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THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 72
The Price of a Second ChanceThe world outside was chaos. Explosions rocked the Citadel’s underground halls, shaking the floor beneath our feet. The air was thick with smoke, the metallic tang of blood, and the distant echo of gunfire. The Retrievers were coming fast, and we were running out of time.But inside this chamber, another kind of war was happening. A silent one.Kane stood at the console, her fingers moving like a phantom over the screen, her face lit by the cold glow of The Last Algorithm. Lines of code shifted in real time, cascading symbols rewriting reality itself. I had seen a lot of impossible things, but this—this was beyond impossible. It was a miracle. A curse. A loaded gun waiting for someone to pull the trigger.And I was the one standing at the barrel.“We can do this,” I said, barely hearing my own voice over the pounding in my skull. “We can bring them back.”Kane didn’t look at me. Her hands didn’t stop moving. But her voice was razor-sharp.“And what happens
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 73
A Betrayal WithinThe night air smelled like burning metal and static electricity. We were so close to the Citadel that I could see the glow of its security lights and hear the faint hum of its power grid thrumming beneath the city ruins. The plan was set. We were going to infiltrate, extract what we needed, and bring the Overseers’ entire system crumbling down from the inside.But something felt wrong.It wasn’t just the usual tension that came before a mission like this. It was deeper—like a wire pulled too tight, ready to snap.I shifted my grip on my rifle and glanced at Kane. She stood at the edge of the ruined street, scanning the area with sharp, restless eyes. Her fingers twitched near her belt, an old habit she had whenever something was off.“You feel it too?” I asked, keeping my voice low.She didn’t look at me. “Yeah.”Jax exhaled sharply behind me, adjusting the strap of his gear. “You two always get weird before missions. What’s different this time?”I didn’t have an ans
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 74
Face to Face with the OverseersMy wrists burned from the restraints as the Retrievers dragged me forward. The air in the Citadel was sterile, humming with unseen energy, like the whole place was alive and watching. The walls gleamed, impossibly smooth, stretching upward into an abyss of artificial light. There were no windows, no doors—just a void of machinery and control.They hauled me through corridor after corridor until we reached the chamber.The High Overseers were waiting.Five figures, standing in a half-circle around an Henson podium. They weren’t like the Retrievers. They weren’t armored or armed. They didn’t need to be. They radiated power, their very presence warping the space around them, as if time bent to their will.One of them stepped forward. Tall. Hollow-eyed. Dressed in the same seamless fabric as the others. No name. Just an entity.“You were never meant to exist,” he said.His voice wasn’t loud, but it rang in my skull like a command written into the code of re
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 75
The Mind CageI woke up to a perfect world.Warm sunlight streamed through the window, painting the wooden floor in gold. A light breeze stirred the curtains, carrying the scent of fresh coffee and something sweet—cinnamon, maybe.I knew this place.The small apartment. The books are stacked in the corner. The sketchpad was left open on the kitchen table, with unfinished lines waiting for the artist’s return.And then—“Tony?”My chest clenched. I turned, already knowing what I’d see.Lena stood there, a soft smile playing on her lips, her dark eyes filled with something warm, something real. She looked exactly the way I remembered—hair falling in loose waves, her favorite sweater draped over her frame, sleeves just a little too long.For a second, I forgot to breathe.“You okay?” she asked, stepping closer.I couldn’t move.Because this wasn’t real.I knew it wasn’t real.The Citadel. The Overseers. The choice they’d given me. The escape.None of that had happened here.Here, Lena ha
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 76
Breaking the SystemThe Citadel trembled beneath our feet.Kane dragged me through the smoke-filled corridor, her grip tight, unyielding. The alarms screeched, the walls flashing red, a pulsing heartbeat of the system itself trying to keep us contained.But we weren’t going to be contained.Not anymore.I wiped blood from my forehead, my mind still foggy from the simulation, from the force of the Mind Cage trying to rewrite me. It hadn’t won, but it had left its mark. I could still feel the residue of something unnatural clinging to my thoughts. Fragments of memories that weren’t mine. Lives I had never lived.Kane’s voice cut through the chaos.“Tony, we need that system override now.”I forced my legs to move faster. The Citadel’s core was close. The Last Algorithm—our only shot at breaking the Overseers’ hold on reality—was within reach.But the Citadel wasn’t going to let us take it without a fight.Security drones descended from the ceiling, sleek black machines with glowing blue
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 77
The Battle for TimeThe air rippled like a dying frequency.I hit the ground hard, the impact rattling through my bones. My vision swam as I struggled to my feet. The world around me twisted—walls folding in on themselves, staircases spiraling into infinity.The Citadel was unraveling.And at the center of it all, the Last Algorithm pulsed in my hand, radiating an energy that felt like raw, living time.Kane landed beside me in a crouch, already aiming her weapon at the shifting figures emerging from the chaos. The High Overseers.They stood above us like specters draped in shadows, their hollow eyes locked onto me.“You do not belong,” one of them intoned, their voice fracturing through the air. “You should have been erased.”I tightened my grip around the Algorithm. “Yeah, well, you should’ve done a better job.”A wave of force slammed into me before I could react. It felt like my entire existence was being pulled apart like every second of my life was being shredded and rewound at
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 78
Restoring What Was LostI pressed my palm against the Algorithm, and the world shattered.A pulse of raw energy exploded outward, a shockwave of time itself, bending and twisting everything it touched. The air cracked with impossible light, refracting like a prism that held every past, every future, every version of reality that had ever existed.I staggered back, my breath catching in my throat. The ground beneath me rippled like the surface of water.It was working.The erased were returning.All around me, ghosts solidified into flesh. People who had been wiped from existence gasped as they re-entered reality. A woman clutched her chest, eyes wild with confusion. A child sobbed, clinging to a father who hadn’t been there a second ago. A man collapsed to his knees, fingers digging into the dirt as if confirming that it was real.Kane stood beside me, her breath heavy. “Tony…” She turned, watching the world shift around us. “You actually did it.”But something was wrong.The sky flic
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 79
The Ultimate ConsequenceThe world wasn’t done breaking.I could feel it—beneath my skin, in the marrow of my bones, in the very fabric of existence. The Algorithm had obeyed my will, but it had taken something from me in return. I was an anomaly, a piece of a puzzle that no longer fit in the reality I had shaped.My hands flickered.Not with light. Not with energy.With absence.I sucked in a breath. The air felt thinner like I wasn’t entirely here anymore.“Tony?” Kane’s voice was sharp, urgent. She had seen it.I turned to her. My chest ached—not just from exhaustion but from knowing. I had rewritten reality and forged a new timeline from the shattered remains of the old. But in doing so, I had severed my own connection to it.I was slipping away.Kane reached for me, but her fingers passed right through my wrist.“No.” Her voice was quiet at first, but then it broke open. “No, no, you are not doing this. We just won, Tony. We won.”I tried to smile, but even that felt distant. “Ye
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CHAPTER 190
The Unseen HandWe walked deeper into the broken building. The air had a low buzzing sound that made my teeth feel funny. It felt like we were getting to the center of everything. Kane’s light moved over walls with strange drawings, the same ones from the leather book. They seemed to glow a little.“This way,” Kane whispered, her voice tight. She pointed to a strong metal door behind some broken wall. It looked new in all the mess.Elias pulled at the door, and it made loud noises before opening with a bang. The room inside was round, with glowing lines on the walls. In the middle was a strange machine with metal rings and shiny parts. It made a buzzing sound, and the air around it shook a little.“What is this?” I whispered, walking closer. The drawing from the book was on the shiny part in the middle, glowing strangely. It felt alive.Kane walked around the machine slowly, looking at everything. “This has to be it. The thing that’s causing all this.”Elias reached out to
CHAPTER 189
The Fading AnchorI felt like I was falling fast. The colors around me spun and didn't make sense. Was this the floor? Or the sky upside down? A hand grabbed my arm, strong and familiar, but the face above changed. One second it was Darren, looking worried like always. The next, it was a scary person from a dream I almost forgot, with glowing eyes."Easy, Tony. Just breathe." It was Darren's voice, thank goodness. For now.I blinked, trying to see clearly. My head felt full of buzzing; each buzzed a different, mixed-up memory. Kane… where was Kane? Had she been here? Or was that just a whisper from another time?"Kane… the… the light…" I mumbled, the words feeling thick in my mouth. Light. Yes, there was a bright light, a tear in the world. And then… everything became a mess of broken pictures.Darren held my arm tighter. "Kane's not here now, Tony. It's just me. Remember? Darren."Darren. Yes, I remembered Darren. Sometimes. He was… real. Something steady in this craz
CHAPTER 188
The Tangled WebDust floated in the dim light through dirty windows. The air smelled old and a bit like metal and something sweet. Kane's light moved across the dark room, showing broken machines and glass. My stomach felt bad; this place felt very wrong."See anything, Elias?" Kane's quiet voice barely made a sound. She moved carefully, her hand near her gun. I stayed close behind, my heart beating fast. The drawing we found led us here, an old building outside the city that wasn't on any maps. That made me scared.Forgotten for a reason, I thought, looking at a table with broken bottles and strange tools – some for living things, others like machines mixed together. It was a gross mix."Tony, look here." Elias's voice was usually calm, but now it sounded worried. He was kneeling by a broken metal box. Inside were glass jars with weird things floating in liquid, with thin wires all through them. I couldn't breathe for a second. This wasn't just science; it was horrible.
CHAPTER 187
Darren's WatchThe room was dim, but I could see the tired lines on Darren’s face. He hadn’t slept much. He watched Tony all the time, trying to guess what Tony was seeing in his head. He told Tony old stories, showed him old pictures, played music they both knew – anything to help Tony remember. Sometimes, Tony’s eyes would focus, and he’d remember a joke or something fun they did. But these moments were quick, like flashes of light before a storm. Then, Tony would go back to being lost. Darren was getting more and more worried that he was losing his friend.Darren sat next to Tony, holding an old picture. It was the four of us – me, Elias, Tony, and Darren – smiling after we did something dangerous but got away with it. Tony had dirt on his face and looked happy.“Remember this, Tony?” Darren’s voice was quiet. He held the picture close to Tony’s face. “That old computer place? We thought we were going to die when the robots locked the doors. But you… you fixed that old
CHAPTER 186
The Shifting LandscapeThe air this morning felt wrong. Not just city dirt, but different. Like something familiar had changed a little. Elias smelled it too.“Did you feel that Kane?” he asked, looking around. “Something feels… heavy.”I checked my systems. The air was okay. But I knew what he meant. It felt like the world was holding its breath.We were following a clue, a small digital piece left in the Overseers’ broken computer system. It pointed to a secret lab outside the city. We knew the way. Or so I thought.The first thing that was really wrong happened after walking three blocks. A street we knew very well was just… gone. Instead, there was a tall, black wall, smooth and endless. It looked old and strange like it didn’t belong there.“What the…” Elias said, stopping. He touched the wall. “This wasn’t here yesterday, Kane. I’m sure.”My inside maps agreed. This street was important. It couldn’t just disappear. My brain couldn’t understand it. It was impossibl
CHAPTER 185
The Seed of DoubtThe quiet hum of the Overseer's secret room always bugged me. It felt cold and planned. Tonight, the air felt tight, like something was about to break. Elias, next to me, looked closely at the moving computer words.“See anything?” I whispered. The room was quiet, so my voice felt loud. I checked for hidden traps. This room was supposed to be impossible to get into. But we were inside.Elias made a noise like he was annoyed. “Lots of locks inside locks, Kane. They weren’t kidding.” He stopped, tilting his head. “Wait… something’s not right.”On the screen, one file glowed in the middle of broken computer stuff. It looked perfect. A soft light blinked inside it.When the picture on the file showed up, I held my breath. It wasn’t tech like I knew. The lines looked like they were alive. A soft light moved inside.Elias made a small sound. I looked at him. He looked worried. “Do you feel that, Kane? It feels old.”I did feel it. A little shake inside me.
CHAPTER 184
Listening to NothingTony was slipping away. Not like falling asleep, but in a broken, scary way. What was real for him was fading, like sand in a hand. The Architect's power was still there, like a poison inside him.His memories were like water, moving and mixing, past times all messed up. One minute he'd talk about a trip to a star we never went to, describing things we never saw. Then he'd ask about Joyce, a woman Kane and I never knew, his voice sad."She always loved the rain, Darren," he'd say, looking at nothing. "Said it washed away the noise.""Tony," I'd say softly, holding his hand. "There was no trip to that star. And I don't know Joyce. It's just you, me, and Kane."He'd look confused for a second. "But... the red deserts... the shiny trees..." Then he'd look away again like he was hearing something far off.He started seeing things. Faces would flash in the shadows, people I couldn't see. He'd point, handshaking. "Did you see that? By the door... the woman
CHAPTER 183
The World Playing TricksSomething felt wrong. Not just a little, but deep down. It started with small things that you could almost ignore. But that bad feeling in my neck wouldn't leave.We were walking back through a part of the Overseer place we had already checked. Kane was looking for any missed computer spots, and Elias was feeling for leftover mind energy."This room..." Kane stopped, looking confused. "I'm sure this room was empty."I looked around. It was a small, round room with dead computers. Nothing special. "Yeah, I remember. We checked for traps."But in the middle of the room now was something I had never seen. It was round, black like stone, and had a soft blue light inside. Thin, silver lines went across it and into the smooth surface."That wasn't here before," Elias said quietly. He moved slowly towards it, hand out but not touching. "I would have felt... something."Kane used her scanner. "The energy is... strange. Not Overseer stuff. Not anything I k
CHAPTER 182
Darren's PromiseThe lies were gone, like old skin peeling off. I saw the truth: they had made me a servant. This made me angry, wanting revenge.I found Tony in a broken room. He was my old friend, but now he seemed lost, not knowing what was real. I felt bad and also really loyal to him. He sat on a broken chair, smiling and talking nonsense. The bright Tony I knew was gone. He looked at me for a second, the old Tony in his eyes."Darren?" he whispered weakly. I felt a little hope."Tony, it's me," I said, my voice shaky. I knelt down.He smiled more, but his eyes didn't. "The stars are singing, Darren. Can you hear?"My heart sank. He was lost. The Overseers had messed with his mind. I felt guilty. I was so busy with my own problems, I didn't see how bad Tony was.I felt a strong loyalty to him. We were friends. I couldn't leave him like this.I took his cold hands in mine. "Tony," I said firmly. "The stars aren't singing. It's just me, Darren. I'm here."He looked
