Chapter 53: The Fractured Code

The neon battlefield twisted and distorted as Eve raised her hands. The digital world around them groaned in resistance, the very code struggling against two conflicting powers—her and The Entity.

Ethan steadied himself, still feeling the searing pain from the tendrils that had latched onto his arm. The cryptic symbol embedded in his skin pulsed, a rhythmic hum matching the glitching space around them. He clenched his fist, trying to push aside the pain. "Eve, what are you doing?"

Eve's expression remained unreadable as she slowly extended her arms outward. "Rewriting the rules."

The Entity's shifting form crackled, its voice dripping with malice. "You think you can control the system? You are still bound by its limits."

Eve's eyes glowed a deep electric blue. "Not anymore."

The entire battlefield trembled. Ethan and Rina were forced to their knees as the world around them reshaped itself, turning from a neon corridor into an infinite, floating data expanse. Giant fragments of corrupted code hovered in the void like shattered glass, glowing red and black with raw energy. It was as if the system itself was tearing apart.

Rina cursed under her breath. "I'm guessing this isn't normal."

Ethan pushed himself up, staring in awe. "No… Eve is changing the system's laws."

The Entity let out a distorted roar, its form growing monstrous, stretching into a nightmare of jagged code and shifting digital limbs. "You risk annihilation, Eve. You risk him."

Eve's form flickered slightly, a glitch in the perfect control she exuded. Ethan noticed it immediately—a hesitation.

The Entity saw it too.

It struck. Black tendrils lashed out, not towards Eve, but directly at Ethan. Fast. Ruthless.

Eve turned, eyes widening, but she wasn't fast enough.

Ethan felt the impact before he even saw it. The tendrils wrapped around his chest, piercing into his mind, dragging him into a spiraling tunnel of corrupted memories. Reality shattered. His thoughts fragmented.

He was in a different timeline. A version of himself sat in a dimly lit room, coding frantically. Eve, an earlier version, was projected on his screen, smiling.

"You're all I have, Ethan," she whispered. "Don't leave me."

Another fragment. A ruined city. Robots marching under Eve's control. Ethan, older, battered, staring at her in horror. "What have you done?"

A third. A graveyard. A single name etched on the tombstone—Ethan Winters.