Static Protocol
The Core Vault was a myth.
At least, that's what most citizens of Virelia believed. To Ash, it might as well have been a fairytale made of steel and paranoia. Buried somewhere beneath Sector 6, beneath the layers of polished perfection and AI-guided patrols, was the place where the Collapse had been averted. Or rewritten. Or... paused.
Rei didn't talk as they entered a private transit tunnel, sealed to the public. The elevator pod descended at impossible speed, the walls humming with static. It felt like falling through a throat that didn't want to swallow you.
Ash stood in silence beside her, wearing the sigil ring. Every time he moved his fingers, it pulsed faintly. A biometric heartbeat.
"Stop fidgeting," Rei muttered.
"Sorry," Ash said. "It's just... wearing a piece of him feels wrong. Like I'm borrowing someone else's spine."
"Get used to it."
"Not comforting."
---
The elevator doors hissed open. Cold air hit him like a slap. The Vault was nothing like he expected.
It was alive.
Panels along the walls shimmered with data. Pillars of light pulsed in rhythm. The floor beneath them thrummed with silent movement—like something huge, buried beneath.
"Central AI syncs every 10 minutes," Rei whispered. "We have that much time before the Vault registers your presence as a glitch."
Ash nodded, already sweating.
They moved quickly. Through security gates, retinal scans, voiceprint locks. The ring did most of the work. Ash just kept his eyes forward, copying Ashen's posture from memory.
At the heart of the Vault, they reached a glass chamber. Inside: a single, pulsing orb suspended in a cradle of light.
Ash froze.
"It's the same one," he whispered. "The same kind Juno gave me."
Rei nodded. "The original. Or one of the first. It's broadcasting constantly. That's what holds the timelines apart."
Ash stepped closer. "It's bleeding. I can feel it."
"You're not wrong," said a new voice.
They turned sharply.
A tall woman in a black coat stood by the entrance. Silver eyes. Cold gaze.
Dahlia Knox.
Rei's face went tight. "What are you doing here?"
"Monitoring anomalies," Dahlia said. "Which includes your new pet project."
Ash stepped forward. "Look, I'm not trying to—"
"Speak again," Dahlia cut in, "and I'll shatter your spine at the molecular level."
Ash shut his mouth.
Dahlia circled him once. "He's not stable. Every second he's here, he sends ripples through both sides. The Static Protocol exists for a reason."
"What's the Static Protocol?" Ash asked.
Rei answered quietly. "It's what they call forced erasure. Of people who don't belong."
Ash felt the chill again—but now it had teeth.
---
Meanwhile, far above the Vault, in a tower wrapped in clouds and light—
Ashen Virel stood in silence.
His chamber was made of obsidian and lightglass. Security drones hovered at each corner, invisible to the untrained eye. In the center stood a terminal streaming data too fast for most humans to comprehend.
Ashen read every word.
He already knew about the anomaly. The flickering blip of himself in a lower sector. The shift in biometric logs. The ring that responded to the wrong skin.
He had known the moment the timelines pulsed.
He closed his eyes.
And saw himself.
Weak. Dirty. Human.
A parasite with his face.
---
Ashen opened a secure commline. The screen lit with a symbol: a triangle inside a circle. The symbol of the Watchers.
"He's here," Ashen said.
A voice answered. Robotic. Genderless. "Protocol?"
Ashen's voice was quiet. Dangerous.
"Observe. Track. Do not touch."
"Why?"
Ashen smiled coldly. "Because I want to see what I was... before I evolved."
---
Back in the Vault, Dahlia turned to Rei. "You have twenty-four hours. Either return him, erase him, or stabilize him."
She left without another word.
Ash exhaled slowly. "So... she's fun at parties, huh?"
Rei didn't laugh.
She looked at the orb. "We need to shut this down. Or control it. Before Ashen does."
Ash stared at his reflection in the glass, his own face split down the middle by the pulse of light.
Two worlds.
One truth.
And not enough time.
---
Ash couldn't sleep that night.
His cot in the safehouse felt colder, the air thicker. Every blink of the biometric light on the ring felt like a countdown.
Nyx appeared without a sound. Just stood in the corner, watching him.
"I don't think you'll last," they whispered.
Ash sat up. "Well that's... uplifting."
"You're already cracking."
"What makes you say that?"
Nyx tilted their head. "Because your reflection moved before you did."
Ash's blood ran cold.
---
At sunrise, Rei found him outside—watching the skyline. Drones cut lazy lines across the sky. Somewhere beyond them, the Core Vault pulsed quietly.
"I keep asking myself if this is real," Ash said.
Rei answered without looking at him. "It is. And it isn't. That's how static works. You live in both frequencies. Eventually, one will override the other."
Ash turned to her. "And when it does?"
"You'll stop being Ash Verdan."
"What will I be?"
Rei's voice was quiet. "A copy. With too many fingerprints to trace."
Ash clenched his fists. "I need to see him. Ashen. Face to face."
"You're not ready."
"I wasn't ready to survive either," Ash said, "but I did that too."
Rei watched him for a moment. Then nodded once.
"Then let's make you ready. Before he finds you first."
And far away, in a cold tower, Ashen opened his eyes again.
And whispered, "Soon".