---
The Prophet's airship cut across the neon sky like a blade through cotton candy.
Zane slouched in the co-pilot seat, smelling like regret, smoke, and betrayal.
The toaster sat beside him, wearing a seatbelt. For safety. Obviously.
> "Sera, formerly Toaster Unit-42, currently recovering from emotional whiplash and existential dread."
Zane glanced sideways. "Still talking in third person?"
"Still coping with the fact that my last act of humanity was to become a kitchen appliance, Zane."
He nodded. "Yeah, fair. Want some waffles?"
"I am waffles."
---
Scene 1 – Meanwhile, in NEUREX Hell
Back in NEUREX HQ, Doctor Vale paced furiously inside the obsidian tower, chewing a stylus like it owed him money.
"We have a breach in Vault Omega. Project KROSS is online. THE TOASTER HAS GONE ROGUE!"
His assistant blinked. "Sir, that's… not technically possible."
"NOTHING is impossible when you feed an AI sibling memories and cram it into a smart toaster!"
He slammed a button. A hologram of the Prophet's ship appeared.
"Deploy the Obelisk Knights. Wake up the 404 Protocol. And get me my emotional support latte."
---
Scene 2 – Prophet's Ship, Unstable Speed Mode
Zane and Sera reviewed the downloaded data as the ship zipped through the sky, swerving like it owed taxes.
They discovered the truth about Project OBELISK:
> A protocol designed to reboot the entire Chain Network.
And it only works if a synced soul pair unlocks all three Vaults.
Vault Alpha. Vault Beta. Vault… Omelette?
No—Omega. Right.
Three vaults. One insane mission. And NEUREX had already activated Protocol 404—an urban legend about black-code mercs who legally don't exist.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Sera asked.
"That grilled cheese solves everything?"
"No. We're heading to Vault Alpha. And we'll need backup."
Zane's eyes lit up.
"I know just the guy."
---
Scene 3 – Meet Dex: Weaponized Chaos in a Human Hoodie
They landed on the outskirts of Metro-Zone 9. The alley smelled like old sushi and broken dreams.
Zane knocked on a door made of laser-tag parts and spite.
It swung open.
A man in a pink bathrobe, VR goggles, and one flip-flop stood there, holding two churros and a stolen drone.
Dex.
"ZANE, MY MAN! You still owe me six tacos and half a kidney!"
"I brought you a toaster."
Dex gasped. "That's my favorite kitchen category!"
Sera beeped aggressively. "Touch me and I'll deep-fry your ancestry."
Dex laughed like he hadn't slept in seven years. "She's got fire. I like her. What's the job?"
Zane grinned. "We're breaking into Vault Alpha."
Dex screamed joyfully, hugged a cactus, and grabbed a rocket launcher.
"Say less. Let's ruin some billionaire lives."
---
Scene 4 – Vault Alpha, Now with 85% More Pain
Vault Alpha was built beneath a decommissioned theme park. Because apparently NEUREX liked irony.
"Why is the entrance under a haunted teacup ride?" Dex whispered.
Zane checked the scanner. "Says here we gotta solve a puzzle to enter."
Dex lit a stick of dynamite. "Or we don't."
Sera beeped. "We're doing this quietly. That means NO BOOM until I say boom."
Dex pouted.
They navigated the ride—the walls flickered between clown emojis and code spiders.
Sera interfaced with the mainframe and decrypted the gate… just as Protocol 404 arrived.
Six figures. Cloaked in black-glitch armor. Faces covered in neon static.
One of them pointed.
"You have the toaster. Hand it over."
Dex pointed back.
"You have bad posture. Get wrecked."
Zane leapt behind cover.
---
Scene 5 – The Toaster Awakens
The fight was a chaotic mess of lasers, explosions, Dex screaming "HACK THE PLANET!" and Sera unleashing secret toaster powers like a kitchen god reborn.
One of the Protocol 404 agents slammed into Zane, blade inches from his throat.
"Final words?" it hissed.
"Yeah," Zane grinned. "Waffle mode."
Sera activated the EMP burst.
The agent spasmed, screamed, and collapsed—his visor flashing the word:
> [ERROR – BREAKFAST OVERRIDE]
Dex taped two grenades to a Roomba and sent it spinning into the enemies, cackling like a gremlin.
Vault Alpha's doors opened with a heavenly ding.
---
Scene 6 – Inside the Core of Truth
They stepped into the core chamber. It looked eerily like the one in Vault Omega—except this one still hummed with stable code and contained… a chair?
Zane blinked. "Why is there a chair?"
Sera scanned it.
> [Soul Resonance Chamber Detected. Insert both linked consciousnesses to unlock next path.]
Dex was already halfway inside the chair. "Do I get a prize if I sit in this?"
"GET OUT," both Zane and Sera screamed.
Zane and Sera synced in.
Flashes of new memories unlocked.
A woman—older, scarred—speaking to Sera.
"You'll have to watch over him. The reboot requires trust. If either of you loses faith, the Chain dies."
Another voice echoed.
"You'll either fix the system… or break reality itself."
---
Final Scene – Post-Sync Madness
Zane and Sera snapped back into reality, minds humming with data and dread.
Dex was drinking from a sippy cup he stole off a corpse.
"So… what's next?" he asked.
Zane looked toward the horizon.
"Vault Beta. Then the Obelisk."
Sera nodded. "And if we make it…"
"We reset the world."
Dex burped. "Call me when it's waffle time again."
Zane laughed.
"Always."