Hooves pounded against the broken asphalt, a living shadow weaving through the ruins of a forgotten city, breaking the eerie silence with its rhythmic beat. It duck down and hid under a small bluff.
Virginia Creeper, English Ivy, Wisteria, and countless smaller growths climbed and draped over the crumbling concrete roof, offering a momentary sanctuary. Small rays of sunlight pierced the canopy, casting dappled gold and green hues over the shadows tense, heaving form. Its ears twitched, body coiled, every muscle wired for survival.
A twig snapped.
The shadow exploded from cover, dodging and weaving through the thicket of bracken ferns, dandelions, birch, and elder trees popping up from the scars on the cracked concrete road like a ghost of the undergrowth. It zigzagged across, its hooves lightly striking concrete where nature had not yet won.
Black and gray boulders, shattered window frames, and twisted metal littered the old road. Rusted rebar stabbed upward from the debris, turning every step into a fight for life itself.
Yet, the liquid shadow glided through the skeletal remains of the city, untouched by the chaos of man’s forgotten empire.
An effortless leap carried it over the rubble, landing smoothly onto an old gravel trail. Rusted iron fences framed the path, leading into a dense, untamed forest. In the distance, an overgrown geodesic dome loomed, its fiberglass panels still intact, yet smothered in moss and strangled by vines. A relic of another era, that had had once cradled exotic life from every corner of the world.
The stag flew forward, muscles burning, heart hammering, freedom only a leap away!
click.
A rope snapped taut around its front legs, yanking the animal skyward, its world flipped upside down. It thrashed, kicking at the air as it swung beneath the canopy, bathed in a greenish glow where light filtered through the thick leaves of an ancient Oak tree.
A chorus of panicked chirps burst from the treetops, wings slicing through the light-dappled canopy as the forest’s as the mighty beast wobbled the leafy crown.
“Haha, I got it!”
A light, triumphant voice cut through the forest, followed by the soft tap of leather-bound feet moving quick and precise. The stag kicked, twisting violently, fighting the rope with every ounce of its strength, but its struggles only made it swing harder beneath the canopy.
A small, lean figure, swift as a cat, emerged from the undergrowth, her long black hair tightened into a ponytail. Her movements were effortless, calculated. As she got closer the stag lunged, antlers flashing toward her face, but she darted back without hesitation, unfazed, her knife already in motion, catching the dim green light as she stepped in.
One fluid motion she closed the gap, seized the stag’s head, and slit its throat.
A whisper, barely audible over the slowing breath:
“It’s okay, your fight is over, just relax and give in to the eternal dream”
She held the beautiful strong animal, arms wrapped around its trembling body, almost tender, cradling it as a mother would her child before putting it to sleep. The blood came slow and steady, pooling at her feet, going back into the earth.
-----
Pling.
The elevator doors slid open, revealing a vast underground expanse where rows upon rows of towering server stacks stretched into the distance, their blinking indicator lights flickering in rhythmic pulses like artificial constellations. The air was cold and sterile, carrying the faint metallic tang of ionized dust.
Unlike most of the facility, this floor was kept on its entirely own closed electrical system, using a small tokamak reactor powering everything from the binary servers to the quantum storage unit, air conditioning and cooling.
Overhead, thick bundles of insulated wiring ran in perfect alignment along the ceiling, branching out like the veins of an enormous digital organism. The sleek conduits glowed faintly at their junctions, forming a vast, circuit-board-like network that disappeared into the depths of the facility. Occasionally, a soft electronic hum rippled through the air, the very walls seeming to vibrate in response, as if the system itself was breathing.
The five men stepped into a small glass-enclosed antechamber, a buffer zone between the elevator and the gargantuan databanks beyond. A decontamination sluice hummed quietly beside them, its vented nozzles ready to mist intruders with sterilizing agents. The thick, glass-like wall separating them from the servers was reinforced with a faintly blue shimmer, likely some kind of electromagnetic shielding to prevent interference.
They were dressed in tightly fitted suits, at first glance resembling high-end wetsuits, though a closer look revealed a subtle texture of woven insulation and reactive fabric, designed for temperature regulation rather than moisture resistance. The fabric clung to their bodies, limiting loose folds that could generate static, an ever-present danger in a facility like this.
A monotone female voice echoed across the chamber, calm, sterile, and devoid of humanity.
Welcome to the EduNet Core – The central intelligence hub for Edu-4.
Please be advised that it is prohibited to bring any magnetic material into the server room. Furthermore, all personnel and guests must carry their ID tags visible at all times. Failure to do so may lead to severe bodily harm. The quantum area in the facility is restricted to all personnel without formal written authorization. Keep clear of all..."
"Shut up, you automated piece of shit,"
Lorien muttered, raising a compact 3D-printed device with an iron sight, aimed at the hidden ceiling speaker. A dull pop sounded as half a dozen aluminum pellets embedded themselves into the mesh grille.
The voice stuttered for a moment before resuming, its pitch slightly distorted:
Also, be advised that you must stay within the yellow lines at all..
"Arrh, for fuck''s sake."
Lorien sighed, grabbing two plastic chairs from under a nearby terminal, with his muscular arms he dragged one beneath the speaker. With a huff of frustration, he climbed up and began continuously stabbing with the second chair overhead, slamming its leg directly into the ceiling speaker.
A burst of static and shredded audio crackled through the chamber.
Scrrzt—the thssc quantum storage is maintainssc at an optimal temperatu—scchhh—of minus scchwohundred-zzzevencchythree degrees Celsiusszz. Proper sscrr protective equipmzzzz is mandacchory—ssccchhh—to avoid potential frzzozzctbite. zzzhailure to comply may resssulcchz in lossz of—sssccchhk—limb zzunction and deacchz.
Lorien went rampant, smashing the speaker with ferocious strength, each impact send out small sparks of electricity, punctuated by an audible grunt of annoyance.
"Mother—" smack
"Fucking—" smack
"Piece—" smack
"Of—" smack
“Ro—” smack
“botic—” smack
"Shit—" smack
"Shut—" smack
"The—" smack
"Fuck—" smack
"Up"—“ smack
"Bitch”! CRACK!
Each hit sent splinters of plastic flying, tiny shards of composite raining down, catching the glow of the server lights as they fell. The distorted voice warbled and stuttered, trying to complete its safety warnings, but finally—after thirty seconds of relentless destruction—the voice cut out entirely.
The only sound left was the faint ambient hum of the servers beyond and the heavy breathing of the muscular man standing on a transparent plastic chair.
Lorien exhaled, rubbing his forehead, small beads of sweat visible on his brow.
"Much better."
With a sigh, he lazily tossed the broken chair to the floor, climbed down, and collapsed into the other chair, panting, his head between his legs.
His companions couldn’t hold back their laughter, and for once, Lorien let his guard down, realizing just how stupid he must’ve looked, standing on a blue plastic chair, screaming and beating a speaker to death like some crazed technology hating caveman.
All five of them laughed briefly, a fleeting release of tension, before snapping back into focus as if nothing had happened.
"Let’s go, brothers!" Lorien declared, his booming voice cutting through the cold air.
In unison, they pulled on their frost resistant combat helmets, securing the hoses to the oxygen canisters strapped to their backs, the setup making them look less like intruders and more like a group of divers preparing for descent.
Bee had already begun hacking the Quantum Resonance scanner, to a point where the system would always return a positive check. He knew exactly how they worked, as he had been on the team that developed the software. Bee quickly got access and uploaded the new software, deleting the old. The whole ordeal taking no more than five minutes.
A tall, slim man stepped forward, approaching the decontamination sluice. Beside it, a type of scanner stood idle, its matte black screen waiting for input. He slung his duffel bag onto the conveyor belt before stepping inside the spherical chamber.
The transparent, half-spheroid door spun shut behind him, sealing with a soft mechanical hiss. A set of LED''s flickered red, followed by the sharp hiss of sterilizing gas flooding the small chamber. The sound echoed unnervingly in the enclosed space, a high-pitched whine that seemed to pierce through the walls.
Meanwhile the bags were being scanned for anything
A moment later, the lights flicked green.
"Decontamination process complete."
Another detached, synthetic voice announced from a speaker above. The sluice door unlocked with a low click, granting access to the vast underground expanse beyond.
One by one, they passed through the sluice and scanner, until they stood on the other side of the perimeter, deep within EduNet Core.
Lorien glanced up at a digital clock mounted above one of the seemingly infinite pathways, its red numbers glowing against the sterile white light of the facility.
No need to rush, he thought, then motioned for the others to follow.
They moved in combat intervals, rifles low but ready, eyes scanning the empty corridors. There was no reason to expect resistance here—this level was restricted to only a handful of engineers and scientists, the select few who kept the plant running.
But with the hub on high alert, it never hurt to be prepared.
-----
Demi hunkered down, pressing himself against the side of his own personal makeshift barricade, made out of a single steel table, his fingers flying over his device.
From his position near the elevator, he had to constantly decline requests for the lift to be brought back up from EduNet to the upper levels, ensuring it remained locked in place on that floor, preventing his team of getting flanked.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw his team with their larger collective barricade, where his brothers and sisters held the defensive perimeter, weapons raised, their sights trained on the projector lit hallway ahead, blinding anyone trying to make an offensive move. All the dufflebags had been emptied, weapons assembled and ready.
A voice shrieked through a megaphone, faintly echoing against the concrete walls, more room than actual dry sound.
"This is the Edu-4 special forces, surrender now! We have you completely surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"
Silence.
Then, from behind the barricade, a sharp, defiant voice cut through the air.
"Go fuck yourself, circuit worm!"
Laughter rippled through the barricade, a woman’s voice venomously echoed through the hallway a second after.
"Come and get us, you fucking pussies!"
They all knew what they’d signed up for. This was a fight to the death. One that they might just be able to win if they just focused and were lucky. They just had to hold the perimeter long enough for Lorien to complete his mission, and then in their minds eye, Edu-4 would be one step closer to experience true freedom, a worthy sacrifice.
The hallway fell completely silent again for a while, the brotherhood checked their gear one last time, they were as ready as the could be. Then, a quiet staccato rhythm began echoing out, like a horse trotting, followed by the sound of mechanical pistons rising louder and louder down through the hallway. Getting closer and closer, while picking up the pace. A sharp metallic scrape cut through the air, the unmistakable sound of metal raking against stone, faster now, the sound of something running at full speed. Something moved in the shadows ahead, a blur of shifting shapes, slowly coming into view of the mounted projectors. An eerie metallic looking exoskeleton of a creature about the size of a shepherd dog.
“Robots! Take defensive actions!” The battle-masters’ voice boomed out over the group.
A dozen members of the brotherhood quickly bolted forward to take cover behind the haphazardly assembled barricade comprised of everything the service level of the central hub had to offer. In the bottom, metal tables, office chairs and planters bound with barbed wire, made a near impenetrable wall. Above, everything wooden from storage cabinets and even a conference table were stacked on top of each other. The barricade extended nearly four meters vertically, and covered the hallway from side to side.
Each fighter gripped a crude metal spear, the tip glinting in the dim light, trailing a thick, insulated wire that snaked back toward the power unit standing firmly on the ground. The devices were ugly, makeshift things, that looked like someone had ripped a dozen fuse boxes of the walls, and placed them in the middle of the battle-zone. Two oversized cranks folded against their sides, now snapping outward like the unfurling limbs of some predatory insect. The wire and spear formed a deadly proboscis, making the whole thing look like a giant mosquito.
“Pump!”
The battle-masters’ voice rang out again and everyone was now either pumping or holding the spear.
The air crackled around the brotherhood. Excitement, adrenaline and electricity formed an atmospheric soup.
Demi, was still hunkered down near the elevator, tapping away, denying every request for the elevator to move.
“Prepare for fighting in 5!” the battle-master cried out. The sound of metal on stone grew louder
“4!, It’s dogs! Get ready!”
“3!” The sound of the joints of the robotic creatures became audible over the heavy breathing of people preparing for war.
“2!” Demi bit his teeth together, focusing on his task ahead, trying not to get distracted at the battle that was beginning less than 10 meters from him.
“1!”. “For freedom!” The brotherhood yelled, as the first metallic dogs came bolting through the hallway towards the barricade, their servos screaming as they leaped into the air, trying to traverse the barricade. Only to get stabbed with the long metal spears mid air.
A massive piezoelectric charge surged fourth in an explosion of plasma. An arc of supercharged particles blasted out, frying their circuits instantly.
“Get fucking pumping, more is coming!” The Battle-master called out.
The two dozen soldiers behind the barricades were already pumping all they could, sweat pouring of their skin, while the last dozen stood their ground, counting the seconds, as the rhythmic tramping of metal legs came bolting down the hallway yet again.
The next wave vaulted the barricade, twisting mid-air to avoid the spears, instantly adapting from the former attack, hydraulic limbs snapping into lethal position, servos shrieking with the force of their momentum. The first three were struck mid-air again as the spears thrusted skywards, while two were cut down the second they touched down inside the perimeter. plasma bolts tearing through synthetic flesh, circuits screaming as overloads detonated inside their frames. But the sixth made it through untouched, landing hard, only a meter or so from Demi, stabilizers kicking in as it unleashed hell.
A storm of machine-gun fire ripped through the three-man team that had failed to take it down, their bodies jerking violently as rounds punched through armor, muscle, and bone like wet paper. Blood sprayed against the barricade, their screams drowned out by the relentless roar of gunfire, then cut short as their bodies fell in torn, broken heaps.
A spearman standing nearby roared in fury, launching his weapon with an overhead throw, giving it everything he had. The spear piercing through the air, slamming into the base of the machine’s neck, making the machine stumble and lodging itself in place. But nothing happened.
"PUMP!" he roared in anger at the two stunned comrades beside him, snapping them back to reality.
They wrenched the cranks, hands fumbling as their adrenaline surged, barely gripping the sweat-slicked handles as they forced energy into the rod. A violent, uncontrolled arc of plasma leapt from the weapon, drilling into the machine’s spine just as it turned to let out another burst, frying its core in an instant. It spasmed once, legs locking up, then collapsed sideways into the spreading pool of shredded bodies and steaming wounds.
But the two men didn’t stop pumping. The spear fell from the limp robotic pile of metal as the motors relaxed, into the rapidly expanding iron-rich pool of servo-fluid and blood turning into a conduit.
The energy surged through it like a living thing, arcs of supercharged piezoelectric discharge dancing through the crimson pool. The water in the blood super-heated instantly, pressure building in milliseconds, vaporizing explosively.
The room erupted in a burst of gore.
Super-heated iron plasma and shredded organic matter detonated outward in a violent, chaotic spray, scorching everything in its path. The air filled with the sickening stench of burned flesh, the copper tang of liquefied blood hitting like a physical force.
The two nearby pumpers turned at the last second, just in time to take face full blast of self-inflicted friendly fire filled with their old friends remains, now turned plasma.
The iron plasma seared through flesh instantly, boiling eyes inside their sockets, skin peeling away in curling ribbons, nerves obliterated before pain could even register. Their bodies slumped backward, without ever getting the chance to scream, dead before they hit the ground.
The spearman had taken cover behind a metal desk and had thereby been spared the explosion. He ripped his weapon free from the floor, ending the reaction. The walls no longer white, but covered in crimson gore, slowly sliding down the formerly pristine marble. Breath ragged, chest heaving, staring at the smoldering corpses of the men beside him. His knuckles whitened around the handle. But the sound of mechanical movements no longer existed which gave a second of reprieve.
“Is that all you got you bureaucratic cock suckers?!” the battle-master bellowed triumphant.
But both the reprieve and excitement of battle, lasted only a breath.
The air felt thick, the smell of iron and charred flesh everywhere, blood dripping from the ceiling four meters above them. Yet what got the rest of the brotherhood to widen their eyes in uncontrollable fear was neither the smell, nor the visual input. It was the sound.
A sound of something whirring up, like a washing machine starting to centrifuge with a fistful of marbles inside it cut through the air like a guillotine.
“We surrender!” someone tried to cry out over the noise. But their desperate pleas either fell for deaf ears, or maybe they simple couldn’t hear them over the ear-shattering racket.
Then everything went completely still for a second. The silence deafening to everyone.
“TAKE COV—”
An enormous ray of supercharged particles blasted through the barricade, melting the iron and steel like plastic in a bonfire, annihilating everything in its path and drowning out the last words of the battle-master. The soldiers caught in the crossfire, were instantly deleted from reality, if they were lucky. While the unlucky were only strafed with the beam, cutting through them like they didn’t even exist. Limps and torsos removed. The wounds seared shut instantly from the extreme heat.
Screams rang out over the hallway, as the rain started to fall.
Not of rain of water and sweet relief, but of molten metallic office furniture blobs, that poured down of the resistance against tyranny, their fortification turned into a new circle of hell, where instant death was preferable to the slow agonizing death of raining metallic substances.
The blazing droplets came cascading down on them, a white-hot downpour that clung to fabric, armor and flesh. It melted its way through their defenses instantaneously. A few lucky one died immediately, reduced to twisted, blackened husks before they could even scream. Others writhed and convulsed, their skin sloughing away in molten sheets, nerve endings firing until there was nothing left to register the pain. A few and truly desperate turned their weapons on themselves, choosing a bullet through the head, rather than the agonizing death of raining metal.
“Stop!, STOP!” Demi cried, trying to deafen the sound of his partners in crime screaming out in agony. He had hidden behind the metal table set up to protect him from the fight. He alone was still unscathed behind his small one man fortification, he curled up into a fetal position and started crying. He could hear the screams die out as his friends died off and the footsteps of the armada slowly approaching.
A hand grabbed his collar, yanking him off the ground and electrocuted him. His world went dark, the last thing he saw was the giant hole in the elevator, the wire seared through. He had done his job, the brotherhood would prevail. He was sure of it.
-----
The room smelled of disinfectant, a sterile blend of antiseptic and recycled air, doing little to mask the underlying scent of sweat and stale linens. Soft beeps from the monitors punctuated the silence, tracking Lucien’s vitals with unrelenting precision.
Across from him, the doctor leaned back slightly in his chair, rubbing a hand over the short buzz-cut of his red hair, his brow furrowed as he tapped absentmindedly against his tablet. He looked young, mid-thirties at most, but impossible to pinpoint. Sharp green eyes betraying a mind already cycling through possible diagnoses in his mind’s eye. The stark white of his coat contrasted with his tired posture, the sleeves pushed up slightly, revealing lean, freckled forearms.
He let out a slow breath before speaking.
“So... You’re telling me you’ve been having continuous nightmares for four years?” His gaze shifted between Lucien and his mother, as if gauging how much of that information was new to her.
Lucien’s mother sat stiffly beside the hospital bed, her hands clasped together so tightly her knuckles had turned pale. She barely reacted as Lucien nodded.
“And these nightmares started shortly after you moved to Edu-4 for your education?”
Lucien hesitated before answering, glancing toward his mother. He had downplayed the details, leaving out the most disturbing elements, the feeling of something pressing into his mind, the whispers that bled into wakefulness. Yet, even with his vague explanation, she looked as if all the blood had drained from her face.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she finally managed, her voice barely above a whisper. “You could have talked to me about this. Maybe I could have helped you. I mean...”
Lucien sighed, rubbing his temples, feeling the faint ridge of stitches hidden beneath the gauze at the side of his head.
“Mom, there’s nothing you could have done. There’s nothing anyone can do, I think. But I have talked to Jan, and he has been a huge help. I need to feel like an adult mom, I’m nearly thirty. I’ve also talked to a somnologist and neuroscientist, that might be able to help”.
He caught himself before mentioning what they had planned, sparing her another breakdown, and sparing him the embarrassment of flushing at the thought of her.
“Or... I mean, she has helped me.” He forced a reassuring smile, though it felt hollow. “She gave me some advice I’m trying to follow.”
His mother exhaled sharply, a sound Lucien knew all too well, a mix of frustration and disappointment.
“Lucien,” she said, her tone laced with restrained anger. “You should have told me.”
Lucien lowered his gaze, swallowing back his irritation. She was right... She was always right, but that didn’t make the conversation any easier. His stomach twisted with frustration; a bubbling heat he knew wouldn’t lead anywhere productive.
“I know, Mom...” he muttered, voice flat. The words felt like a concession, something said just to end the conversation.
The doctor cleared his throat, cutting through the tension.
“Well,” he said, “I’ll be honest. Your head injury is my primary concern right now.” His tone had shifted, more clinical, though not unkind. He gestured vaguely to the side of Lucien’s head. “You suffered significant trauma when you collapsed. Your RFID port was shattered, which, unfortunately meant surgery.”
The way he said it was so monotone and carefree, Lucien nearly got angry at him. But, he didn’t say anything and his fingers instinctively traced the sore area behind his ear instead.
“We had to remove the fragments and replace it with a new unit.” The doctor paused, studying him for a beat, pointing at Luciens ear. “You’re lucky, honestly. If any of the pieces had been lodged deeper, we’d be having a very different conversation right now.”
Lucien nodded slowly, processing the weight of those words.
“So… I blacked out and just smashed my head into my table?”
The doctor’s brow knit together, his fingers tapping twice against his tablet.
“It wasn’t just a normal collapse,” he said carefully. “Your vitals were erratic when emergency services got to you. Severe elevated heart rate, muscle convulsions, resembling a seizure, though not quite textbook.”
Lucien’s stomach sank. He didn’t remember any of that, his mother paler than ever.
“You’re saying I had a seizure?”
“Not necessarily,” the doctor admitted. “But something triggered an extreme physiological response. Stress, maybe. Or something neurological.” He paused before adding, “I’m more concerned about what you experienced right before it happened.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Lucien glanced at his mother. She was already looking at him, her concern unmistakable.
The time dilation, space warping into impossible lengths. The voices speaking to him while awake, chanting. It had pressed into his mind like a living thing, whispering those words, he still felt the experience clearly in the back of his mind.
Lucien hesitated. If he told the doctor that, what would they do? Lock him up in observation? Prescribe something to sedate him further? No fucking way.
So, he swallowed the truth, carefully choosing his words.
“I don’t remember much, Jan left, and I went to get some coffee. Maybe I simply tripped...”
The doctor didn’t look convinced.
“Lucien,” his mother pressed.
He clenched his jaw. “I was just… stressed. Maybe Jan and I overdid it with the research.”
The doctor leaned forward slightly.
“What research?”
Lucien immediately regretted saying anything.
“Just eeh, some programming things for school.” He forced a small, dismissive shrug. “We’re experimenting with AI generated computer games.
The doctor exhaled through his nose but didn’t push further. Instead, he scrolled through his tablet, glancing over something before speaking.
“Look,” he said, “right now, I don’t want you worrying about that. Your body just went through a significant trauma, and regardless of what caused it, you need to rest. I’d suggest taking it easy for the next few weeks. No extreme stress, no strenuous work, and definitely no sleep deprivation.”
Lucien suppressed a bitter laugh at that last part.
“I’m serious,” the doctor continued. “Whatever this is, we need to monitor it. If the episodes continue, you need to come back immediately. Understood?”
Lucien nodded, though he wasn’t entirely sure if he meant it.
His mother reached for his hand, squeezing it tightly.
“Promise me, Lucien.”
He forced himself to meet her gaze. She looked so much older than he remembered, exhausted in a way that had nothing to do with age.
He sighed, his voice quieter. “I promise.”
They looked at each other, and knew there was no truth in the words.
-----
A small fire threw a soothing light into the evening. It wasn’t entirely dark yet. The sun hung low in the sky, its orange hews no longer carrying warmth.
The small, scattered clouds lit on in a wondrous display of pink, orange and gray, while the sky went from a light blue to a deep purple. The city was slowly coming to rest, the last rays of light gently filtered through the dilapidated ruins leaves.
Four people sat close together huddling for warmth on an old, rusted metal bench. They were laughing, telling stories about their day, and there plans for tomorrow, without a care in the world.
“We should return home soon”, a deep voice calmly announced after a moment of silence, looking at the retreating sunlight. “It’s getting dark”.
“Aw, come on dad, just a few minutes longer, just until twilight”.
Every evening had this tiny dispute.
“Elara, listen to your father. We don’t want to have this discussion every night. You know the night can be dangerous”. Her mother retorted with a sigh, picking her up and placing her arm under her legs as a chair.
“But it’s so unfair mom! Anara is allowed to go out on her own and hunt. I want to be a hunter too!”. Elara said, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she laid her head on her mother’s shoulder, slowly being bopped as she walked.
“I can do it you know; I’m a big girl now!”
“Anara is twenty years older than you Elera. You’ll get your own experiences soon enough. Putting you on your own path. But I do think it’s sweet that you want to be just like your older sister” she caressed her child''s chin, as she walked, the skin still warm from the small fire.
“You did good today Anara”. her father looked down on her fair blond hair, as they walked besides each other.
“I’m proud of you”. He re-positioned the stag on his shoulders with a small roll as he smiled to his oldest daughter.
“Thanks dad” she said with a smile, looking up at her brawny father. His full-grown beard and unkempt curly brown hair covered nearly his entire face hiding the wrinkles and scars from years of survival, gray streaks covered both his hair and beard.
“It was so cool! The trap worked far better than expected, I just had to startle the deer, and make it run into it.”. She laughed in excitement, playing the memory back inside her mind.
They all moved together two by two. Stepping over various small crevices and dodging over broad roots, that ran over the pavement.
The familiar voice of large granite slaps, covered by a thick layer of mulch told them that they would soon be home. Behind them, a straightened river ran slowly into the ocean only 2 kilometers to the east.
They were heading for an old red brick building in two stories. Its broad fa?ade looming ahead, broken windows covered with plywood to keep the elements out decorated the exterior. As they got to the building, they ducked in through what had once been the main entrance, now partly collapsed.
“There you go” their mother said, as she put down Elera with a sigh so she could roam, “home sweet home”.
They didn’t say anything for a short time as they waited for their father to cover up the entrance with a large piece of tarp to keep the worst moisture out, while Anara cranked up an old dynamo flashlight, extending a soft narrow beam of light into the dark old building, highlighting a wide stone staircase.
As they went up, rows upon rows of metallic bookcases extending in long rows to both sides came into vision. They were all completely empty, the rotten remains of books long since removed from the interior of the buildings. It wasn’t much but it was home.
The roof was still intact. Bror and Io had hauled scavenged solar panels from different other locations in the city. Making them able to both cook and have light if need be.
Anara ran over and flipped a switch turning on the light for an inner section of the building. The center of the library slowly blinked into existence, illuminated by a few jury-rigged bulbs running off old electric car batteries, wired through a makeshift inverter hidden behind the door of an out-of-function bathroom.
The floors, once polished stone, were now covered with woven rugs and animal pelts, insulation against the creeping cold.
In the farthest section of the library, where skylights still let in beams of sunlight during the day, Io had built a makeshift indoor garden, where she grew vegetables, herbs, and medicinal plants in salvaged containers.
Against the walls, old bookshelves had been repurposed—some acting as storage, others rearranged to form partial walls, giving each person a small, private sleeping space.
The beds were crafted from thick hides, stacked feather pillows, and layered blankets, either collected from hunts Bror and Io had carried out over the years, or from simply scavenging the old world.
“Athena, we’re home!” Elera yelled with excitement.
“Hello Elera, how lovely to see you again” Athena answered calmly as she appeared standing on a platform in the dim light thrown by the small LED lamps hanging from the ceiling.
“Did you have a good day?”
“Yes, Anara caught a stag today, it was so cool!” Elera said, excited as ever to see her best friend, except for her sister of course.
“I used the trap you taught me” Anara beamed with pride, looking at her age old friend. Athena tilted her head slightly, pausing just a little too long before responding.
“Well, I’ll be” Athena said with calculated enthusiasm.
“That sure i-i-s something. Hello Anara, Hello Io, and..” her face slowly moved across the room finally getting a visual of the last member “Hello Bror. How wonderful to seeee you too!” Athena made a small bow and remained motionless, her face settling into an idle expression.
“Good evening, Athena” Bror said, without looking up from his backpack. As he fished up a couple of toothbrushes, toothpaste and a bottle of fresh water. “Tell us a bedtime story would you”.
“I’d be delighted t-t-to. Now kids, what ki-ind of story do you want today?” She asked, her body and face twitching a little.
“I want to hear a story about space!” Elera exclaimed with excitement.
The whole family chuckled “Elera, that’s what you always say!”.
This was their private space, about 5,000 square meters of abandoned knowledge and silent halls. Yet they rarely used the rest of the building, only the entrance, the employee’s changing room where they kept their clothes, Io’s Garden under the large sunroof, and this central space.
After brushing her teeth and listening to a story about Saturn’s moon Titan. Bror got up and kissed his three girls. “I’ll go check the perimeter,” he said, looking at Io, who met his gaze with a soft smile and a nod.
Without another word, he turned and stepped through the barrier of light surrounding their small sanctuary, his silhouette vanishing into the darkness beyond.
Io shifted her focus back to the girls, looking knowingly at Anara “Come on, Elera, time for bed. Say goodnight to Anara and Athena.” Anara lifted her little sister with practiced ease, wrapping her in a tight embrace before pressing a playful smooch onto her cheek.
Elera giggled, hands moving sluggishly as she completed their secret handshake, her sleepy eyes barely keeping up with the motions.
“Goodnight, Athena!” she sang, voice thick with drowsiness as she waved.
“Goodnight, my little fr-friend,” Athena responded, her expression warm, though her attention had already shifted.
As Anara gave her sister to her mother, she felt the weight of Athena’s gaze linger on her, something almost calculating in the way she observed her.
“Are you ready to proceed?” There was something different in Athena’s voice, something close to curiosity.
Anara gave a slow nod, steadying herself before walking toward the old used bookshelves. Unlike most of the other bookshelves in the library. These were filled with knowledge. Rows upon rows of books, carefully placed behind a thin layer of plastic, protecting them from moisture.
Nestled between the dust and vast tomes, she pulled out an object that to an outsider might have seemed trivial, a simple mesh net, barely noticeable in the dim glow of the library.
Anara went and sat cross-legged on the thick bear hide rug, adjusting the net over her head with careful precision. The cool metal of its contact points pressed gently against her scalp, a familiar weight settling into place.
She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes as she shifted into position, hands resting loosely on her knees. She looked at Athena one last time before closing her eyes, focusing on the back of her eyelids with widened curiosity.
She could still hear the drips coming from somewhere far away, the gentle rustling of Io tucking Elera into bed. Bror’s distant movements outside barely registered, his careful steps crunching against loose gravel beyond the walls of the old library.
Even Athena remained, a silent presence in the background, her simulated form standing just beyond Anara’s closed eyelids, waiting.
But the more Anara focused inward, the more the physical world began to stretch and blur, its edges dissolving, losing weight. She let herself sink, slipping beneath the surface of her thoughts, not forcing the process but allowing it to happen naturally, the way a dream pulls you in when you stop resisting sleep.
Her breathing slowed, her body relaxing without letting go. Small sprites started appearing before her eyes, disappearing when she tried to focus on them. She began drawing mental images of simple shapes and forms.
Her fingertips twitched slightly against her knees, registering the fading sensation of rough fabric beneath them. The distant murmur of reality remained, but it no longer held dominance.
Instead, her mind turned toward the darkness behind her eyes, where shapes flickered at the edges of her perception, ghosts of monochrome shapes moved before her eyes, concepts slowly forming and dissolving before they could take shape.
She started simple with a two-dimensional rectangular surface and observed it float around as she moved her eyes from side to side, up and down, not intervening with her subconscious as it slowly morphed the width and length on it.
She gave it another dimension, and observed the simple cube, floating before her eyes. Her eyes flickered, letting in a miniscule touch of reality, making the effort kept her composure, using her conscious mind to lightly nudge herself on the right path, without letting it take over and break the descend.
The three-dimensional cube before her began twitching into more and more abstract shapes. Folding back into itself adding the fourth dimension to it. It morphed and moved extending its presence before her eyes. Creating the world of her desire before her eyes.
She let her focus go and allowed the world before her eyes to form naturally, without her hindering the evolution. Then, without warning, a sudden flicker of light rippled beneath her, a soft pulse traveling outward in an unseen wave, she recognized the sensation immediately, as she saw the strings were coming into focus.
A delicate web of connections wove itself into existence beneath her, each thread stretching into the infinite, shifting and coiling like a great, breathing entity. She floated loosely in the void balancing on the endless intersections of thoughts, memories, and subconscious whispers.
The vast, monochrome landscape of her dream plane unraveled before her, twisting and curling like the frayed remains of an ancient spiderweb, its strands barely touching, fragile yet impossibly vast.
She exhaled, steadying herself, allowing the space to become real without questioning it.
The plane began to flicker, the world slowly collapsing. Don’t focus on the illogical she thought to herself, as they took in another deep breath.
“Athena, I need your guidance” she said calmly, but audible in the world she had left behind, her voice temporarily rippling the fabric of what she observed.
Athena’s voice arrived without sound, the words forming not in the air, but within the dream itself. “How may I be of assistance?” Anara turned her head slightly, glancing toward her friends materialized form, no longer bound to the small projection pad back in the library.
“Walk with me.” They moved together through the endless, shifting threads, small constructs appearing and vanishing with each step—unformed fragments of thought, flickering images of things that never quite were.
Anara reached into the void, shaping another simple cube in her palm, its surface shifting with color in a 3×3 array, like the old plastic relic she had found years ago.
She turned it absentmindedly, allowing the six colors to spread into the world. Letting the sensation of color ground her, she no longer had to focus on it.
The unstable world before her shifting into perfect focus. “Great manipulation, Anara,” Athena’s voice cut through the distortion, neutral but firm. “You are close.”
She exhaled slowly in the conscious world, feeling the cool weight of the evening air fill her lungs, re-centering herself as the tremors in the dream plane settled, while simultaneously leaving her conscious behind.
Athena watched her carefully, though her expression never changed. “Now, create what we need.”
Anara didn’t think, she let the dream shape itself to the need. The space around them folded inward, shifting and condensing until, slowly, a door took form before her. It had no clear color, its faded, cracked paint peeling at the edges, its old wooden frame standing unsupported in the middle of nothingness.
It was a plain old door. There was nothing fancy about it other than the fact that it was standing in the vast void of Anara’s subconsciousness.
The flickering of concept subsided around them, until the exceptionally ordinary door remained. Athena observed it in silence before speaking again. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“You know I have to move forward,” Anara murmured, the answer already decided. “I need to wander the unified plane”.
Athena didn’t respond right away, but when she did, there was something almost hesitant in her words.
“You know I can’t go with you,” she reminded her with concern. “But I will wait here.”
Anara nodded once, fingers tightening slightly before she reached forward, gripping the handle and pushing the door open.
The moment it creaked inward, she was pulled through, a sudden momentum yanking her into the vast expanse beyond.
Purple strings stretched infinitely before her, weaving and unraveling in a silent current, some glowing faintly, others pulsing like a heartbeat.
She turned to glance behind her. Her own golden thread trailed into the void, tethering her to where she had come from.
But ahead, a thicker strand twisted through the space, alive with movement, pulsating like something waiting to be touched.
Anara observed the string for a while, it emanated a soft welcoming warmth in the otherwise stale void.
It seemed to pulsate with energy, while the other strings around her, hanged docile. She slowly reached out to touch the string.
Her finger slightly nudging it. A current of energy shot out and grabbed her arm, like a lasso tightening its grip around a target.
She tried to fight it, but the more she fought, the more time started to dilate, and she was ripped inwards through the string, that opened like a giant mouth swallowing her whole.
-----
The park east/southeast of Lucien’s apartment was bathed in golden light. The sun hung low in the sky, casting warm streams through the entire city, illuminating the gravel paths that lazily meandered through fields of wildflowers, legumes and trees. The air was still, save for the gentle rustling of leaves and the distant trickle of a fountain blending into the hum of the city beyond the trees. Lavender and jasmine filled the air with their soft fragrance, and ripe Victoria plums hung in small clusters, their deep purple skins catching the light.
As Lucien reached for a plum, a strange sensation tugged at the edge of his mind. A couple walked by with a stroller, the baby inside blabbering. It had been years since he had seen a baby and a stroller, and now here was an identical stroller, its Bordeaux fabric catching the rays of the Sun.
He turned, stepping onto a narrow dirt path carved by countless shortcut-seekers. Ducking beneath the low branch of an apple tree, sprouting small fruitlets.
He took a small leap over a ledge, dropping half a meter before landing in stride. Ready to move up a dried out swale on the other side of the decline.
“Hello.”
A light, calculated voice greeted him from a bench, half-hidden beneath the apple tree with low its branches lazily stretching over the path.
Lucien glanced at the speaker, she was a petite yet muscular woman, definitely a few years younger than him. Her eyes caught the veiled light, reflecting a deep blue color back at him. He nodded, hesitating.
“Eeh, hello yourself,” he murmured, still caught off guard by the unexpected greeting. He tried to smile, but it felt forced.
“Sorry, you eh, just startled me, I didn’t see you there” he added quickly, biting into the plum. Juice trickled down his chin, yet somehow, the fruit lacked flavor. She just kept looking at him, sort of expecting him to say something more. His brow furrowed. “Can I help you?”
“Well, I’d certainly hope so.” The woman’s tone remained playful as she stood up, yet there was an edge of seriousness beneath.
“I mean, you kind of dragged me directly into this.” She gestured widely, pointing at everything and nothing at once.
Lucien’s frown deepened. “What?”
She suddenly lurched toward him, too close, invading his private space until the delicate contours of her cheekbones and her rose colored lips nearly touching his chin.
She studied him, sniffed the air, her gaze flicking up and down his body. Then, with eyes wide and deep as a doe’s, she met his stare. Then, without hesitation, she shoved him backward."
“Hey!” Lucien barked, stumbling a step away, nearly tripping up the swale. “What the hell was that for?”
“Look at the clouds.”
Annoyed, he exhaled sharply, ready to argue. “What are you talking about... It’s sun-”
His words cut off.
The golden sunset vanished. Above him, thick, swirling clouds devoured the sky, plunging the world into a dim, eerie twilight. The warmth of the evening was gone, stolen away in an instant.
A sudden gust of wind rushed past, sending dry, brown leaves skittering across the ground.
Lucien shivered. Something felt wrong.
“Weird, huh?” The woman’s voice remained calm, but a hint of exasperation curled around her words. “Brown leaves. In the middle of summer. And your plum..” She pointed at his hand.
Lucien’s gaze dropped to his hands. His fingers clutched nothing.
His stomach lurched.
“The fuck is happening?” His breath came faster now, chest rising and falling in shallow bursts.
“It’s okay. Take a deep breath and relax,” she instructed, demonstrating as she lifted her hands beneath her chin, inhaling slowly. “Now, I’m going to tell you something, and you need to stay calm, okay?”
Lucien gave a stiff nod, focusing on his breathing, yet kept his guard up as this beautiful, yet batshit crazy bitch had just showed him for no reason. The wind had begun to settle.
“Alright.” She exhaled. “Here goes… You’re dreaming.” She spread her arms, motioning to their surroundings. “And this? This is your dream. “A slender finger pointed directly at him “A nice, calm one, exactly how I want it to be. But!” She paused, letting the words sink in. “I am not part of this dream.” Again, gesturing to the world “I’m here because you let me in, because you trapped me, and now, I need you to let me out again.”
Lucien recoiled. “What are you talking about, that doesn’t make any sense?!”
She let out a sharp breath, frustration creeping in. “What do you think I’m talking about? And how does this not make sense to you, your subconscious is completely open for anyone to enter, yet it’s very hard to leave. This is your dream. You need to let me out.”
Lucien shook his head. “Look, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I don’t want any part of it... I’m not dreaming.” He turned sharply and walked toward his apartment door.
“Wait! Just one question,” the woman called after him, her voice laced with urgency and a hint of despair. “And I promise, I’ll leave you alone.”
Lucien hesitated, glancing back.
She met his gaze. “Where are we right now?”
“What kind of question is that? We’re in the Northeastern second ring park” he scoffed, throwing out his arm in irritation.
The woman tilted her head. “Oh okay. And is your front door usually right next to the park?”
Lucien opened his mouth, then froze. Before him, his apartment building stood in the middle of the park, it had replaced a small kiosk dispensary that gave out ice cream and hot dogs.
His pulse hammered in his throat. His fingers twitched. The world around him darkened, the colors quickly fading into a lifeless monochrome. Thin wisps of static shot through the landscape, eliminated the structures around them, distorting the edges of reality like signal noise on an old television creeping in from the sides. His mind felt heavy, reality began to fade to black as his conscious mind slowly waking.
“Hey—hey! Relax!” The woman’s voice wavered slightly, as if she weren’t entirely sure how to handle the situation. Lucien was on the verge of self-induced panic. The landscape began crumbling further, the void of awakeness creeping through his dreamscape.
In desperation, the woman stepped forward, got on her toes and kissed him with a strong passion, placing her hands on his cheeks. The taste of strawberries ripped Lucien back to his dream, his conscious mind shut down by a hopeful, slightly pornographic fantasy.
“I need you to listen to me,” she pressed, releasing his lips, her tone shifting to something steadier. “Don’t try to figure this out right now. Just focus on what feels right. Look at the flowers, see how vibrant they are? Can you hear the birds? The tickling on your lips?” She smiled softly “Just focus on the sensations.”
Lucien swallowed hard. Slowly, the static faded. The colors and structures slowly returning to the world.
“That’s it,” she coaxed. Taking his hand “Breathe slowly. Observe. Notice the world. Just go with the flow.” She let go of him. Took a step back and observed him. With an accepting nod she sat down into a perfect lotus position and patted the grass beside her. “Come on. Sit with me.”
The warping lines dissipated, as the midday sun broke through the clouds, casting a warm glow over the glade, and the deep forest ahead. The world steadied, rooted itself once more.
Lucien exhaled, cautiously lowering himself onto the grass.
The woman smiled faintly. “Good job, and what a beautiful scenery.”
She leaned back on her hands, tilting her face toward the sunlight, the layers of animal skin pressing against the soft curves of her chest, accentuating her form beneath the rugged fabric “I’m Anara, by the way.”
-----
“Take cover!”.
The sound of automatic gunfire echoed in the endless underground facility. Only to be replaced with the constant hum of servers grinding away.
A black hooded brother in front of Lorien shot back, hitting the security guard in the chest twice, and his head ones. Killing him before he hit the ground.
Lorien looked up at the disabled robotic turrets, hanging idly from the ceiling, sending a quick thought to Demi. He hated to admit it, but that ugly gremlin looking fuck knew what he was doing.
“Okay brothers! This is the final push, right around the next corner is the human machine interface. We’re so close to our goal now”.
A sudden whirring of propellers tore through the air, fast and closing in.
"Oh shit! EMP grenade, NOW! Bee, cover the hardware!"
Bee yanked a thin metallic blanket from his pack, its surface shimmering like liquid graphene as he flung it wide. The thing fluttered for half a second before dropping over the equipment, instantly sealing around it like shrink-wrap. With a practiced motion, he tossed the shoulder bag into the center and rolled the whole thing tight.
Meanwhile another brother jammed his thumb into a pressure port on the grenade, arming it with a sharp mechanical click.
A high-pitched whine spiked upward, the core humming violently as a pulse of blue light shimmered across its surface. The drone swarm was almost on them.
Like a swarm of Enraged wasps, the drones ripped through the corridor. The first drone raced passed Lorien, calculating that the biggest threat amongst the intruders wasn’t their leader, but something else entirely. The grenade.
It slammed into the brother holding the EMP detonating on impact, leaving a crater of blood and gore where the head had been a second earlier. The grenade slipped from his hand as he fell lifeless to the floor, exploding a tenth of a second later, bathing the area in a sickly blue light for a split second.
“GET DOWN!” Lorien blared over the noise, throwing himself to the ground covering his head, as pieces of skull, three dozen drones and a mix of blood and brains came hurling through the air.
With propellers still roaring away from pure inertia, the drones crashed into the first available objects on their path, ripping into exposed flesh and clothing, or skittering across the hard polished light-gray stone floor with noisy audible clanks.
Just in front of Lorian, two of his best friends through the past five years were dead or dying.
One knelt upright on his knees, his hands weakly clutching at his throat, but it was useless. Blood spraying from the gaping hole where his neck used to be, painting the floor in front him in jagged scarlet lines.
The other had been pinned to the reinforced glass wall, several rotor blades buried deep in his torso. His skin hung in long, ragged strips, blood pouring in a steady stream from the wounds.
His breath rattled, shallow and wheezing, his muscles spasmed in a futile attempt to flee, the man too far gone to scream, too weak to fight.
Seeing red Lorien jumped to his feet, bolting down the corridor nearly before landing like a raging bull.
“Fucking bitches!” Lorien roared in a near nonhuman guttural scream, as he jumped to his feet, bolting down the corridor like a raging bull, with two pistols raised in front in of him in stretched arms. A modern gladiator filled with blood lust.
A single shot cracked through the main corridor, the bullet whipping through the cold air like a spear, finding its mark in the exposed face of a peeking security guard.
The man''s upper teeth shattered like glass, his mouth ripped apart in an explosion of bone and flesh. He collapsed backward, gargling on his own blood, hands clawing at the gaping hole where his jaw had once been.
Lorien continued his enraged charge, as returning gunfire rang out in front of him, multiple bullets lodging themselves into Lorien thick body armor. He grunted in pain as he fired his guns, one of his ribs clearly broken. Both his guns clicked, the last bullet slamming directly into the man’s skulls, killing him instantly.
Lorien slammed into the bullet-riddled corpse still standing, hoisting it up as a makeshift shield while charging the last security guard wielding a machine gun. The human shield absorbed the brunt of the gunfire, but stray rounds ripped through Lorien’s exposed legs, sending blinding spikes of pain through his nerves.
He hurled the mangled body forward just as the machine gun clicked empty. Losing balance, he stumbled on his shattered legs, collapsing into a rough roll across the floor. The corpse crashed into the guard, knocking him off balance and sending him stumbling backward, until he plunged through a glass pane into the operator room.
The guard scrambled to his feet, pointing his pistol at Lorien that laid sprawling on the blood covered floor.
A piece of sharpened rebar ripped the air just over Lorien head. Lodging itself in the last standing security guard with a loud crunch. The shot tore his torso apart, hurling him backwards, his remains just missing the control panel by half a meter.
Bee sprinted in, catching up to his fearless leader, who now lay on the floor, writhing in pain.
“Oh shit boss!” Bee stammered as he glided on his knees through Luciens blood, to hold his head up.
“Finish it!” Lorien blurted out, before going into a violent cough, spitting up blood. He pushed Bee away from him while pointing desperately at the terminal.
Bee got up slowly, then rushed to the console, tearing away the graphene-coated shield he had used to protect his backpack from the EMP blast, just moments before everything descended into carnage.
Before him, the quantum computer stood in eerie silence, a monolithic structure of polished alloy and intricate latticework, suspended within a vacuum-sealed chamber behind reinforced graphene-glass. Unlike the bulky, sprawling setups of the early 21st century, this model was sleek, compact—its golden cryogenic plates stacked like an inverted chandelier, humming with unseen energy. Superconducting cables coiled around its core in elegant spirals, pulsating faintly with the controlled chaos of quantum states shifting at unimaginable speeds. The chamber itself was pristine, lit only by the soft, ghostly glow of embedded diagnostics flickering across the smooth inner walls. At its base, an array of optical processors and cooling systems quietly expelled streams of hyper-cooled gas, ensuring the qubits remained trapped in their delicate dance between existence and oblivion.
He tore the backpack open, ripping the zipper off in the process, and pulled out a small hand-held device along with a near-perfect cube of smoky black material, its surface shifting subtly, as though light itself struggled to define its edges. It was unnervingly smooth, almost frictionless to the touch, and seemed to drink in the ambient glow of the failing emergency lights.
He opened the box with utmost care, and pulled out a long strand of what looked writhing Play-doh.
He pressed the doh into the crevice of the terminal. Its surface rippled like liquid mercury, shifting and molding itself to fit into the crevice with unnatural precision.
Bee took his handheld device and began vigorously typing away on his device as the living goo moved around inside the terminal, writhing into the locking mechanisms.
After what felt like ages, a firm click rang out from the terminal, and the lid became loose.
Bee clenched his jaw, forcing himself to block out the chaos around him. He yanked hard on the panel, ripping the metal cover free from its magnetic locks, covered in the writhing metallic material. Beneath it, the exposed wiring glowed faintly, security tracers pulsing like a slow heartbeat, a final line of defense against intruders. He had seconds. Maybe less.
Ignoring the flickering warnings, his fingers found the CatX cable, a high-density quantum-classical link designed to funnel petabytes of data per second—the city’s neural spine. The key to everything.
He hesitated, just for a breath, and turned his head.
Lorien lay sprawled on the blood-slicked floor, his breath shallow, eyes locked onto him. He blinked slowly, watching his friend work. A weak, knowing smile curved his lips, though no words came. Blood seeped from his ruined body, pooling beneath him, reflecting the distant skylights high above.
With a sharp click, Bee pressed the cable into his handheld device.
// Establishing QCI Handshake...
// WARNING: Unauthorized Access Attempt Detected.
// Quantum SecureTrust v5.8 Active – Certificate Challenge in Progress.
“Not for long” Bee muttered for himself.
He launched a forged QCC, spoofing a valid identity from within the QNP stack. The system hesitated, caught between rejecting the request and authenticating the deep-encrypted key. For a fraction of a second, it wavered.
That was all he needed.
// Access Granted – QCL Privileged Mode Engaged.
“GG no re, you piece of shit” He began to smile
The QSS Interpreter spun up, translating raw classical binary commands into executable QIS sequences. At this level, he wasn’t just interfacing with a computer he was hijacking the quantum cognition layer itself.
He bashed in the final sequences.
// Overwrite in Progress...
The system screamed in protest! Bees device flashing with a ton of errors, warnings and messages, he quickly filtered the results to critical errors.
// QNP ERROR: PROBABILIY WAVE COLLAPSE DETECTED
// CORE QUBIT STATE DETERIORATION – 67% STABLE
// ERROR CORRECTION SATURATION EXCEEDED
// SYSTEM FAILSAFE OVERRIDE ENGAGED
The lights flickered as the quantum mainframe struggled against him, its probability lattice fracturing under the weight of corrupted logic gates. The cooling system dumped cryogenic stabilizers, desperately trying to prevent decoherence, but Bee had already passed the threshold.
The QNP wasn’t just failing, it was forgetting itself.
Liquid helium started pouring out of the cooling tubes, instantly transforming into gas as it expanded into the chamber. The pressure in the vacuum chamber spiked, and even better the temperature rapidly started to rise. What had been a controlled low-pressure environment was now turning into a pressurized containment failure.
Cryogenic fog billowed around the quantum core as the rapid phase transition from liquid to gas robbed the system of its last vestiges of stability. Sensors blared:
// CRYOGENIC SYSTEM FAILURE – PRESSURE ESCALATION DETECTED
// CONTAINMENT BREACH IMMINENT
// EMERGENCY QUENCH ACTIVATED
The quantum core’s superconducting circuits—once maintained at near absolute zero, were now flooded with thermal noise, accelerating decoherence at an uncontrollable rate. The delicate qubits, previously entangled in precise superpositions, collapsed into chaotic probabilistic states, corrupting any meaningful computation.
Metal groaned under the expanding gas, condensation forming on the chamber’s inner walls before crystallizing into fragile frost. The internal pressure surged past safety thresholds, triggering the automatic emergency venting sequence.
Bee’s fingers flew across the interface, overriding the emergency venting sequence before it could release the expanding helium gas.
// EMERGENCY QUENCH OVERRIDE ENGAGED
// MANUAL CONTAINMENT LOCK INITIATED
// WARNING: PRESSURE RELIEF SYSTEM DISABLED
A warning siren erupted as the containment system fought against him, trying to force open the vents. But Bee had already hijacked the quantum-classical interface, locking down the safeties. The system wasn’t going to save itself.
Inside the vacuum chamber, helium gas continued to expand, compressing against the reinforced casing. The cryogenic fog thickened, obscuring the quantum core as frost formed in jagged veins along the metal.
CRITICAL PRESSURE ESCALATION – STRUCTURAL LIMIT APPROACHING
WARNING: QNP ERROR – QUANTUM CASCADE STABILIZATION IMPOSSIBLE
SUPERCONDUCTING FAILURE – SYSTEM DECOHERENCE IMMINENT
Bee clenched his jaw. He had seconds before the quantum brain crossed the point of no return. If the helium couldn’t escape, it would keep heating, forcing the superconducting circuits to quench, dumping all stored energy into the system in a catastrophic feedback loop.
The deep hum of the failing core resonated through the collapsing chamber, a vibration so intense it rattled the reinforced walls and sent hairline fractures through the thick glass panels. The emergency cooling systems had long since failed. The liquid helium, once carefully contained within the system’s delicate infrastructure flooded outward in a violent surge, expanding into a thick, rolling mist that consumed the room, behind the thermal insulating glass. The fog clung to every surface, tendrils of vapor swirling like ghostly veins in the flickering light of the failing displays.
A sharp metallic crack split through the air as the superconducting circuits, now pushed beyond their limit, finally gave way. One by one, they shattered, sending bursts of raw electrical discharge arcing through the dense mist. The control interfaces flickered wildly, warning displays flashing in meaningless, erratic sequences before fizzling into darkness. The once-sterile hum of precision-engineered systems was now a cacophony of groaning metal, screeching pressure seals, and the sharp, staccato bursts of components failing in rapid succession.
The vacuum chamber, designed to house the quantum mainframe in perfect isolation, no longer held any control over the system’s runaway decay. The internal pressures surged past critical levels, forcing apart the reinforced plating that had once contained the delicate infrastructure of the city’s most advanced computational engine. Rivets and bolts snapped free from their housings, propelled outward at deadly velocities, ricocheting off the walls in sharp, clattering impacts.
Bee tried connecting to his cloud storage, but found that he had been disconnected, as the servers began shutting down, cutting of any stored cloud information, that his RFID connected him too.
At the chamber’s core, the fusion reactor remained, its containment fields rapidly degrading as the finely tuned regulators that had kept it stable for decades, ceased to function. Without the quantum controls to balance its reactions, the reactor’s internal plasma began to churn unpredictably, its violent, barely contained energy seething just beneath the surface of its magnetic confinement. The oscillations grew stronger, pulses of raw heat pressing outward against the thinning walls of its containment vessel.
Then, the final barrier failed.
The rupture was instantaneous. The magnetic fields collapsed in a cascading failure, and in less than a millisecond, the plasma, hotter than the core of a star. erupted outward. The explosion didn’t spread in a blast wave but in a pure, radiant burst, a lance of nuclear fire spearing through every level of the EduNet Core, vaporizing steel, circuitry, and flesh alike.
Bee watched solemnly as the massive blinding light of nuclear holocaust came racing towards him at an alarming speed. Pride written all over his face.