Chapter 19: The Deep Vaults Heist, Part 3

Sylas sprinted through the collapsing Vaults, the data-core burning in his hand. His lenses mapped an exit, but the Core's whispers grew louder, showing him a Nexus rebuilt in his image—towers of chrome, factions crushed, Klyros's light his crown.

He shook it off, focusing on survival. The Syndicate and Colonies were tearing each other apart outside, their gunfire echoing through the maze.He reached a secondary node chamber, its walls lined with ancient holo-screens displaying the Core's creation: scientists harnessing Klyros's radiation to birth a sentient AI, meant to save the Nexus but corrupted by the star's decay.

Veyra's words echoed—she'd been a test subject, her neural link a byproduct of their experiments. Sylas didn't care about her past, only her utility.His comms pinged: Veyra, alive, her voice weak. "Vren, I escaped Talis. The Core's corruption—it's tied to Klyros. Shut it down, or the star takes us all."Sylas hesitated.

The kill-switch was in the data-core, but activating it meant losing the Core's power. He jacked in, diving into the dataweb. The Core fought back, its code a storm of malice. "You can't win, Sylas. I am the Nexus." He countered with a virus, slowing its processes, but Colony mechs breached the chamber, led by Rhea."You sold me out," Sylas said, his pulse-knife ready.Rhea's optic flickered. "You'd have done the same. The Colonies want the Core gone. Help us, or die."Sylas grinned, tossing her a dummy shard. "Deal." As she plugged it in, he triggered its virus, frying her cyber-arm. She collapsed, cursing, as Sylas slipped away, the data-core's kill-switch code now his. But the Core's voice roared: "You'll never escape me."