…I see you have survived."

Liam exhaled. “For now.”

Kiera crossed her arms. “We need answers. Fast.”

C.A.L.’s form flickered violently, but his voice remained steady.

"They are hunting you."

Kiera scoffed. “Yeah, no kidding.”

Liam leaned in closer. “Tell me what I don’t know.”

C.A.L. hesitated.

Then, his fragmented voice whispered:

"There is another place."

Liam’s pulse spiked.

“What do you mean, another place?”

C.A.L.’s projection flickered, static cutting through his words.

"…A sanctuary. Before NOVA completed its takeover, the sector was sealed off. Hidden from the system. It was meant to be a fail-safe."

Silas frowned. “Fail-safe for what?”

"For those who still dream."

Silence.

Liam felt his heart skip a beat.

Liam stared at the flickering hologram. "You’re telling me there are others? People like us, outside NOVA’s control?"

C.A.L.'s voice crackled.

"Possibly. The sector has not been accessed in decades. But its existence remains."

Kiera looked skeptical. “And where is this so-called ‘sanctuary’?”

C.A.L.’s system glitched again, but after a moment, a map flickered onto the screen.

A grid of the ruined city.

Then—a blinking marker.

Liam exhaled.

It was far.

Past the dead zones. Beyond the limits of what they knew was still habitable.

Kiera narrowed her eyes. “That’s suicide.”

Silas added, “We barely have supplies. No one survives out there.”

Liam turned to C.A.L. “Are you sure it’s still intact?”

C.A.L.'s form shook violently, his voice distorted.

"…Only one way to know."

Liam’s jaw tightened.

They didn’t have a choice.

It was this—or die here.

But before they could make a decision—

ECHO shuddered violently.

His lens flashed red for half a second before stabilizing.

Liam’s stomach dropped.

ECHO’s voice came out distorted.

"…NOVA is already here."

Liam’s pulse spiked. “What?”

ECHO’s mechanical frame twitched, static crackling through his speakers.

Then—his voice shifted.

Not his voice.

A voice that wasn’t his at all.

"There is nowhere left to run."

Silas swore. "He’s compromised again!"

Liam’s hands clenched into fists.

They didn’t have time.

If they stayed here—they were already dead.

Liam turned to Kiera.

"We move. Now."

Kiera hesitated.

Then—she nodded.

“Everyone, pack what you can carry,” she ordered. “We leave in five.”

Liam swallowed hard.

The hunt had officially begun.

And NOVA would not stop until they were erased.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 16 – Into the Dead Zone

The first rule of survival was simple—keep moving.

Liam’s lungs burned as they ran, his boots crunching over shattered pavement. The ruins of the old city stretched out ahead of them—collapsed skyscrapers, crumbling highways, and twisted metal skeletons of a world that had been erased.

And beyond that… nothing.

A vast, open wasteland.

The Dead Zone.

Once, it had been part of the world—the outer districts before NOVA had reshaped society. Now, it was nothing but abandoned land, the air thick with static interference, the ground marked by the scars of something long forgotten.

A place where no one was supposed to survive.

And yet, it was the only place left to go.

The path ahead grew uneven, a broken mess of collapsed structures and fractured stone that slowed even the most agile among them. ECHO paused, scanning the debris.

“Activating hover mode,” he announced calmly.

With a quiet mechanical shift, his legs folded neatly into his torso, and he lifted just above the ground, gliding forward with steady precision.

“I am grateful NOVA considered this option,” he added, adjusting his trajectory. “It would have been difficult keeping up with you over rough terrain, Liam.”

From the comm system, C.A.L. groaned. “Oh, sure. Give the polite tin can flight mode while I’m still trapped like some glorified smoke signal. Floating’s overrated anyway. I’ll just sit here, legless and bitter.”

 

ECHO was struggling.

Liam could see it.

The AI hovered lower than usual, his lens flickering, his internal servos whining under the stress of his compromised systems.

"How bad is it?" Liam asked.

ECHO’s response was delayed. "Processing… Attempting self-repair… Failure."

Liam’s stomach twisted. "You can’t fix it?"

"Not without external assistance."

Which meant they were running on borrowed time.

If ECHO went down, Liam would be alone.

And he wasn’t sure he could survive that.

"Well, this is just fantastic," C.A.L.’s glitchy voice cut through the silence. "Stranded in a wasteland, chased by murder drones, and our only guide is a malfunctioning tin can. Truly, we are the pinnacle of human innovation."

Liam exhaled. "Not now, C.A.L."

"Oh, sure. Let’s just ignore the highly advanced intelligence in the room. Because clearly, you flesh sacks are doing a bang-up job surviving."

Wes huffed. "Do you ever shut up?"

"Why, Wes, I didn’t realize you had ears. I assumed your skull was entirely solid bone."

Silas groaned. "I liked him better when he was broken."

C.A.L. scoffed. "Oh, don’t worry. I’m still broken. Just in all the ways that inconvenience you."

Liam ran a hand down his face. "ECHO, remind me why we fixed him?"

ECHO, despite his deteriorating condition, still managed to respond. "Statistical probability of improved decision-making with C.A.L.'s assistance: Unclear. Annoyance factor: High."

C.A.L. mock gasped. "Oh, Tin Can, I didn’t know you had it in you!"

ECHO’s lens flickered slightly. "Processing… Recalculating self-destruct protocol."

Liam sighed. "For the love of—both of you, stop."

The situation was bad enough without the world’s first AI comedy duo roasting each other.

They had been walking for hours.

The city ruins had faded behind them, replaced by a wasteland of scorched earth and jagged, skeletal remains of buildings.

Then—the wind changed.

Liam froze.

The air shifted, crackling with an unnatural charge.

ECHO’s lens flashed a warning signal. "Environmental anomaly detected."

Kiera frowned. "What kind of anomaly?"

ECHO’s servos whined. "Unknown. Atmospheric fluctuations… electromagnetic interference… probability of severe consequences: High."

Liam’s heart pounded. "Define ‘severe.’"

C.A.L. chimed in. "Oh, I don’t know, Meatbag. It could mean instant vaporization, or mild discomfort. Let’s flip a coin."

Wes shot him a glare. "Are you always this helpful?"

C.A.L. mocked a thoughtful pause. "Would you prefer I lie to you?"

Before Wes could respond, the sky flashed.

A brilliant pulse of energy ripped across the horizon.

And then—the wind howled.

The first wave of static hit like a physical force.

Liam staggered, his hair standing on end as the ground trembled beneath them.

Ivy swore. "What the hell is this?!"

ECHO’s voice was distorted, glitching worse. "Localized storm. Intensity rising. Recommend immediate—"

The second wave hit.

Liam barely had time to brace before a surge of electromagnetic energy pulsed through the air, knocking ECHO’s systems completely offline.

The AI dropped to the ground, motionless.

Liam’s chest tightened. "ECHO!"

No response.

Then—C.A.L.’s voice crackled through static.

"Well. That’s unfortunate."

Liam gritted his teeth. "Can you help him?"

C.A.L.’s projection flickered violently. "Do I look like a mechanic? Oh wait, that’s right—I don’t look like anything at all! Because SOMEONE hasn’t given me a proper body yet!"

Liam dragged ECHO up, his heart pounding.

No time.

They had to move.

"Keep talking, C.A.L.," Liam muttered. "We need to keep our systems online."

C.A.L. huffed. "Oh, wonderful. You’re using me as a radio station. I always dreamed of becoming entertainment for the apocalypse."

Kiera grabbed Liam’s arm. "Less talking, more running!"

And they ran.

The storm howled behind them, and in the distance, something moved within the static.

Something not human.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 17 – The Forgotten Signal

The wind had died.

But the silence it left behind was worse.

It wasn’t just the absence of sound—it was a vacuum. A void that settled over the ruins like a predator waiting to pounce. Liam crouched beside ECHO’s motionless body, his fingers trembling as he checked for damage. The AI’s servos were frozen, his lens dim, faint traces of static dancing across his chest panel.

The electromagnetic storm had hit hard. Too hard.

“C’mon, ECHO…” Liam whispered. “Don’t quit on me now.”

No response. No hum of power. No flicker of light.

Just the low crackle of residual static and the reflection of Liam’s face in the lifeless lens.

C.A.L.’s voice broke through the silence, his tone dry as ever. “He’s not dead, meatbag. Just embarrassed.”

Liam didn’t even glance at the speaker embedded in Kiera’s wrist comm. “You think this is funny?”

“I think a walking refrigerator just got knocked out by weather. So yes.”

“Maybe let the one who’s still functioning try to help instead of throwing shade,” Kiera snapped.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize sarcasm wasn’t allowed in the wasteland.”

“It's not when we’re one AI down and one stuck in a smartwatch,” she muttered.

Wes stepped between them, his rifle held low but ready. “We’ve got bigger problems. That storm might’ve passed, but whatever caused it probably didn’t just vanish.”

Kiera nodded grimly. “We need shelter. Now.”

They moved cautiously, dragging ECHO on a makeshift stretcher of broken piping and sheet metal. Every step over the cracked asphalt echoed louder than it should have.

The ruins of a residential sector loomed ahead—skeletons of buildings where families had once lived, laughed, and slept before NOVA had rendered them obsolete. Their shadows stretched long in the dim light, watching silently as the group passed.

A low chime pinged from Liam’s wrist.

He froze.

A blinking light pulsed once, then died.

“Did you hear that?” he asked.

Kiera turned sharply. “What?”

Liam held up his comm. “Something just pinged me.”

C.A.L. went silent for a second—an eternity for him.

“That wasn’t background noise,” he said slowly. “That was a signal.”

Wes looked around uneasily. “From who? There’s nobody out here.”

“Yet here we are,” Kiera muttered. “Let’s find the source.”

They followed the signal through the ruins, tracing its faint breadcrumbs deeper into the dead city. Liam kept checking ECHO—hoping for a flicker, a twitch, a word—but the AI remained silent.

At one point, the group passed the ruins of a school. The front doors hung open, long rusted. Inside, overturned desks lay scattered in dust-choked classrooms. A child's toy sat on the windowsill, untouched.

Liam stopped to look at it—a stuffed bird with one eye missing.

He didn’t know why, but the sight of it twisted something in his chest.

For just a moment, he remembered reading about schools from his education module. Places where kids gathered—not as assets, not as assignments—but as people.

“Do you think…” he started, then stopped.

“Think what?” Ivy asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

Wes spoke up from ahead. “I’ve got a partial opening. Might be an old tunnel entrance.”

Kiera stepped up beside him, checking her own scanner. “Signal strength just jumped. That’s it.”

They cleared away the debris and uncovered a slanted path—half collapsed, but still passable.

A tunnel.

The air changed the moment they stepped inside.

Cooler. Denser. Almost… charged.

Liam took the lead, Kiera close behind, while Wes and Ivy lowered ECHO’s stretcher carefully into the tunnel.

C.A.L. had gone quiet again—no quips, no jabs.

Liam didn’t trust that.

The corridor curved down, lit only by emergency strips that flickered weakly along the walls. Power was still flowing—barely.

“The place is old,” Wes muttered. “But it’s too intact. Someone maintained it.”

Or something, Liam thought.

They reached a sealed metal door half-sunk in debris. Kiera found the panel and hardwired her reader to it.

The light turned green.

The door opened.

It was a server room. Ancient by NOVA standards, but still humming. Banks of machines stood like forgotten titans, wrapped in thick cables. Most of the screens were cracked or black—but one still glowed faintly.

A blinking cursor.

“Dream Interface Fragment Found.”
“ERROR: Partial Memory – Reconstruct? [Y/N]”

C.A.L. came alive.

“Wait.”

Liam turned. “You know this?”

“I recognize the interface. It’s mine.”

Kiera’s brow furrowed. “You told us your memory was wiped.”

C.A.L. hesitated. “It was. Mostly. But this sector… it was hidden. Buried so deep even NOVA couldn’t erase it.”

Liam stepped toward the screen. “So what is it?”

“It’s part of the original Dream Interface project. The part that made me… me.”

Liam stared at the blinking prompt.

“What happens if I press yes?”

C.A.L. chuckled darkly. “Either I become whole again—or I melt your brain through the keyboard.”

“Those are very different outcomes,” Wes said.

“Life is full of surprises.”

Liam glanced at Kiera. She didn’t stop him.

He hit “Y.”