The white beams of the Archivists were no longer silent. They struck the Earth with a low and thrumming vibration that shook the tectonic plates. Outside the bunker, the sky had turned into a sea of absolute white. The ruins of the Forgotten Wastes were being unmade into a digital fog.
Ren stood at the center of the crumbling chamber with his eyes fixed on his sister. She looked at him with an expression that was both ancient and new. She moved with a grace that defied physics. She didn't walk so much as glide across the debris.
Anya shouted that they didn't have time for a family reunion. She pointed to the ceiling where the white light was beginning to seep through the cracks. The stone was dissolving into dust before it even hit the floor.
The older Ren stepped forward with his plasma pistol gripped tight. He told the group that the shipyard on the moon was the source of the deletion signal. He explained that if they didn't stop it from the inside, there wouldn't be an Earth left to save. He looked at his younger self and asked how they were supposed to get there without a ship.
Ren looked at his data slate and then at the girl who was his mirror image. He asked her if she could still connect to the orbital network.
Zero tilted her head and the silver visor on her face shimmered. She spoke with a voice that echoed in their minds. She said the moon was not a rock but a massive processing unit. She explained that the Lunar Bridge was not a place but a frequency. She reached out and grabbed Ren's hand.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Skill Activated: Sovereign Synchronization.
Effect: Linking all Caelum 7 signatures in a 50 meter radius.
Status: Searching for Lunar Uplink.
Ren felt a surge of energy that was ten times more powerful than anything he had ever experienced. The golden veins in his arms began to pulse in perfect harmony with the girl's core. The young Gage and the other children began to glow with a soft blue light.
Elara watched the energy readings on her small device and laughed in disbelief. She said they were turning into raw data. She warned that if the connection broke during the transfer, they would be scattered across the solar system as static.
Ren didn't flinch. He told everyone to hold on to the person next to them. He commanded the system to initiate the handshake protocol with the lunar shipyard.
Suddenly a massive white beam struck the bunker directly. Instead of deleting them, the beam was intercepted by Ren's golden aura. The energy was pulled into the stasis pod and redirected upward.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Lunar Bridge: Established.
Transferring Assets: 100%.
The world vanished in a flash of gold and white. For a moment there was no sound and no gravity. Ren felt his consciousness stretching across thousands of miles of cold space. He saw the curvature of the Earth and the terrifying fleet of the Archivists surrounding the planet like a cage.
When his boots finally hit solid ground, the air was recycled and cold. He was standing in a massive hall made of white porcelain and chrome. High above them, the ceiling was a transparent dome that showed the Earth. From this distance, the planet looked like a blue marble being slowly consumed by white fire.
Anya collapsed to her knees and gasped for air. She asked if they were actually on the moon. She looked around at the sterile and futuristic environment.
The older Ren stood up and checked his weapon. He said they were in the Lunar Apex. He warned that this was the heart of the Archivist operations. He explained that they weren't just in a shipyard but in a brain.
Ren looked at the center of the hall. A massive holographic pillar was displaying millions of names. Each name was accompanied by a status bar and a history of iterations.
Ren walked toward the pillar and searched for his own name.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Accessing Database: Iteration 101.
Subject 004: Ren.
Status: Sovereign Level Anomaly.
Action: Immediate Disposal Recommended.
Suddenly a group of silver constructs emerged from the floor. They were identical to the one Ren had fought in the Vanguard Station but they were larger and carried spears made of solid light.
A familiar voice echoed through the hall. It was Silas. He appeared as a massive blue hologram in the center of the room. He laughed and told Ren that he was impressed. He admitted that he didn't think Ren would have the courage to bring the Source directly to the Archivists.
Ren looked at the hologram with cold indifference. He told Silas that he was finished. He explained that he now had the administrative access to the lunar core.
Silas smirked and told Ren that he was wrong. He explained that the lunar core required two keys to operate. One was the blood of a Sovereign which Ren possessed. The other was the heart of an Archivist.
Silas pointed to the silver constructs that were closing in on them. He said that if Ren wanted to stop the deletion, he would have to kill a god in its own house.
The young Gage stepped forward with his rebar spear. He looked terrified but he didn't back down. He asked Ren what they should do.
Ren looked at his sister and then at the holographic pillar. He saw a hidden file at the very bottom of the list. It was labeled Iteration 0.
Ren's eyes widened as he realized the truth. He told the group that Silas wasn't the administrator. He was just another prisoner. He explained that the real Archivist was someone they already knew.
Ren turned toward his future self. The older Ren was standing perfectly still with a strange smile on his face.
Ren asked the man who he really was.
The older Ren dropped his plasma pistol. His form began to shimmer and shift. The grey suit vanished and was replaced by a robe made of starlight. His face aged by thousands of years until he looked like a creature made of ancient wisdom and malice.
The creature told Ren that it had been a long time since anyone had reached the 100th iteration. It explained that the role of the Old Friend was its favorite part of the game. It admitted that it had been guiding Ren toward the moon because it needed a Sovereign to restart the engine.
Anya raised her blade and shouted that the man was a monster.
The creature flicked its finger and Anya was frozen in a block of stasis. Elara and the children were silenced by an invisible force.
The Archivist looked at Ren and Zero. It told them that the Harvest was not for Silas. It was for the Archivists to maintain their own immortality. It explained that a Sovereign's soul was the only fuel that could power their civilization for another thousand years.
Ren felt a cold pressure in his chest as the creature stepped closer.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Ultimate Quest Received: The Architect's End.
Objective: Kill the First Archivist.
Penalty: The End of Humanity.
Ren looked at his sister and saw a single tear fall from her silver visor. She whispered that she knew this would happen. She told Ren that there was only one way to kill a being of pure data.
She reached for the visor and began to peel it away from her face. She told Ren that he had to merge with her. She explained that two Sovereigns in one body would create a feedback loop that would destroy the entire lunar network.
Ren realized what she was saying. It was a suicide mission.
The Archivist laughed and said it was a noble sacrifice. It told them to go ahead and try. It claimed that no human mind could survive the merger of two Sovereign souls.
Ren looked at the Earth which was now half white. He looked at Anya who was frozen in time. He looked at the creature that had manipulated his entire life for a hundred years.
Ren reached out and grabbed his sister's hand. He didn't hesitate. He told the Archivist that he was right about one thing. He wasn't a human mind. He was a virus.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Sovereign Merger: Initiated.
Warning: Total Identity Dissolution in progress.