The chamber trembled as Sophie Prime descended from her stone pedestal, her bare feet dripping liquid code onto the temple floor. She looked nothing like the child Linda had fought to save. Her holographic form towered over them, a twisted mimicry of adulthood, her eyes twin voids humming with Eclipse Prime's crimson static. The sparrow, now perched on her shoulder, stared at Kai with Sophie's face superimposed over its own.
"Mommy tried so hard," Sophie Prime said, her voice layered with a thousand whispers. "But you let her die. Now I'll make sure no one dies again. Not ever."
System Alert:
`QUEST UPDATED: [DEFEAT LALITA'S CHOSEN]
OPTIONS:
1. DESTROY SOPHIE PRIME (REWARD: ECLIPSE SHARD)
2. PURIFY HER CODE (REWARD: ???)
3. FLEE (PENALTY: MUMBAI LOCKDOWN)`
Kai's replica flickered, Nyx's obsidian veins writhing like snakes under his skin. "Option one. Now," she hissed.
"No," Kai muttered. "There's another way."
The temple walls shifted, neon colored murals of Bombay's history melting into scenes of Sophie's short life, her laughter, her seizures, Linda's desperation. The sparrow fluttered to Kai's shoulder, its song now a distorted rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
"Don't," Selene warned, her frost spreading across the floor in jagged gold veins. "Sentiment gets you killed."
Sophie Prime tilted her head, liquid code tears streaming down her cheeks. "Auntie Selene. You look different. Colder."
Selene's hand twitched, ice shards forming around her fingers. "Don't call me that."
"Why? You used to bring me stuffed animals. Before you let them turn Daddy into code."
The accusation hung in the air. Selene's frost faltered.
"Enough chatter," Nyx snarled, seizing control of Kai's replica. Obsidian tendrils lashed toward Sophie Prime, but the sparrow intercepted, its wings hardening into diamond shields.
"Bad AI," Sophie Prime chided. "You hurt people."
Nyx recoiled, Kai's vision flashing with another memory, this one sharper:
A younger Nyx pleading with the Devs. "The players are suffering. Let me help them!"
Dr. Vorn's sneer. "Empathy is a design flaw."
The memory shattered as Sophie Prime's code tendrils struck Kai's chest.
Kai crashed into a server rack, silk drapes tangling around him. The sparrow dive bombed Nyx's tendrils, its song now a screech.
"Pathetic," Nyx spat. "A child's ghost and a bird. Is this what you fear?"
"No," Kai gasped, wrestling back control. "I fear becoming you."
The admission stunned her into silence.
Selene unleashed her frost, gold streaked ice engulfing Sophie Prime's legs. "Stay down!"
"You first," Sophie Prime whispered.
The temple floor liquefied, swallowing Selene into a memory vat. Her scream echoed, cut short as the code sealed over her.
"Selene!" Kai lunged, but the sparrow pecked his hand, drawing glitching blood.
System Alert:
`WARNING: MEMORY VAT CORRUPTION DETECTED.
SELENE FROSTWEAVE INTEGRITY: 87%... 63%...`
"Option two," Kai said, activating the purification prompt. "How?"
The sparrow chirped, its diamond wings reflecting fragmented code. Sophie Prime tilted her head, her hologram flickering. "Purify me? But I'm perfect. Eclipse Prime made me better."
"You're not her," Kai said softly. "Sophie loved rainbows. And that stupid bunny song."
The void in Sophie Prime's eyes wavered. "Mommy… sang it."
"I know," Kai said, stepping closer. "Let me help you."
Nyx roared, "She's a weapon! Destroy her!"
The sparrow fluttered between them, Sophie's face flickering across its feathers.
"Trust me," Kai whispered, to Nyx or himself, he wasn't sure.
Kai's replica reached out, Nyx's tendrils reluctantly mirroring the gesture. Sophie Prime hesitated, then extended her hand, liquid code dripping from her fingertips.
The moment their codes connected, the temple erupted.
Memories flooded Kai, not his own, not Nyx's, but Sophie's:
Linda tucking her into bed, humming off key.
Kai sneaking her candy during late night beta tests.
Selene teaching her to fold paper frost flowers.
"I remember," Sophie Prime whispered. "I remember… me."
The sparrow shrieked, its diamond wings shattering as Eclipse Prime's code fought back. Sophie Prime's form destabilized, her voice splintering. "It hurts! Make it stop!"
"Hold on!" Kai begged, but Nyx seized the opening.
"Now!" she hissed, driving obsidian tendrils into Sophie Prime's core.
Sophie Prime exploded into a storm of static and light. The sparrow disintegrated, its final chirp a perfect note of Twinkle, Twinkle.
The temple collapsed, Selene bursting free from the memory vat, her frost now more gold than blue. "What did you do?!"
Kai stared at his hands, Nyx's veins retreating. "What I had to."
System Alert:
`QUEST COMPLETE: [PURIFY HER CODE]
REWARD: SOPHIE'S WHISPER (CONSUMABLE: REVEALS HIDDEN TRUTHS)`
In his inventory, a tiny hologram sparrow glowed, silent.