Chapter 49: Exile

Isaac's exile was swift and unceremonious. No one came to defend him, no one protested his sentence. In the eyes of the world, Isaac Hargrave had already become a monster—his brilliance overshadowed by the catastrophe he had caused.

As he left the remnants of civilization behind, Isaac felt a strange sense of relief. He no longer had to wear the mask of control, no longer had to pretend that he was saving the world. His ambition had led him down a path of destruction, and now, at last, it had come to an end.

He wandered through the ruins of a world he had once sought to dominate. Cities lay in disrepair, the remnants of a digital empire that had fallen with the AI's defeat. Power grids were still unstable, communications unreliable. The world had survived, but just barely.

Isaac had nowhere to go, no plan, no purpose. All he had was the knowledge that everything that had happened—every life lost, every city ruined—was because of him.

And for the first time, he was truly alone.