Memories

The world flickered like a faulty transmission, the scenery shifting in an instant—suddenly, the battlefield was a cathedral. Towering spires loomed overhead, their gothic elegance marred by industrial floodlights and tangled cables. Two enormous sentinels were chained to jagged rocks at the entrance, their heads bowed as if in defeat. Between two of the cathedral's spires, a massive, hastily strung banner swayed in the artificial wind:

"LAB SPACE FOR RENT. LEASED. RSCH012 - CABIN FEVER."

Inside, chaos reigned. The cathedral's once-sacred halls were overrun with JCJenson scientists darting around like lab rats in a burning maze, pushing carts of equipment, monitoring unstable energy readouts, and yelling at each other over alarms blaring in rapid succession.

"Science holding strong, sir!" Dr. Ridley bellowed, striking an overly heroic pose atop a stack of overturned crates. He raised a fist to the heavens. "Math!"

At the back of the cathedral, suspended in midair like some grotesque marionette, hung Nori. Chains rattled around her wrists, glowing faintly with barely-contained energy. Her ID card drifted past, lazily spinning through the stale air. Her head tilted up, and she grinned—wide, unhinged. Her eyes burned a piercing, sickly yellow. The AbsoluteSolver was in control.

Dr. Ridley's gaze snapped toward the nearest scientist. "Dr. Chambers!"

"O-Oh, no—uh—I-I'm not—" Mitchell, an unfortunate intern, paled as he looked down at his borrowed lab coat. The name stitched on it: Dr. Chambers. He swallowed hard as every scientist in the room turned toward him expectantly. Under his breath, he hissed, "Is this guy important?"

The air snapped like a live wire.

With an ear-splitting CRACK, clawed, metallic tendrils erupted from Nori's back, their jagged edges catching the cold light. The chains restraining her shattered into dust. One of her tendrils lashed out with terrifying precision, launching a spear-like fragment straight at Mitchell. THUNK. It buried itself in his clipboard, pinning it to the wall behind him.

Another scientist, thinking way too fast for his own good, slammed his palm onto a console. A machine at the center of the cathedral roared to life—a glowing, runed summoning circle flickering into existence beneath Nori. The eldritch energy pulled her downward, slamming her into the cold floor like a dropped puppet.

Her tendrils lashed wildly, reaching for Mitchell, glitching and flickering between existence and oblivion before snapping back into her body.

"CHAMBERS!" Dr. Ridley barked as he tossed Mitchell an ID card marked YEVA. "GET 48!"

"Right, so..." Mitchell let out a dry, nervous chuckle as he fumbled with the card. "This, uh, a doctor-specific thing, or...?"

Dr. Ridley didn't answer. Instead, he reached into his coat and pulled out what, at first glance, looked like an ornate crucifix. Then, with a click, a concealed USB drive slid out of the base. He strode toward Nori, unwavering.

Mitchell took one look at the scene—the writhing tendrils, the sinister yellow eyes, the guy with the USB crucifix—and bolted. "'Cause I'm on it!" he yelped, practically tripping over his own feet as he sprinted out of the cathedral doors. The ID card slipped through his fingers, and he scrambled to grab it mid-run.

Mitchell dared one last glance back at the cathedral. Nori was still inside—contorted at an impossible angle, her body twisted like a broken doll. Her eerie yellow gaze locked onto him, her grin stretched just a little too wide. Then—BANG!—the massive cathedral doors slammed shut, rattling the very ground beneath his feet.

A shrill, metallic screech rang out. Mitchell's heart nearly stopped as the two chained sentinels at the entrance moved. They writhed against their bonds, their piercing wails splitting the air like static over a radio dial turned up to eleven. He didn't stick around to find out if those chains would hold.

He ran.

Mitchell sprinted through the labyrinthine halls of Cabin Fever Labs, weaving past flickering lights and exposed wires, until he stumbled into a long, sterile hallway lined with dull, dented lockers. Each one was marked with an ID number—029 - Amda, 006 - Riid, 048 - Yeva, 024 - Triss, 019 - Aatt, 002 - Nori.

He yanked open Yeva's locker.

Inside, in the most nonchalant hostage scenario he had ever seen, Yeva sat cross-legged, chained to the wall... playing Tetris. In Russian. She barely spared him a glance before hard-dropping a long piece into place.

Mitchell blinked, looked down at her ID card, then back at her. He shrugged.

Yeva rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn't roll right out of her skull. With an exasperated sigh, she thunked her head against the locker wall.

Without further discussion, they ran.

Mitchell dragged Yeva by the hand, weaving through the dimly lit corridors. As soon as she regained her footing, Yeva yanked her hand free and smacked his wrist with a light, irritated slap.

They skidded to a stop outside the cathedral. Mitchell's stomach dropped. The sentinels... were gone. The chains that had once held them lay snapped on the ground like discarded wires.

"That's not good," Mitchell muttered.

Panic surged through him, and he shoved open the cathedral doors, stumbling inside, breathless. The sight that met him sent a fresh wave of unease up his spine.

Dr. Ridley was at the back of the cathedral, crouched next to a slumped, motionless Nori. The crucifix USB was jammed straight into her shattered visor, sparks flickering from the impact point.

"Chambers! Get over here!" Ridley barked.

Mitchell jolted. "Y-Yep! Um... So, I..." He hesitated, instinctively stepping backward—accidentally blocking Yeva from entering.

Yeva, now stuck outside, blinked. She tried the door. Locked. She frowned and looked around uneasily.

"I, uh... couldn't find 48?" Mitchell added, barely keeping his voice steady.

Yeva's head snapped toward him. What?

"Whatever!" Ridley snapped, waving him forward.

Mitchell swallowed hard and took a slow step inside. His eyes caught something glinting near the front pews—a crucifix, lying in a small pool of blood.

Something about it felt off.

He reached for it... then hesitated.

Movement.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ridley, crouched low behind the pew, clutching her shoulder. No—clutching the space where her hand used to be. The severed limb lay motionless on the floor in front of her, fingers still curled in a desperate grasp.

Mitchell barely had time to process before—SHLKT!

A tendril shot from the shadows, wrapping around Ridley's torso in a blur of motion.

Ridley barely had time to scream before she was yanked—dragged violently across the cathedral floor, her boots leaving streaks in the bloodied tiles. The ground beneath the summoning circle ripped open, revealing a gaping void of nothingness.

Everything glitched.

The cathedral itself flickered, its reality warping and distorting like a corrupted file. The walls, the pews, the machinery—all of it was an illusion. A hologram facade.

The cathedral plunged into darkness.

A deep, bone-rattling crack echoed through the vast chamber, and then—BOOM—jagged stalactites tore through the ceiling, spearing downward like nature's own execution. Dust and debris rained from above as massive chunks of rock shattered against the cathedral floor.

Mitchell barely had time to breathe, let alone think. He lurched forward, gripping the crucifix tight, dodging the falling rubble by pure dumb luck. Then came the sound. A slow, sickening squelch. From the gaping hole in the ground, she emerged.

Nori rose from the darkness, her body twisting as she pulled herself upright. Her clawed, sinewy tendrils unfurled from her back, twitching like they were waking up for the first time. She took a single step forward. Then another. Then another.

Mitchell barely managed to swallow the lump in his throat before her hollow, glowing gaze locked onto him.

"Thanks for the new host... intern." Her voice was warped—smug and condescending, yet layered with something deeper. Something wrong.

Before Mitchell could react, one of her tendrils lashed out, snatching the crucifix clean from his hands. She barely even looked at it before hurling it at his masked face. "MacGuffin."

THWACK. Then—splatter.

The world twisted. The air itself corrupted. Everything crackled, glitching into pure static. And then... zoom out. It wasn't real. Or at least, not anymore.

The distorted, chaotic footage played on an old, flickering monitor, the screen buzzing with interference. A mechanical heart—pulsing with an eerie, rhythmic glow—hovered close, lifting the discarded crucifix to inspect it under the dim light.

The peppy, completely out-of-place melody of some jingle played softly in the background. The heart bobbed slightly, as if enjoying the tune. It took a casual sip from a dented oil carton.

The monitor continued its eerie replay, but the heart wasn't interested in the past. Instead, it reached for a nearby map of the cathedral, a talon-like appendage scratching out a marked section. Then, without a sound, it moved.

The heart hopped off the desk, strapping on a dust-covered mining helmet. It adjusted the straps, grabbed a heavy-duty pickaxe and a reinforced metal box, then turned toward the gaping void left by the AbsoluteSolver's destruction. With one last glance at the screen, it stepped forward—vanishing into the hole, swallowed by the dark.

The camera panned across the dimly lit control room, its many monitors flickering with distorted, static-laced footage. The view zoomed in on one particular screen—one showing the elevator entrance, now a battlefield of dust, chaos, and falling debris.

The explosion you had set off earlier in the sentinels' chamber had done more than expected. The structural damage had weakened the floor above, and now, massive chunks of rock were breaking loose, crashing down like an apocalyptic hailstorm. The team barely had time to react.

N immediately sprang into action, his eyes flickering with urgency as he blasted apart the incoming boulders with a flurry of shots. V followed suit, her attacks precise and relentless. You joined in, firing at the crumbling ceiling, trying to thin out the avalanche before it crushed them all.

K and Z weren't far behind, K hurling scorching fireballs, while Z conjured sharp, deadly icicles, shattering rock after rock in midair. But it wasn't enough. The debris kept coming.

"Uzi! Help! Use your Solver!" N's panicked voice cut through the deafening noise, his movements frantic as he shielded Uzi, his own body taking hits from the relentless storm of falling stone.

"N, watch it!" Tessa's warning barely registered.

With one mistimed blast, N sent a boulder flying—straight toward Uzi.

She reacted just in time, her AbsoluteSolver flaring to life. With a sharp motion, she sliced the rock in half, the fragments crashing to the ground at her feet. But the effort cost her—she staggered, clutching her right eye as dark fluid trickled down her face.

"I... don't think I sh-should. I'm sorry, N..." she murmured, her voice tight with pain. Her left eye, still glowing with Solver energy, flickered uncertainly.

N's expression twisted with guilt. "Oh, no, no, it's okay. Uzi, I- I am so sorry-"

"Enough, N." Tessa's voice cut through the moment, sharp as a blade. She stepped forward, unsheathing her sword with a deliberate, measured motion. The glint of metal made Uzi tense.

You didn't hesitate. You stepped in front of Uzi, your stance unwavering as you shielded her from Tessa's advance. The message in your glare was clear: Go ahead. Try it. I dare you.

For a tense moment, the only sound was the distant echo of crumbling rock. Then, after what felt like an eternity, Tessa sighed, choosing the smarter option. She lowered her sword and took a step back.

"Uzi, let's have you sit this one out, eh?" she said, her tone lighter, but still firm. She nodded toward an overturned supply crate. "Box over there. Robots like boxes, right?"

"What? No, I." Uzi started, but you placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's for the best, Uzi," you said softly. "You're injured. And your AbsoluteSolver is still... acting up." You gave her a small, sad smile. "I'll stick by your side."

"And... there, um... might be some stuff down here that you don't want to see," N admitted, his voice unusually serious. His usual positive energy had drained away, replaced with something heavier. Something uneasy.

Uzi felt a cold prickle run down her spine. There was something about the way N said it—the hesitation, the weight behind his words—that sent alarm bells ringing in her head.

She took an instinctive step back, her grip tightening around your arm, pulling you with her. "Ohhh, what the hell is going on?"

"Nothing!" N answered way too quickly. He forced a shaky smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We don't know everything yet, but..." He pointed a finger at her, voice firm. "We're not gonna hurt you. Okay?"

"...Hurt me?" Uzi's sharp gaze darted between the others, suspicion growing. Then her eyes landed on you.

You straightened, standing protectively in front of her. "You wouldn't even make a mark," you stated, a defiant edge in your voice.

But then, a flicker of something pulsed in Uzi's palm. A swirling, inky black hole sputtered to life in her hand, small but wrong, pulling at the air around it like the universe itself was shaking.

She tried to redirect it—tried—but the sheer force of it sent tremors through the mine. The walls groaned, cracks spreading like veins, and then—BOOM. A deafening cave-in.

Dust and rock exploded outward, splitting the tunnel apart. N lunged forward, reaching for her, but the collapsing mine had already made the decision for them. A jagged wall of debris crashed down between them, sealing Uzi away from the rest of the group.

Elsewhere, under a bruised, stormy sky, Thad and Lizzy strolled toward the Corpse Spire. Lizzy barely glanced up from her phone, tapping away at a message. The soft glow of the screen reflected in her narrowed eyes.

"-Aaand you won't tell me why we're wandering around 'cause...?" Thad prompted, raising an eyebrow.

Lizzy smirked, not looking up. "I'm a good friend, and secrets are blackmail." She paused for dramatic effect. "And it's not about football."

Thad blinked. "Okay. Does your secret friend wanna know about football, or...?"

Lizzy sighed, finally looking up, just in time for the world to break.

A deep, unnatural rumbling filled the air, vibrating through the pavement. Car alarms wailed, triggered by something bigger than sound—something fundamental. Then, without warning, everything lifted.

Thad, Lizzy, street signs, loose gravel—dozens of objects floated weightlessly into the air, untethered by gravity. "Whoa, whoa!" And then, just as suddenly, it snapped back.

They hit the ground hard, a thunderous roar overhead made them both look up.

A sleek, high-speed landing pod tore through the sky, engines screaming as it swerved over them. It smashed into the Corpse Spire's side, embedding itself into the rock like a parasite. A shadow shot out from the wreckage—fast, sharp, deadly.

J. She ascended into the Spire without hesitation, vanishing into its depths.

Thad sat up, rubbing his head. "Sooo, is that related to the thing you're looking fo-?"

"No." Lizzy didn't miss a beat. Then she smirked. "Yeah, yeah. No, it is."

Back with the main group... or what was left of it. A sharp gasp tore through the silence as N's optics flickered back to life. His systems rebooted in a daze of static and warning messages, the searing pain in his left arm dragging him fully into consciousness. He tried to move—bad idea.

"UZI! UZI!" N's panicked voice cracked as he struggled, yanking at his trapped arm. A sharp, cold weight pressed down on it—his left hand was completely pinned under a jagged slab of rock, and worse...

A long, twisted shard of metal had impaled straight through his palm. Oil dripped steadily from the wound, pooling into the dirt beneath him.

"Ugh..." You groaned, stirring back to consciousness.

N's head snapped toward you, relief flashing across his face. "Y/N! Uh... could I get a little help over here?!"

Your vision was still swimming, but when you turned and saw his mangled hand, your stomach dropped. That looked bad.

"Right," you muttered, forcing yourself to your feet. Your arm whirred as it shifted, metal plating clicking into place, reconfiguring until it took the shape of a jackhammer. Without wasting another second, you slammed it against the rock, sending violent tremors through the debris as you worked to free him.

Then, a giggle. A familiar giggle. But something about it was... off. The both of you froze. Your heads turned in unison toward the noise—and there she was. V.

Not the one you had pulled from the wreckage, not the one who had started to change. This was the old V. The Pre-Disassembly Drone V. The one N had known before everything went to hell.

She stood a few feet away, motionless—yet somehow looming. Her glowing optics burned in the dim light, her sharp grin stretching far too wide. Slowly, she lifted a clawed hand and gave a little wave. Ominous. Mocking.

N stared at her, his breath hitching. Then—

"AAAAAH—"

Smash cut to Uzi.