The transition wasn't smooth.
One moment, Ryn was falling through blinding light, Eva cradled in his arms. The next, he slammed into the steel floor of a corridor that seemed to stretch forever — no doors, no ceiling, only endless metal walls pulsing with a dull red glow.
> [You Have Entered: System Chain #001 – Memory Nexus]
> [Eva Sync Status: 41% Recovered]
She stirred slightly in his arms, but didn't wake.
Ryn took a shaky breath, setting her gently down beside the wall. "Hang on," he whispered. "We're not safe yet."
Then he stood.
The corridor responded to his movement. Segments of the wall shifted, forming angular glyphs that resembled chains—glowing with deep blue energy.
Suddenly:
> [System Lockdown Engaged]
The floor rippled beneath his feet. A countdown appeared, hovering in red digits.
> [00:59:59]
"Another trap," he muttered.
But the voice that echoed this time was not the system's.
It was his own.
> "Welcome to the Chain, Ryn."
He turned sharply.
A figure emerged from the wall, draped in the same clothes as him, but his eyes were cold, void of light, and a glowing blue chain wrapped around his arms like gauntlets.
> "I'm the part of you that never forgot."
Ryn's fists clenched. "Another reflection?"
The double shook his head. "No. I'm your anchor. Everything they tried to erase — every loss, every betrayal, every scream — I remember. And I'm here to stop you from waking Eva."
Ryn stepped forward, defiant. "Why?"
> "Because waking her means breaking the cycle. And if the cycle breaks, we burn."
Chains erupted from the walls.
---
They clashed.
Ryn dodged, ducked, rolled under a swipe of blue energy. His other self moved with uncanny precision, like every step was pre-programmed.
The chains lashed out.
One wrapped around Ryn's wrist — it didn't just bind; it pulled.
Suddenly, he wasn't in the corridor.
He was in his memory.
---
He stood in a lab. Cold. White. Sterile.
On a table: Claire.
Not sleeping. Not stable.
Dying.
Machines screamed warnings. Scientists argued.
One voice stood out — his.
> "She wasn't supposed to degrade this fast!"
Another voice, colder: "Her mind rejected the Eva Core. She's incompatible."
He reached for her, but couldn't touch her.
The memory blurred—
Then snapped.
Back in the corridor, he tore the chain off with a growl.
His double laughed. "You can't win. Every strike unlocks another memory. And you don't want to remember them all."
---
They fought again.
This time, Ryn used the pain. Every hit, every pull — he resisted not with denial, but acceptance.
> "Yes, I failed her," he shouted.
"Yes, I forgot her to survive."
"But I'm done surviving. I'm going to fix this."
The chains paused.
The copy tilted his head.
> "Even if it means destroying yourself?"
Ryn nodded. "If that's what it takes."
The copy smiled… then vanished into mist.
> [Memory Sync: 67% Complete]
> [Eva Status: Stabilized. Consciousness Pending.]
---
Ryn dropped to his knees, breathing hard. His mind reeled, but he was still himself.
He turned to Eva.
Her eyes were opening.
Silver-gray. Empty… then suddenly, filled with awareness.
> "Ryn…" she whispered.
> "You woke me."
He reached out, relieved. "Yeah. I—"
But she sat up before he could finish.
Her hand glowed.
> "I'm sorry," she said, "but I wasn't supposed to be awake yet."
---
The chains in the wall began to unravel.
Alarms screamed.
> [System Alert: Unauthorized Sync Detected]
> [Core Memory Leaks Imminent]
> [User 'Eva-0' marked as threat class: Omega]
Eva clutched her head. Her body flickered — glitching between young girl and machine goddess.
> "I remember too much," she gasped.
> "I wasn't just the Architect… I was the origin. They copied me to make the world."
Ryn tried to steady her. "Then take it back. You're not a weapon. You're not their tool."
She looked at him.
Tears in her eyes. Digital and human.
> "Then help me, Ryn. Help me finish what we started."
The countdown hit zero.
The corridor exploded in light.
---
They were no longer in a corridor.
They stood at the edge of a vast, broken city — half-machine, half-organic, floating in data space. In the center: a tower shaped like a helix, chained to the ground by glowing tendrils.
Eva stared at it.
> "That's where they control it all. The Cycle Core."
Ryn nodded.
No more running.
> [New Objective: Reach the Helix Tower.]
> [Warning: The System Will Resist.]
But for the first time, Ryn didn't care.
He had his memory. He had Eva.
He had a purpose.