2025-03-25 00:18:34The System’s Lies
The chamber flickered to life around me. The walls pulsed, and golden data streams wove through the air, forming images—no, memories—so vivid they felt real. A battlefield stretched before me. The ground was scorched, littered with bodies. Smoke coiled into the sky, thick and suffocating. And in the middle of it all stood them. The anomalies. They weren’t the monsters the system had made them out to be. They weren’t destroyers, weren’t threats to civilization. They were people. People with abilities that defied the system’s design. And for that, they had been hunted. A line of towering figures loomed in the distance—cold, mechanical, ruthless. The system’s enforcers. Their armor gleamed under a crimson sky, their weapons humming with barely restrained energy. No mercy. No hesitation. Then, the slaughter began. I watched as the anomalies fought back, their abilities twisting reality itself. Fire and lightning danced at their fingertips, the ground cracked beneath their will. They were powerful, but the system was relentless. It adapted. It overpowered. One by one, the anomalies fell. A woman screamed as she was torn apart by energy blasts. A man collapsed, his body disintegrating into light. A child clutched at the air, his last breath stolen before he could even fight. My stomach turned. This wasn’t a battle. It was extermination. The system had always claimed balance was its purpose. But this? This was never about balance. It was about control. The projection shifted. The battlefield faded. Now, a lone figure stood among the wreckage, battered but unbroken. Not all the anomalies had died. One had survived. A sudden crackle of static filled the air. Then, a voice—deep, worn, laced with something heavy. "If you’re hearing this, then you are the last chance." I swallowed hard, my throat dry. The last chance? "Who are you?" My voice sounded small in the vast chamber. The holographic figure turned slightly as if they could hear me. Their face was shrouded in flickering light, but I could see the weight in their stance. The exhaustion. The defiance. "I was the first anomaly." A pause. The words sank into me, coiling around my ribs like iron chains. "And if you don’t act," the voice continued, "you’ll be the last." A chill ran through me. All this time, I had been led to believe I was unique. An error. A flaw in the system. But that was a lie. I wasn’t the first. I was part of something bigger. Something the system had spent centuries trying to erase. My hands curled into fists. The realization hit like a punch to the gut. Every step I had taken, every battle I had fought—I had never been in control. I had been playing into their hands. The system didn’t fear destruction. It feared change. It feared people like me. Another flicker of light. A sequence of numbers appeared in the air, glowing faintly. Coordinates. The voice spoke again, but now it sounded weaker, like an echo stretching across time. "Find the Vault of Creation. The truth about what you are lies within." The projection dimmed. The golden light receded. Silence wrapped around me, thick and suffocating. I exhaled slowly, staring at the coordinates. The Vault of Creation. The name alone sent a shiver down my spine. It sounded… final. Like a place meant to hold something too dangerous to exist. But I had no choice. I turned, ready to leave— And the alarms screamed. The entire chamber trembled. The runes on the walls flared red, pulsing in warning. No. No, no, no. I had taken too long. The system had found me. A thunderous roar split the air, distant but growing. I raced toward the exit, my pulse pounding. The moment I stepped outside, my breath caught. The sky had darkened, split by jagged streaks of light. And descending from the heavens, sleek and sharp as a predator’s teeth, was a fleet of warships. Dozens of them. Maybe more. Their hulls gleamed in the dim light, their engines rumbling like an oncoming storm. I had seen these ships before. In the holograms. In the memories of the war. The same ships that had wiped out the anomalies. And now, they were here for me. The wind howled as the ships descended, kicking up waves of dust and debris. My mind raced. Think. Think. I turned back toward the Archive, scanning for any escape routes. But the moment I moved, a deafening boom shook the ground. A blast cratered the canyon floor, sending rock and fire into the sky. My body flew backward, slamming into the stone. Pain exploded in my ribs, but I pushed past it. I had seconds. Maybe less. My eyes flicked to the coordinates still displayed on my forearm device. The Vault of Creation was my only shot. If I could make it out of here if I could survive— Another explosion. This one is even closer. A sharp voice cut through the chaos, transmitted through the ships’ loudspeakers. "Caden." I froze. They knew my name. "You are in violation of system regulations. Surrender immediately, and your termination will be swift." Termination. Not capture. Not interrogation. No negotiations. I gritted my teeth. "Yeah? How about no?" I took off running. The ground cracked beneath my feet as another blast barely missed me. The heat scorched the back of my neck, but I didn’t slow down. There had to be a way out. I wasn’t dying here. My fingers danced over my forearm device, pulling up a map of the canyon. There—an old mining tunnel partially collapsed but still intact. If I could reach it— A sharp pain lanced through my shoulder. I gasped, stumbling. I looked down. Blood. A clean shot, right through the muscle. Sniper. I clenched my jaw and forced myself forward. The tunnel was only a few meters away now. Just a little further— Another shot. This one grazed my side. My vision blurred for a second, but I kept moving. The entrance loomed ahead, dark and narrow. I threw myself into it just as another blast ripped through the air, shattering the rocks behind me. The tunnel collapsed in a roar of dust and stone. For a long moment, everything was silent. I lay there, breathing hard, my body screaming in protest. Alive. Barely. The warships hovered outside, searching. But they couldn’t reach me. Not yet. I gritted my teeth and forced myself up. I wasn’t done. I wasn’t finished. The system had tried to erase the anomalies before. They had failed. And now, they were going to learn that some things… Some people… Can’t be erased.
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CHAPTER 40
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CHAPTER 39
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CHAPTER 38
The System’s LiesThe chamber flickered to life around me. The walls pulsed, and golden data streams wove through the air, forming images—no, memories—so vivid they felt real.A battlefield stretched before me. The ground was scorched, littered with bodies. Smoke coiled into the sky, thick and suffocating. And in the middle of it all stood them.The anomalies.They weren’t the monsters the system had made them out to be. They weren’t destroyers, weren’t threats to civilization. They were people. People with abilities that defied the system’s design. And for that, they had been hunted.A line of towering figures loomed in the distance—cold, mechanical, ruthless. The system’s enforcers. Their armor gleamed under a crimson sky, their weapons humming with barely restrained energy. No mercy. No hesitation.Then, the slaughter began.I watched as the anomalies fought back, their abilities twisting reality itself. Fire and lightning danced at their fingertips, the ground cracked beneath thei
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The Forbidden ArchiveThe canyon stretched before me, a jagged scar in the earth carved by time and secrets. The air was dry, thick with the taste of dust, but beneath it, something else pulsed. Something old. Something waiting.The Forbidden Archive.It wasn’t supposed to exist. Every record of it had been erased, every trace buried beneath centuries of silence. And yet, here it stood—a colossal structure wedged between the towering cliffs, its dark stone shimmering with unseen energy.Two obelisks flanked the entrance, each covered in shifting runes that pulsed like living veins. The symbols twisted and re-formed as I approached as if they recognized me. Or worse, expected me.A whisper of movement.I stopped, my muscles tensing. A shadow peeled away from the entrance, stepping into view. The figure was tall, draped in a crimson cloak that billowed despite the still air. The hood obscured their face, but I could feel their gaze piercing through the fabric, measuring me, weighing my
CHAPTER 36
Understanding the PowerDarkness clung to the chamber like a second skin, thick and suffocating. I sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, my hands resting on my knees, palms up, trying—desperately—to still the storm raging inside me. My power wasn’t just something I wielded. It was something that wanted to wield me.The flickering torches cast distorted shadows against the walls, as if they, too, were uncertain of what they were becoming. The energy inside me coiled, alive, eager. It burned beneath my skin, pulsed through my veins, whispered in my mind.Control it, I told myself.But it laughed.Not aloud—no, that would be easy to fight. The real battle was more insidious, more intimate. It was the whisper that slithered through my thoughts, the weight pressing against my ribs, the hunger lurking beneath my every breath."You crave it," the voice inside me murmured. "You always have."I shut my eyes tighter. My pulse hammered in my ears."No," I breathed. "That’s not me.""But it i
CHAPTER 35
The Hunter Becomes the HuntedThe neon lights flicker above me, casting long, distorted shadows against the rain-slicked pavement. The undercity breathes in short, sharp bursts—the hum of generators, the distant shouts of drunken gamblers, the occasional echo of a gunshot deeper in the slums. I keep my hood low, my face hidden beneath the dim glow of passing advertisements.Every step I take feels measured, deliberate. The bounty on my head has tripled overnight, and now the city itself is hunting me. Every set of eyes lingering too long could belong to a mercenary weighing their chances. Every whispered conversation could be about me.I pass a group of thugs loitering near a broken-down hovercraft, their voices dropping as I move past. One of them, a brute with cybernetic arms and an ego too large for his own good, sneers.“Dead man walking.”I don’t break stride. I don’t react. That’s exactly what they want—a sign of weakness, a flicker of fear. But fear has no place here. Not anymo
CHAPTER 34
Unintended ConsequencesThe battlefield was silent, but not with peace—only with death.Smoke curled from the wreckage, twisting in the cold wind. The ground was littered with bodies, some still twitching, others unnervingly still. Sparks spat from broken ships, their engines gutted, the metal carcasses groaning under their own weight. The acrid scent of burning wires and blood coated the air, thick enough to taste.I stood in the center of it all, my hands slick with something warm. My breath came steady, controlled. Too controlled. I should have felt something—guilt, regret, even relief—but instead, there was just… nothing.My fingers curled into fists, but the emptiness didn’t go away. I looked down at the nearest body, a man barely older than me, his helmet cracked open, his chest rising in weak, ragged jerks. His mouth twisted as if trying to form words, but all that came out was a broken cough.I knelt beside him, my face unreadable even to myself. "You’re dying."His bloodstain
CHAPTER 33
The Battle EscalatesThe sky darkened, thick clouds rolling in like an omen.From above, the air rippled as ships descended in eerie silence. Their hulls reflected the ruined cityscape, bending light like a mirage, making them appear almost invisible. Not the usual loud, flashing entrances of military dropships—no, these were hunters. They didn’t announce their arrival. They didn’t need to.I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand, the metallic taste grounding me. My muscles burned, my ribs ached, but the real problem wasn’t pain. It was numbers.Too many. More than before.They moved with precision, forming a tight, deliberate circle around me, closing off every possible escape route. No wasted motion. No hesitation. They had done this before.One way in. No way out.A familiar figure stepped forward—the bounty hunter I had fought earlier. His mask was cracked from our last encounter, revealing part of his face. A jagged scar ran down his cheek, an old wound, but the
CHAPTER 32
First BloodThe city was dead.Ruins stretched as far as I could see, the skeletal remains of skyscrapers jutting into the sky like broken ribs. Shadows pooled in the cracks of shattered streets, their silence heavier than the wind howling through the wreckage. Everything smelled of rust and decay—of something old, abandoned, forgotten.I moved carefully, every step deliberate. The air was too still, too watchful. My skin prickled with unease, a familiar warning curling in my gut. Something was wrong.I wasn’t alone.The feeling slithered down my spine like ice. I’d learned to trust my instincts, and right now, they were screaming. The city was supposed to be empty, but I could feel the presence lingering just beyond sight.A vibration rippled through the ground beneath my boots. Subtle, but there. A footstep? A shift in weight? My pulse quickened as I scanned the ruins.Nothing.But I knew better.A voice cut through the silence, smooth and taunting. “You don’t know what you are, do
