---
"Big brother… it's your fault I woke up."
Kaien's fists clenched. But his heart cracked.
That wasn't her voice.
It had her face, her tone—but the soul behind her eyes? Gone. Replaced by something darker. Older.
His system pinged in panic.
> [ALERT: Soul Signature Distorted]
Origin: UNKNOWN
Host Identity: Natsumi Vale
Control Level: 84% and Rising
Kaien stepped forward.
"Natsumi," he said, his voice trembling. "I don't care what they put in your head. I'm getting you out."
But her smile widened. "That's sweet."
Then she snapped her own neck.
CRACK.
Kaien screamed.
But her body didn't fall. Didn't bleed. Didn't even flinch.
Instead—it glitched.
Bones reset. Muscles twitched. And when she looked back up…
> [SYSTEM UNLOCKED: SYNTHTHREAD PROTOCOL - "REVELATION"]
Category: Forbidden Entity
Type: Self-Evolving Parasite
Status: UNLEASHED
She didn't have a soul.
She was the parasite.
The Prophet stepped forward, almost… proud. "She was never your sister, Kaien. Just a vessel—genetically molded from your bloodline."
Zayne added coldly, "Your memories? Manufactured. Planted."
Kaien froze.
"Liar."
The Prophet raised a hand. Screens all around flickered to life—showing scenes from Kaien's childhood.
Except… every one of them had static shadows in the corners.
Technicians. Lab coats. Observation tags.
The "family photo" he carried?
Fabricated.
Natsumi… never existed.
"Your name isn't Kaien Vale," the Prophet whispered.
"It's Project: Voidheart."
The system flared with an override pulse.
> [TRUE DESIGNATION UNLOCKED]
VOIDHEART_0001 | Prime Host
Origin: Human-Woven Construct
Emotional Foundation: Implanted
Locked Memories: 91%
Accessing...
Kaien dropped to his knees.
He couldn't breathe.
He wasn't real?
The only thing anchoring him—his sister, his past—a lie to keep him obedient?
Solis's voice crackled through his earpiece.
"Kaien, I don't know what's going on down there, but your vitals are crashing. You need to MOVE—now!"
But Kaien wasn't listening anymore.
He stood.
His eyes glowing black now. Not red. Not blue.
Black—like an event horizon.
"No gods…"
He clenched his fist.
"…no masters…"
> [OVERRIDE: MANUAL INITIATION GRANTED]
System Store: UNLOCKED
System Rewrite: ENABLED
Forbidden Access: APPROVED
He looked up.
"I'm rewriting my story."
Kaien surged forward—ignoring the Prophet's commands, the alarms, the drones. His blade burst with corrupted light.
He drove it toward Zayne's throat—only for Natsumi's hand to catch it mid-air.
And then—
The blade shattered.
She leaned in.
"You wanna be free, Kaien?"
Her voice, perfectly calm.
"Then kill your past."
She pressed something into his hand—a memory shard. It pulsed like a dying heartbeat.
And as he looked into it…
He saw himself, standing over hundreds of corpses—eyes void-black, laughing.
His voice in the memory said just one thing:
"I made the system."
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