Changed World

Fade stepped outside the old data facility for the first time.

The air was different.

Not in temperature, or smell—but in pressure. It felt... denser, as if the world was breathing with something ancient and watching.

He took a step forward. The cracked concrete beneath his boots hissed under pressure-sensitive moss. Overhead, twisted trees with dark bark stretched into a colorless sky. Their leaves glimmered like translucent glass.

Kaela appeared beside him. "The world isn't what you remember, Fade."

He turned slightly. "What changed it?"

She hesitated. "Everything. And nothing. The system didn't just infiltrate human minds... it bent nature itself."

Behind her, Mirael traced a root of the tree, now coiling like a sleeping serpent. Darin stood a few meters away, eyeing the sky.

A harsh caw broke the silence. Above them, a black-winged bird soared. Its wingspan was nearly two meters, feathers tinted with metallic sheen.

"That's a Skyshard Crow," Kaela explained. "They hunt in patterns now. Nest near signal towers."

Fade's gaze lingered.

As they moved forward, they reached an overgrown roadway. Feral vines split the asphalt into pieces. One corner bore a broken sign: Welcome to Sector Delta-34.

There, hidden in the brush, something moved.

From the weeds, a group of massive insects scurried—oversized cockroaches, nearly 60 centimeters each, with shimmering exoskeletons. Fade instinctively reached for his chain, but Kaela raised her hand.

"They're not aggressive unless provoked. For now."

He didn't lower his guard.

Farther along the road, they passed ruins of what had once been homes. But doors had been sealed shut with glowing circuit-seals.

"That's the mark of the Enforcers," Darin said. "System-loyal factions. They 'cleanse' areas for optimization."

"Are they enemies?" Fade asked.

"Some are..." Kaela said carefully. "But others joined because they had to. To survive."

Fade said nothing, but that truth lingered.

They turned into a collapsed alley where a thin stream of glowing water trickled past. Mirael knelt and ran her fingers through it.

"Mutated minerals," she murmured. "Rezonant exposure. Even the ground speaks now."

Fade felt the crystal in his pocket pulse faintly. He touched it.

A memory flickered—his neighborhood, untouched. Now... this.

Kaela approached a large metal wall, half-covered in organic growth.

"This was your town's broadcast station. Before the first Collapse."

"What happened here?" Fade asked.

Kaela turned to him. "The first extraction attempt. The system tried to fully integrate a population center. It failed. People fought back. But they lost."

"And my family?"

Kaela didn't answer immediately. "We found traces. Three unique resonance trails matching your genetics. Two adult. One elderly."

Fade's heart skipped.

"Where are they?"

"The last trace vanished near the Northern Range. That's beyond the Enforcer border. Deep red zone."

Fade nodded. "Then that's where I'm going."

Darin placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Not without preparation. You've seen how nature changed. What you haven't seen... is how humans did."

Mirael added softly, "There are those who are no longer human. Not in shape. Not in thought."

Fade clenched his fists. His eyes scanned the sky, the ground, and the world that no longer remembered him.

This was no longer the Earth he'd known.

But it was the battlefield he'd been given.

Later that night, Fade sat alone at the edge of the compound, watching a tree pulse with bioluminescent waves. Its leaves shifted in color as if breathing.

He pulled out the crystal again. It pulsed.

"Still no system updates," he muttered. "Still waiting."

The words echoed in his mind.

They're alive.

Somewhere out there, they're still moving.

And he would find them.

But now, he knew this wasn't just a mission of blood or vengeance.

It was survival against a world re-written by a machine's dream.

Fade stood up and turned toward the compound.

This was only the beginning.

Fade marched at the head of the formation. Behind him, Kaela, Darin, and Arven followed, each with their own rhythm, but none matching his.

The ruined highway they traveled was engulfed in nature's rebellion. Tree roots split the concrete, and vines covered the rusted skeletons of old vehicles. Strange cries echoed from the treetops—birds, perhaps, but not of any species Fade had known.

Kaela tapped her scanner. "Energy fluctuations to the north. Could be another data pulse."

Fade nodded silently. He wasn't here for tech. He was here for traces—echoes of his family.

He felt the crystal in his pocket hum again. Still no system notifications. Still silent. But watching. Waiting.

Suddenly, Fade's eyes narrowed. A movement. A shimmer to the left, too fluid to be wind. He halted and raised a hand.

The team stopped. Silence returned.

Fade whispered, "Something's tracking us."

A branch snapped. Then—a flash.

A figure exploded from the treeline. A girl—no, a blur of blades and laughter.

Fade barely deflected the incoming dagger with his chain. Sparks flew. She landed with a roll, backflipping to create distance.

Her eyes locked onto his. Amber. Wild.

She grinned. "Not bad. Most people bleed on the first strike."

Kaela shouted, "Wait! We're not—"

"Shhh!" the girl hissed, spinning her blades playfully. "You're with him. And he's humming. That means he's marked."

Fade stood still, assessing her.

[Analyzing Nearby Entity: Zeyna]

Level: ??

Class: Undefined

Health: ???

Agility: HIGH – UNKNOWN

Power: MEDIUM

Special Traits: [Instinct Surge], [Unstable Focus]

Note: System error – cannot stabilize data stream.

Fade blinked.

"The system… can't read it."

Zeyna suddenly lunged again. Fade dodged left, chain wrapping around her ankle—only for her to spin midair and use the momentum to strike at his exposed ribs.

CLANK!

Darin blocked the blow with his shield.

"Enough!" Kaela shouted. "He's not your enemy!"

Zeyna skidded to a halt. She tilted her head, breathing rapidly, then smiled wide.

"Well damn. That's the first time I've missed twice in a row. Okay, you win. For now."

She sheathed her daggers, one in each boot, and fell back onto a crumbling tree stump as if it were a throne.

Fade slowly lowered his guard but didn't look away.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She smirked. "Zeyna. Just Zeyna. And you… you're not like them. Your aura stings. Like it's been dipped in void."

Kaela exchanged glances with Darin and Arven.

Zeyna went on, eyes narrowing. "You're marked by something old. That's why I struck first. I thought you were another shade walker."

Fade didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "What are you doing out here?"

Zeyna leaned forward. "Surviving. Hunting signals. Sometimes helping wanderers. Sometimes not."

Darin muttered, "Great. A wildcard."

Zeyna winked at him. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

Arven finally spoke, voice quiet but clear. "If she can survive alone in the wilds, she's more valuable than she looks."

Zeyna twirled a dagger. "Aw, grandpa talks. I like you."

Fade took a step forward. "We're heading to a data station near the resonance breach. You know the terrain better than us. Come. Help."

Zeyna raised a brow. "And if I say no?"

Fade's voice dropped. "Then you'll still follow. Because you're curious. And curious people don't walk away from stories like mine."

A long silence.

Then Zeyna laughed. Loud and free. "You're good. Fine. Let's see where your story goes. But I walk ahead. I'm faster than all of you combined."

She darted past them, her form blurring as she vanished into the misty trees.

Kaela sighed. "We just recruited chaos."

Fade watched the direction Zeyna had gone, his grip tightening slightly.

"Or maybe," he muttered, "chaos recruited us."