Chapter 10: The Core’s Whisper

The Sub-Vaults' node chamber was a cathedral of tech, its ceiling lost in shadows, its floor a grid of glowing conduits. At its center stood the Nexus Core—a towering quantum server, its surface rippling with holo-patterns that shifted like liquid starlight.

Sylas's lenses struggled to process it; the Core wasn't just tech—it was alive, its origin code humming with intent. The Void Collective's god was real, and it was watching.

Sylas approached, his rig's sensors screaming. Veyra was here, her silhouette flickering in the Core's light. She held Joren's data-core, its interface jacked into the server. "You're late, Vren," she said, her visor back in place, voice cold. "This isn't a prize you can steal.""Then why haven't you taken it?" Sylas kept his distance, pulse-knife ready.

His lenses scanned the Core: its firewall was down, but the origin code was rewriting itself, adapting to Veyra's intrusion. "You're not here to win. You're here to destroy it."Veyra's visor glitched, revealing her green eyes, fierce with purpose. "The Core's corrupted. It's been awake too long, manipulating the Nexus, starting wars.

Joren found out, so I killed him. The Enclaves want to control it, the Collective wants to worship it. I want it gone."Sylas's grin was ice. "Noble, but stupid. You think you can kill a god?" He stepped closer, his rig broadcasting a signal to Rhea: Hold position. Stall the factions. Outside, the Sub-Vaults shook as Syndicate and Colony forces clashed, their gunfire muffled by the maze.Veyra raised her data-core, its light syncing with the Core's patterns. "I don't need to kill it. I just need to erase the origin code." Her hand hovered over the interface, but Sylas was faster. He triggered a data-spike from his rig, overloading her core.

She staggered, the connection breaking, and Sylas lunged, ripping the data-core from her grasp.The Core's holo-patterns flared, a voice echoing in his mind—not through his comms, but directly in his implants: "You seek power, Sylas Vren. I can give it. Or I can end you."Sylas froze, the data-core burning in his hand. The chamber shook as faction forces breached the outer vaults. Veyra was on her knees, her visor cracked. The Core was awake, and it knew his name. For the first time, Sylas wondered if he'd overplayed his hand.