The desert wind carried silence—a rare kind, the kind that comes after survival.
Kael woke to the taste of iron in his mouth. His coat, torn. Fingers blistered. The black thread around his wrist was dim, pulsing weakly like a dying heart.
He sat up slowly.
Kara was already awake, standing at the edge of the ruined cliff, arms crossed, scanning the horizon. No sign of drones. No shadows in the sky.
But they both knew it wouldn't last.
"How long was I out?" Kael asked.
"Six hours. Maybe less," she said, still facing away. "You were burning. Not from heat. From inside."
Kael coughed. "That's new."
"No. That's what happens when you pull time apart like it's string," Kara replied. She turned to him. Her face was tired, but steady. "You're pushing too far."
"I don't have a choice."
"Yes, you do. And every time you say that, something breaks."
Kael stood, wobbling slightly. "You stayed."
"Someone had to stop you from bleeding out."
"Still not trying to kill me, huh?"
Kara looked away, faint smile twitching. "Not today."
A low tone pinged from her Codex unit. She checked it—frowned.
"They've tagged this zone. Lockdown radius: twenty klicks."
Kael's jaw clenched. "How long before they sweep?"
"Hours. Maybe minutes."
Kael glanced at the thread. Still weak. Not enough for another jump. Not yet.
"We need shelter," Kara said. "I know a place."
He followed without arguing.
They moved fast, crossing the Wastelands under cover of storm clouds. Ash fell like whispers. No words. Just the weight of everything they'd lost.
They reached a tunnel carved into the side of a collapsed ridge. A dead railway. Metal twisted like it had screamed before breaking.
Kara led them inside, switching on a dim beacon. The glow cast long shadows on the broken walls.
"This used to be a transit station," she said. "Before the Codex wiped Zone Six."
Kael walked past a shattered vending unit, past graffiti that read REMEMBER WHO STOLE THE SUN.
He stopped at a rusted sign.
> Inbound Route: CORE // OUTBOUND: UNKNOWN
"How poetic," he muttered.
Kara sat near an old pillar. "You ever wonder what's out there?"
Kael raised an eyebrow. "You mean beyond the fringe?"
"No. Beyond the System. Beyond the rules."
Kael didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "I don't think there is a 'beyond' anymore. Just deeper prisons."
Kara looked at him. "Then maybe it's time we stop running and start breaking walls."
Kael chuckled once. "You're not the Observer I expected."
"I stopped being one the day I saw my brother overwritten."
Silence stretched between them.
Then a beep.
Kael's thread glowed—brighter. Steady.
> [Thread Stability: Restored.]
[Codex Signature: Intrusion Detected.]
Kael's face hardened. "They're here."
Kara grabbed her blade. "Then let's make this mean something."
But before they moved, the ground trembled.
Not from machines.
From beneath.
Something ancient was waking.
A voice—low, mechanical, layered with distortion—spoke through the static in their ears.
> "Null Factor… confirmed."
Kael's blood froze.
That voice wasn't from the System.
It was older.
> "Codex Error escalated to Phase Red.
Subject: Kael Veyron.
Directive: Retrieval—Dead or Alive."
Kara's visor flickered. "That's not a normal trace."
"It's not Codex."
Kael stepped forward.
"It's the Core."
From the shadows ahead, a shape emerged. Not a soldier. Not a drone.
But something worse.
A Reclaimer.
Once human. Now reprogrammed by the Core itself.
Kara's voice barely held together. "We need to run—now."
But Kael didn't move.
Instead, he smiled bitterly.
"They finally sent the past to collect its mistake."
The thread lit up again.
And Kael whispered:
> "Let's see what happens when a mistake fights back."
End of Chapter 4: Code of Rebellion