The Framework sees everything… until it forgets why it was built.
Elian stood at the edge of a dead zone.
Not just a place without life — a place without memory.
Stone fractured in unnatural lines. Threadlight flickered in colors that had no names. He'd been tracking whispers — trails of broken code drifting through corrupted veins in the world.
And they'd led him here.
To an Abandoned Authority Node.
Once, this place had regulated ranks. Assigned classifications. Reinforced zone laws.
Now?
It lay in ruin.
And inside it?
Power that hadn't been measured in a long time.
Elian stepped through the shattered gate. His Threadsense buzzed like a hornet's nest.
The node was alive — barely.
And it recognized him.
[Authority Node 4-C: Reactivation Triggered]
[Designation: Persistent Anomaly – Accepted]
[Accessing Rank Protocols… Updating Core Table…]
For a moment, the threads stabilized.
Then the air lit up — not with energy, but with structure.
A holographic display flickered into place, cast from old anchor veins.
Elian narrowed his eyes as he read.
[Thread Classification – Partial Reconstruction]
Threadborn (F) – Fragile. Unanchored.
Shardwake (E) – Awakened spark.
Veinmarked (D) – Thread control achieved.
Strainbound (C) – Trait fusion possible.
[Data Corrupted]
[Access Restricted – Clearance Denied]
The last three lines flickered with red static.
Someone had cut the table off.
Deliberately.
Elian stared at the broken system message, mind quiet.
This wasn't a list.
It was a ladder.
And someone at the top didn't want it climbed.
He reached out to the display — not to touch, but to remember.
This wasn't his strength.
It was his direction.
"If they're hiding the next steps… then that's where I'm going."
A whisper rippled through the chamber.
Not a message.
A challenge.
What will you sacrifice to rise?
Elian smiled.
"Everything."
[Lucid Trait Sync: 32% → 33%]
[Threadbreaker Progress: 3.8% → 4.1%]
[New System Flag Unlocked: Authority Layers – Incomplete Access]
[Author Seed Response: Stirring]
He turned and walked back into the threads.
There was blood to spill.
Zones to rewrite.
And gods to meet.
But first?
He needed a hunt.
And this time, the prey would talk before it died.