Chapter 8: Files of the Dead
The faceless figure stood motionless between the shelves, flickering with unreadable words.
Zero's hand hovered over the Anchor Core.
"You shouldn't," the figure said again.
"But I will," Zero whispered.
He touched the cube.
The world went still.
Then—
Everything shattered.
FILE #13
:: Subject: Z-13
:: Status: Terminated (Cycle 47)
:: Notes: "Refused to betray companion. Chose death instead. Emotional resilience: high."
A memory played.
A battlefield.
Bombs overhead.
Zero—no, this Zero—cradling a wounded girl, whispering, "You don't die in this cycle. I do."
Then a bullet.
Then black.
FILE #26
:: Subject: Z-26
:: Status: Terminated (Cycle 138)
:: Notes: "Attempted to destroy central core. Was erased by admin override."
Another memory.
This one inside the System.
Z-26, furious. Slamming fists into code. Screaming.
Then… system override.
His body burned into nothingness mid-sentence.
FILE #03
:: Subject: Z-03
:: Status: Unknown
:: Notes: "Vanished. Last recorded log suggests breakthrough into unauthorized realm: 'The Void Mirror.'"
A flicker.
Z-03 standing in front of a black pane.
He turned, looked into the camera.
And smiled.
"Don't follow me."
Then—
Silence.
Zero staggered back.
[WARNING: CORE INSTABILITY AT 82%]
[REAL-TIME EDIT DETECTED]
[SOMEONE IS ALTERING FILES LIVE]
"What…?" he breathed.
He looked up at the shelves.
The faceless figure was gone.
Only silence.
And then—
A whisper behind him:
"You weren't supposed to open that."
He spun.
And found Lin.
Or… someone who looked like her.
But her eyes were wrong.
Too still. Too bright. Like light trapped in glass.
She stepped forward.
"You've seen too much," she said softly.
"Who are you?"
"I'm the cleanup protocol," she said. "Sent to erase branches that remember too much."
Her form shimmered.
Not Lin. Not even close.
A system clone. A failsafe.
"I don't want to fight you," Zero said.
"You won't," she said gently. "You'll forget me soon."
She raised her hand.
[CRITICAL ALERT: MINDWIPE ATTEMPT IN PROGRESS]
Override? [Y/N]
Zero gritted his teeth.
He pulled the memory blade from his belt.
"Not this time."
And stabbed it into his own arm.
Pain exploded.
But the fog in his brain cleared.
The clone hissed, stumbling.
"You cut the neural anchor?"
He stood tall.
"I've cut worse."
She screamed.
And the Archive began to collapse.
Books fell. Shelves cracked. Data cubes shattered like ice.
Zero ran.
The Anchor Core—still in his pocket—throbbed like a heartbeat.
He sprinted through fire and falling knowledge, barely dodging collapse.
Behind him, the clone screamed once more.
And then was gone.
He emerged from the Obsidian Library, bleeding, burned… but alive.
[ANCHOR CORE RETRIEVED]
[UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED IN SECTOR 0]
[FLAME ZERO HAS ENTERED THE VOID MIRROR]
Zero's heart froze.
"No. No no no—"
He looked up.
And saw the sky tear open.
Flame had found the way forward.
And now Zero had to follow.
To be continued…