The silence in the room was as thick as lead. Only the hum of the technology at rest broke the stillness. Akihiko, still feeling goosebumps from the revelation, stared at the unlit monitor in front of him. Dr. Varenka's words echoed in his mind: "Your mother didn't die in the crash. She was absorbed by the EVA Protocol."
Kael and Ezra exchanged discreet glances while Isabella gripped the handle of her weapon tightly. Not because she expected an immediate attack, but because she needed to anchor herself to something tangible as the world crumbled around her.
"What exactly does that mean?" Akihiko asked hoarsely.
The doctor projected a hologram showing a female figure wrapped in organic cables, fused with a living technological structure. "Your mother was one of the first to undergo a full interface with the core of the Tree of Eden. It wasn't a choice... it was a sacrifice."
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Akihiko roared, his fists shaking.
"Because the world wasn't ready," another voice replied. From the shadows emerged a figure dressed in white robes covered in ancient symbols: Lazarus, an exile from the ancient Council of Judgment.
The Voice of the Fallen
Lazaro moved slowly toward them, his steps seemingly undisturbed by the air. His face bore scars that weren't physical, but rather as if his presence had been torn by time itself. As he passed, electronic systems flickered.
—I witnessed the birth of the EVA Protocol. And also the rise of the Fallen Archons, the first seven test subjects to merge with the Tree's information. Their power was incalculable... but their sanity was the price.
Ezra frowned. "Why show up now?"
—Because the balance has been broken. Viktor is dead. And with his death, other members of the Council have been freed from their code of silence. Some seek chaos. Others, redemption. I bring warnings... and a key.
He opened his palm, revealing a living crystal, pulsing with an artificial heartbeat. "This can access your mother's subconscious record, Akihiko. It's the only way to know what she really knew."
The Sunken City
Isabella led the group through a forgotten underground passage. They descended for hours, along rusty stairs and platforms that creaked beneath their feet. Finally, they reached what was once the technological heart of ancient Neo-Kyoto: The Sunken City.
A sea of rusted structures floated on black water. Ancient terminals sparked with dormant data. The crystal Lazaro carried reacted immediately, projecting a luminous path toward a half-sunken tower.
"This is where the first node of the Tree of Eden was activated," Lazarus said. "And where your mother lost her humanity."
Akihiko advanced alone, crossing a corroded bridge. Upon reaching the tower, he placed the crystal in a rusty slot. The entire place vibrated, and a holographic figure appeared before him. It wasn't just a recording. It was a conscious fragment.
—Akihiko... if you're seeing this, it's because you've gone too far. The EVA Protocol wasn't a weapon. It was a containment... for something that still slumbers beneath the real world.
The figure touched his chest. "And I am the key to that prison."
Echoes of the Future
Outside, Kael picked up a signal on his visor.
—We're moving. Someone's been following us.
From the shadows emerged two hooded figures with visible implants on the back of their heads. Their eyes were completely white. They didn't speak, but their gestures were precise.
Ezra stepped forward. "They're the Council's new servants... Judgment Automata."
The fight was brutal. Akihiko managed to escape the tower just in time to block a plasma blast aimed at Lazaro. Isabella spun around, firing three times at the center of one of the creatures, only to find her body reconstructing itself from the data.
Lazaro raised his arm. A circle of light emerged from the crystal. "Akihiko, bring her with you! Your mother's mind is inside the core!"
—What?! How am I going to...?!
—Think like her. Feel like her. Connect!
Akihiko closed his eyes, and for a moment, he felt the heartbeat of the Tree. And within that pulse... a voice:
"My son... there is still time."
Cliffhanger Final
With a cry of effort, Akihiko emerged from the node with a new artifact in his hands: a black sphere, sealed with the same markings as the Tree's prison.
"What's that?" Isabella asked, still panting from the fight.
Akihiko looked at the sphere, which now pulsed with the same beat as the Tree's core. "It's her. And within this... is the beginning of the end."
Kael swallowed. "So what do we do now?"
Ezra, wiping the blood off his katana, replied:
—Now... we're looking for the man who forced her to become this.
Lazarus nodded. "And we headed to the place where it all began: The Inverted Garden."