Archives That Should've Stayed Buried

[Location: Nova Academy – Lower Archive Wing | 21:47 PM]

Night fell faster than usual.A thin fog once again blanketed the Nova Academy campus, creeping low across the corridors as corridor lights blinked on one by one—casting a pale yellow glow onto the steel walls.Everything felt quieter than usual, even though the security grid showed normal activity.

But in the lower archive wing, far beneath the student zones, a terminal pulsed gently in the dark.

A forgotten machine.Awake again.Waiting.

The protective metal panel slid open with a soft hiss.And out of the darkness stepped someone who didn't move like a trespasser—but like someone who knew exactly what they were looking for.

Deren.

Wearing his worn-out long coat, pillow tucked under one arm, eyes tired but sharp, he walked between ancient archive racks like someone strolling through old memories.No other cadet in sight. No night staff.Officially?This place didn't exist anymore.

"If they're using designs similar to mine... they must've accessed an old prototype," he murmured to himself.

He stopped in front of a dusty terminal.Etched above it: the old Astrelis insignia—a tri-branched tree with roots shaped like circuits.

Deren powered it up, typing in an override code that should've expired years ago.

Click.A green light blinked.System access granted.

His brow twitched.

"Still active...? This system was supposed to be dead five years ago."

Equal parts admiration and unease danced in his expression.It shouldn't have worked.But it did.

And that... was the problem.

[Cutaway – Location: Nova Academy Control Room | Same Time]

Ryn tapped rapidly at his terminal.

"There's a ping from the lower floor. A terminal flagged as decommissioned just came online."

Kael leaned over his shoulder.

"Maybe a tech forgot to shut it down?"

Ryn didn't answer.He zoomed in on the feed.

Deren's silhouette appeared in the dim light—half-hidden by shadows, but unmistakably him.

"He's in another restricted zone… again."

[Location: Archive Wing – Internal System Access]

Inside the archive chamber, Deren dug through old Astrelis data logs.Early Core research.But not about energy use.Not anymore.

This data focused on biological synchronization.How Core could connect—not with machines—but with the human nervous system.

One file unfolded.

"Project Integration – Generation N"

Deren's eyes narrowed.

"So they've been trying to fuse it from the beginning. Not to build tools... but people."

More images surfaced.

Experimental subjects.Most failed—bodies ruptured from internal energy surges.One man frozen mid-scream, veins glowing with overload before the panel crashed.Another: a blackened silhouette on a lab wall, the only remnant of a failed escape.

But then—something else.

A line of text at the bottom made Deren's hand pause mid-air.

"Prototype reused by independent party. Identity: unknown. Suspected off-grid activity."

He touched the screen gently.

The file bore a watermark—barely visible:

E0-L

His old Eidolon tag.

"This file... was mine. I backed it up years ago…"

"So either someone stole it... or—"He stopped."...I forgot I ever left it here."

[Location: Archive Hallway – Just Outside the Door]

Ryn stood silently behind the corner, breathing slow, fists clenched.

He didn't move. Didn't speak.

There was a growing urge to confront Deren. To ask him, Why here? Why now?But something stronger kept him rooted.

A quiet dread.

As if hearing the answer would change everything.

Deren… you're always where you're not supposed to be. And every time you show up... something big happens.Who are you, really?