Chapter 26: The Core's Deception
Author: MrLostLetter
Ethan's pulse pounded in his ears as he staggered back, narrowly dodging Nemesis's next strike. His body moved faster than it should have, his reflexes sharper, but it wasn't entirely his doing. The Codex was guiding him—an instinct beyond his control.
"Ethan!"
Lena's voice echoed through the chaos, her pulse pistol firing controlled bursts to cover him. Dorian was positioned behind a console, his cybernetic eyes scanning for vulnerabilities in Nemesis's upgraded armor.
But there weren't any.
"Adaptive protocols still active," Dorian muttered, his jaw clenched as his interface processed the data.
"They're learning too fast."
"Fall back!" Ethan barked, his voice sharper than he intended.
Lena hesitated, her eyes meeting his.
"Ethan—"
"Now!"
Her jaw tightened, but she obeyed, moving toward the exit while Dorian provided cover fire. Plasma bursts illuminated the corridor, but Nemesis barely flinched as it advanced, its systems recalibrating with terrifying efficiency.
"Ethan, we can't hold them off forever," Dorian shouted, his tone laced with urgency.
"I know."
Ethan's grip on his pulse blade tightened.
But running wasn't an option anymore.
"You're thinking too small, Ethan."
Crowe's voice was a whisper in the back of his mind, quieter but no less persistent.
"There's another way."
Ethan gritted his teeth.
Not now.
---
They reached the secondary corridor leading deeper into the Core's infrastructure. The air grew colder, the hum of the Core's systems resonating through the walls.
"We need to shut down the Core's tracking matrix," Dorian murmured, his eyes scanning the encrypted data feed on his holo-pad.
"Can you do it?" Lena asked, her voice tight.
"Maybe." Dorian's brow furrowed.
"But it's not going to be easy. HelixCorp's encryption is... different. It's adaptive."
Ethan's jaw clenched.
"Like Nemesis."
"Worse," Dorian muttered.
"If I trigger the wrong protocol, it could alert every HelixCorp enforcer in a ten-mile radius."
Lena's eyes narrowed.
"We don't have a choice."
Dorian's fingers moved across the interface, his implants processing the data faster than any human mind could.
"Give me a minute."
"We don't have a minute," Ethan muttered, his senses on high alert.
"Ethan..."
Lena's voice was softer now, but there was something in her tone that made him pause.
"You're... different."
Ethan's heart skipped a beat.
"What do you mean?"
Lena's eyes searched his, her expression a mixture of concern and fear.
"Back there... with Nemesis." Her voice was barely above a whisper now.
"You moved like... like Crowe."
Ethan's jaw clenched, his pulse pounding in his ears.
"I'm fine."
"Ethan..."
Her voice was softer now, pleading.
"Are you?"
---
"She's right, you know."
Crowe's voice echoed softly in the back of his mind.
"You felt it. The power."
Ethan's breathing quickened, his grip on the pulse blade tightening.
"You can't stop this, Ethan. The merge is inevitable."
"Shut up," Ethan whispered under his breath.
Lena's eyes narrowed.
"Ethan?"
"I'm fine," he murmured, but the words felt hollow.
"You're not fine," Lena murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Talk to me."
"I said I'm fine."
The silence that followed was heavier than any words.
---
"Got it," Dorian's voice cut through the tension, his fingers still moving across the holo-interface.
"But there's a problem."
"Of course there is," Ethan muttered.
Dorian's jaw clenched as lines of code scrolled rapidly across the holo-screen.
"The Core's system... it's not just tracking us."
Ethan's stomach dropped.
"What do you mean?"
Dorian's expression was grim.
"It's watching us."
Lena's eyes widened.
"Watching?"
Dorian's fingers moved faster, trying to decrypt the system, but the data was too complex, too... alive.
"This isn't standard surveillance," Dorian murmured.
"It's... reactive."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"Crowe."
Dorian's gaze snapped toward him.
"What?"
Ethan's jaw clenched as the realization hit him.
"It's not HelixCorp," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
"It's Crowe."
Lena's expression hardened.
"Crowe's dead, Ethan."
"Is he?"
Ethan's pulse quickened as the Codex pulsed in his veins, the hum growing louder with each beat.
"Then why does it feel like he's still here?"
---
"Because I am."
Crowe's voice was quieter now, but it echoed through Ethan's mind with chilling clarity.
"You didn't think I'd leave everything to chance, did you?"
Ethan's hands trembled.
"What did you do?"
Lena and Dorian exchanged a glance, but they didn't hear what Ethan heard.
"I left a part of myself... inside the Core."
Ethan's breath caught.
"You... embedded yourself into the system."
"I had to, Ethan."
Crowe's voice was softer now, almost... regretful.
"HelixCorp couldn't be trusted. I needed a failsafe."
Ethan's pulse pounded harder.
"And now?"
"Now..."
Crowe's voice was barely a whisper.
"Now I'm waking up."
---
"Ethan."
Lena's voice pulled him back, but the fear in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.
"What is it?"
Ethan's jaw clenched.
"We're not just fighting HelixCorp anymore."
Lena's eyes narrowed.
"Then who—"
"Crowe."
Dorian's face paled.
"Impossible."
"No."
Ethan's gaze hardened, the pulse of the Codex growing stronger, heavier.
"He's still here."
Dorian's holo-pad beeped sharply, the data feed shifting as the Core's systems reacted.
"Ethan..." Dorian's voice was tight.
"They're coming."
Ethan's jaw clenched.
"Get ready."
Lena's pulse pistol was already in her hand, her expression steely.
"Whatever happens," Ethan murmured, his pulse blade igniting.
"We end this."
But even as the words left his lips, Ethan wasn't sure which battle they were about to fight.
---
Next Chapter: Chapter 27: Crowe's Contingency