The sky bled red.
A storm churned over the Outer Fringe, lightning flickering across data-torn clouds. What used to be weather was now a symptom—of imbalance, of errors too deep to fix. Ever since the Rift Event, the world had never fully healed.
Kael Veyron stood at the edge of a broken comms tower, overlooking the Wastelands.
Ash fell like snow.
His coat flapped against the dry wind, the black thread coiled around his arm like it was nervous. The air was heavier here. Thinner. As if the world didn't want him breathing it.
But he did.
Because every breath was defiance.
Down below, a convoy of System Hunters rolled across the cracked highway—six vehicles, armored, painted in white and gold, like they represented some twisted form of purity. Drones hovered around them, scanning for anomalies.
Kael stayed still.
Watching.
Waiting.
The thread pulsed once.
> [Probability Scan: High Threat Detected.] [Codex Response Incoming.]
Kael frowned. "Already?"
They were faster this time.
A pulse of light cracked the sky.
He turned.
And saw it.
A figure descending from the clouds—graceful, slow, wrapped in a cloak of data fragments. She wasn't falling. She was arriving.
When she touched the ground, reality around her adjusted, as if welcoming her presence.
Kael recognized the uniform instantly.
> Observer Unit. Rank 02.
And for the first time in years, he hesitated.
The figure lifted her faceplate. She was young. Maybe twenty. Platinum hair tied in a tight braid. Eyes glowing faint blue—not from implants, but from raw connection to the System itself.
"You're hard to find," she said.
Kael didn't move. "Not hard enough, apparently."
She stepped closer, boots making no sound. "You're not supposed to be here, Kael Veyron."
"I'm aware."
"I'm not here to kill you."
"That's new."
She studied him—curious, cautious. "The Codex registered your existence as an error. But it couldn't erase you."
"That's because I'm not part of the Codex," Kael said, eyes narrowing. "I'm the part it can't compute."
She paused. "Do you know what you are?"
Kael looked down at the thread on his wrist.
"Yes."
"A Null Factor."
He nodded.
"The rest of the Observers think you're a threat."
Kael smirked. "They're not wrong."
"But I don't."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
She lowered her hand—and to Kael's surprise, deactivated her visor completely.
"Because I've seen what's coming," she said. "And it's not you we should be afraid of."
Kael studied her for a moment. "What's your name?"
She hesitated—then said, "Kara."
"Kara," he repeated. "That's a real name. Not a code."
"I wasn't born in the Core," she said. "My village was outside the System zones. I was tagged later."
Kael stepped back slightly. "Then why are you working for them?"
"I'm not," she said simply. "Not anymore."
Kael didn't answer right away.
He'd heard this before—lies, tricks. The System didn't send negotiators. It sent executioners in polite packaging.
Kara seemed to sense his thoughts.
"I've been watching you," she said. "Not just tracking. Observing. The Codex doesn't understand how you exist. But I think… I do."
Kael's voice dropped. "Then say it."
"You're not broken," Kara said. "You're outside. Like a string that never belonged to the weave."
"Then pull the string," Kael whispered, stepping closer. "Watch the whole tapestry fall."
She didn't flinch.
Instead, she asked, "What are you planning?"
Kael looked out over the convoy.
"They're hunting me because I'm an anomaly. But I think it's time I stop running."
"You want to start a war?"
Kael's eyes narrowed. "I want to start the truth."
The wind shifted.
The thread pulsed again.
> [Proximity Alert: Secondary Unit Approaching.]
Another figure appeared on the cliff behind them.
This one… was not human.
Its body was covered in obsidian armor—its face a smooth, reflective plate with a single vertical eye glowing violet. It moved with no sound, no breath, no mercy.
Kael's expression hardened.
"Culling Agent," he said darkly.
Kara swore under her breath. "They deployed one already?"
"They're not waiting anymore."
The agent lifted its hand. The air twisted.
Kael didn't hesitate.
He reached for the thread—and pulled.
Time bent.
The blast of anti-matter that should've vaporized them both instead turned into glass mid-air—shattering harmlessly against the rocks.
Kael dropped to one knee.
Blood ran from his eyes.
Kara caught him before he fell. "You can't keep doing this."
"I have to," Kael hissed. "If I don't control the thread… it controls me."
The agent surged forward.
Kara moved faster than any human could—blades of light forming in her hands, clashing with the agent in a burst of sparks and digital distortion. Kael forced himself to stand, the world tilting around him.
> [ERROR: Null Factor Breach Detected.] [Response Escalation Authorized.]
The sky above turned black.
Kael stared at it, breath slowing.
This wasn't a fight anymore.
This was the beginning of collapse.
When it was over, the agent was gone—burned out from Kara's counterattack and Kael's final rejection.
The cliff was in ruins.
But they were still alive.
Kara sat beside him as night fell, the stars above flickering like broken code.
"You can't do this alone," she said softly.
"I've always been alone."
"You don't have to be."
Kael looked at her. And for the first time in a long time… didn't feel hunted. He felt seen.
The thread curled gently around his fingers.
A whisper from the System echoed faintly in the static.
> [Null Factor Identified.
Coexistence Probability:
Unknown.]
Kael stood.
"If this world won't make room for me," he said.
"I'll make one myself."
And this time…
He wouldn't do it alone.
Ending chapter 3 : The Observer and the Outlaw