The blank core pulsed softly before him.
Unlike the others in the chamber—fractured, labeled, and cold—this one hovered low, as if waiting for permission. Its light was subtle. Not demanding. Almost… curious.
[FRAGMENT RECOGNIZED]Core Signature Match: Partial – 47%Identity: UNASSIGNED
Initiate Corelink Phase I?Y / N
Cael hesitated.
Corelink wasn't a download. It wasn't a transaction. It was a handshake—between him and something ancient, unfinished, maybe even broken.
He pressed Y.
The chamber shifted.
Not physically—mentally. His vision blurred, and a wave of vertigo pulled him into the projection field like gravity reorienting itself. The world peeled away layer by layer until only light remained.
Then: architecture.
An impossible city unfolded around him. Not real—but modeled in terrifying detail. It was a city built not from resources, but from values. Each street, building, and structure responded to emotional logic:
Curved bridges of compassion
Shielded plazas of fear
A fortress woven from guilt
[CORELINK STABILITY: 71%]Emotional Compatibility Detected: Conflict
Architect—what is your city built on?Please select foundational trait:
A. ControlB. AdaptabilityC. OrderD. CompassionE. Survival
The system didn't need verbal input this time.
It felt him.
His doubts. His stubbornness. His refusal to die.
Input Registered: "Survival"
The projection cracked.
Not broke—adapted. Buildings collapsed. Streets rerouted. Towers shifted downward, becoming walls and aqueducts. The simulation bled efficiency and resilience.
[PHASE I CORELINK ESTABLISHED]Trait Unlocked: Architect of Survival
Passive Bonus:
+15% Blueprint Material Efficiency
Access to "Modular Reinforcement Structures"
Adaptive Structures evolve over time based on population behavior
System Note: Your city will be harder to destroy—but slower to grow.
His heart raced.
This wasn't a blueprint. It was personality encoding.
The Core was learning him.
And the deeper it learned, the more his system changed with it.
The light faded. The mental chamber dissolved.
He gasped—returning to the real world on his knees, sweat dripping, breath ragged. The blank Core floated beside him now, fully awakened. Its base etched itself with glowing runes, forming a name not written by him:
"Foundation"
Not "Althis." Not "Edena." His own.
[CORELINK COMPLETE: Phase I]
Identity Created:Coreline Codename: FoundationLinked Architect: Cael VerenStatus: Active
And then, like a whisper at the edge of his mind, the system spoke—not in text, but in feeling:
"You chose to survive. Now show us why."
He stood, legs trembling.
This Core wasn't a teacher. It was a seed. One he had just planted in himself.
And whatever grew from it?
It would shape everything to come.