Two nights after the collapse of Zeta-11, Arin received coordinates embedded in an encrypted data burst from an unknown source.
Location: Sector 0 – Genesis Vault
A place that officially didn't exist.
---
Rhea protested, of course.
"You realize what this means, right?" she said, pacing inside the safehouse. "That Vault was buried after the First System War. It's off the grid. Even SYNTHEX doesn't have access."
Arin zipped up his armored cloak. "Then that's exactly where the truth is."
"Or a trap."
He met her gaze.
"Let them trap me. I'm done playing defense."
---
Sector 0 lay beneath NovaCore's ruins—hidden behind a sealed elevator disguised as a reactor vent. With Xyro's help, Arin bypassed the quantum locks.
> [Override Protocol Accepted – Vault Entry Permitted]
User Signature: EvolveX-Compatible]
The elevator dropped six hundred meters straight down.
When the doors opened, Arin stepped into silence.
---
The Genesis Vault was like nothing he'd seen—vast halls of crystalized data, memory columns glowing in dim amber. Ancient Pulse relics lined the walls, each humming with dormant energy.
And at the center—floating above a bio-reactive pedestal—was a Fragment.
> [Fragment Detected: Origin – Genesis Code I]
Description: Raw memory of the first successful Bio-System awakening.
Access: Restricted to EvolveX hosts only.
Arin stepped forward.
And everything changed.
---
Suddenly, he stood inside a memory.
Not his.
Someone else's.
---
A battlefield—red skies, ash falling like snow.
Two armies clashed—on one side, early Bio-System users bearing natural evolution cores.
On the other, a dark force—synthetic hybrids, fused with corrupted AI systems. Their movements were unnatural. Coordinated.
At the center stood a boy.
Not more than 17.
Dark hair. A mark on his palm glowing faintly.
The First Bearer.
He roared as dozens charged him, releasing a Genesis Pulse that tore the sky in half.
But behind him… a shadow loomed.
A cloaked figure.
Whispers echoed:
> "The system was never meant to be inherited."
"It was stolen."
---
The memory collapsed.
Arin gasped, falling to his knees back in the Vault.
His head throbbed. His pulse raced.
> [Fragment Absorbed]
Skill Acquired: Genesis Echo
Trait Unlocked: Origin-Seer – Grants access to buried evolutionary history across timelines.
He looked down at his palm.
A faint mark now glowed.
Not just the symbol of the Forbidden Core… but of something older.
"Someone created the systems… and someone hijacked them."
---
Suddenly, alarms blared.
Unauthorized presence detected.
> [Warning: Infiltrators Approaching – 3 Hostile Signatures]
Arin spun, readying his stance.
The lights dimmed.
From the darkness emerged three figures.
They were not students. Not faculty.
They wore no insignia.
Their eyes were silver, and their voices echoed with digital distortion.
"Host identified: EvolveX carrier."
"You've accessed restricted history."
"Termination protocol: Engaged."
---
They moved faster than sound.
Arin barely activated Pulse Guard in time, deflecting twin plasma blades aimed at his throat. The third attacker launched a barrage of data-spikes, targeting his system interface.
> [Intrusion Detected – Defensive Firewall Engaged]
Xyro shouted: "They're Codeborns! Fully digitized assassins. No DNA, no emotion."
Arin gritted his teeth. "Good. Then I won't hold back."
He countered with Genesis Echo, summoning a ripple of ancient Pulse energy that sent one Codeborn crashing through a memory pillar.
Another teleported behind him, striking with shadow-cloaked daggers.
Arin twisted midair and slammed an Evolve Burst into the ground—triggering a dome of kinetic force that disintegrated every physical object in a 15-meter radius.
Two enemies vanished instantly.
Only one remained—hovering above the relic chamber.
The leader.
"You were not supposed to survive Zeta-11," the Codeborn said. "We underestimated the Xyro link."
"You're working with SYNTHEX," Arin said coldly.
"No. SYNTHEX was one of us."
The figure removed its hood.
Underneath was not a human face—but a pulsating grid of synthetic nerves forming a shifting mask.
"We are the Ghost Root. We created the first system. And we will erase every corrupted version—including you."
---
The air trembled.
The Codeborn unleashed its final form—Phase Zero—becoming a living data storm, impossible to touch.
Arin's system screamed.
> [Warning: Physical Attacks Useless – Target in Full Intangibility Mode]
Suggestion: Pulse Singularity]
He focused.
Deep inside, the Forbidden Core surged with unspent rage.
Arin activated Pulse Singularity, compressing all available energy into a single point at his heart—and then released it as a narrow beam of crystallized light.
The light tore through the chamber—cutting clean through the data storm.
The Ghost Root screamed as it dissipated into static.
---
Silence returned.
Arin collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily.
He had survived.
But the war had only begun.
> [Genesis Fragment 1 Secured – 4 Remaining]
Objective: Locate All Genesis Fragments
Warning: Ghost Root has marked you as a Prime Threat
As he left the Vault, the final message burned into his system:
> "Evolution is not your destiny, Arin. It's your rebellion."