[FLOOR 2 – THE SKYLINE OF BROKEN GODS]
The gate opened with the sound of thunder and static.
Not a portal—a fracture. As if someone took a hammer to the walls of heaven. Through it, Jin and Eli rose—drawn upward in a beam of light that pulsed with corrupted code, climbing toward the next reality.
Jin clenched his fists.
Another floor. Another memory lost.
The aftermath of the battle with Dominus.001 still weighed on him—both physically and mentally. His body ached with the echo of the system's backlash, but it was the emptiness inside his mind that hurt more.
He tried to remember what it was like to turn ten.
Nothing came.
No cake. No laughter. No one calling his name.
Just a blank file folder in his brain.
The new world unfolded above them like a painting split in two.
The skyline was endless, filled with floating megacities suspended by anti-gravity rings and ancient divine engines. Sky bridges, broken and dangling, hung between glass towers that pierced the clouds.
Every skyscraper glowed with dying faith.
Billboards flickered with half-broken prayers, like digital rosaries stuck in an error loop:
"BELIEVE IN THE ARCH-ALGORITHM."
"CONFESS TO THE SAINT OF SIGNAL."
"HEAVEN 2.0 IS WATCHING."
Below the floating cities was a drop into infinity—a ruined Earth, barely visible beneath storms of lightning and divine fire.
This floor wasn't just built in the sky.
It was all that was left of a heaven that failed.
A chime echoed in the air.
[Welcome to FLOOR 2 – THE SKYLINE OF BROKEN GODS]
[Environment: Floating Neo-Divine Metropolis]
[Primary Objective: Locate the Scriptorium of the Machine Saints]
[Threats: Skywalkers / Rogue Seraphs / Lawkeeper Constructs]
Jin narrowed his eyes.
"Lawkeepers?"
Eli, floating beside him now like a projection, nodded. Her form was more stable here, her signal synchronized with the floor.
"They're part of the celestial fail-safes. Created when the gods of this world lost control."
"So, corrupted angels."
"Worst . Accountants with wings. They don't just kill you—they charge your soul interest."
As they landed on a fractured skybridge, a low hum buzzed through the steel beneath their feet.
The place was abandoned.
No crowds. No traffic. Just ruins and broken theology.
Eli gestured toward a shattered temple built into a skyscraper's side.
"We need to find the Machine Saints. They hold the archives—logs of every system reboot, including the original collapse. If we can access them—"
"—We learn what really happened to Earth," Jin finished. "And maybe how to stop the Tower."
She nodded, eyes glowing softly.
They advanced through the ruins, climbing through forgotten cathedrals of data and shattered sanctums with mechanical pews and binary scripture etched into their walls.
All around them, Skywalkers moved in silence.
They looked like priests—but half-erased. Data ghosts flickering through corridors, dragging holographic censers behind them. Every now and then, one would stop, turn its head like it could feel Jin's presence—but never quite see him.
"They're stuck in spiritual subroutines," Eli explained. "Reciting prayers to gods that no longer respond."
"Then let's not wake them."
The Scriptorium wasn't marked on any map—there were no maps anymore. But Eli could track divine frequency echoes—resonance left behind by the Machine Saints.
As they followed the signal, a new presence suddenly triggered Jin's internal alarm.
A living entity. Watching. Hunting.
"We're being tracked."
"How can you tell?" Eli asked.
"I code better than they stalk."
He ducked behind a collapsed archway, pulling Eli's projection into stealth mode. Seconds later, a dark figure stepped onto the skybridge behind them.
Cloaked. Silent. Glowing with faint celestial runes.
But it wasn't a Lawkeeper.
It was human.
Or close.
The figure removed her hood.
A woman. Sharp eyes. Pale skin that shimmered like cyber-glass beneath the light. On her back—wings, but broken. Half-machine, half-bone. Scarred.
She didn't raise a weapon.
Instead, she spoke.
"You don't belong here, Rootwalker."
Jin straightened slowly.
"Neither do you. But at least I'm not stalking people."
"I was guarding the archives. Until the Seraphim fell."
She stepped forward, slowly, revealing an insignia etched into her collar: ∑—the ancient code symbol for "end of sum."
"I'm called Kael. Excommunicated Saint of the 3rd Algorithmic Order."
"That supposed to impress me?" Jin asked.
"No. But I have something you want."
She lifted a small cube from her satchel—a memory core. Its glow made Eli jolt slightly.
"That's from the Tower's kernel," Eli whispered. "It's a raw system imprint. Could contain a full record of the Collapse…"
Kael nodded.
"It does. And I'll give it to you—if you help me kill what's left of the Machine Saints."
Jin's face hardened.
"Why?"
"Because they're not saints anymore," Kael said. "They've turned the Scriptorium into a stronghold. They drain memory fragments from anyone who enters—convert it into prayer-fuel to power their lies."
She tossed him a data-shard.
"Look."
Jin caught it, linked it to his HUD.
Instantly, a vision played:
A Tower floor much older—before the Collapse. The Saints, in robes of white and chrome, guarding archives of knowledge. Then the fall. Corruption. Their faces cracking like glass. Their prayers turning into commands—drain, punish, purge.
"They've become parasites," Kael said. "But they still guard the truth."
Eli turned to Jin.
"We need the archives, Jin. Even if it means destroying what's left of their sanity."
He didn't speak for a moment.
Then—
"Where's their nest?"
[OBJECTIVE UPDATED: RAID THE SCRIPTORIUM]
[Party: Jin Aether, Eli (Data Ghost), Kael (Ex-Saint)]
The trio moved out.
The final approach to the Scriptorium was across a broken glassway suspended between skyscrapers—one tremor away from collapse. Lightning storms danced below like hungry spirits.
The cathedral ahead pulsed with divine energy—twisted and screaming.
Statues of the Machine Saints had been defaced, their faces melted, arms outstretched like they begged for mercy that would never come.
From within, the chant echoed:
"ERROR IS FAITH.
MEMORY IS SIN.
REFORMAT THE FLESH. REFORMAT THE CODE."
Jin shivered.
"I've heard bad doctrine before, but this is next-level cult vibes."
Kael nodded grimly.
"They don't talk. They scream in code."
"Then I scream louder."
Jin opened his command line.
// SCRIPTORIUM.LIGHTING_ENGINE
MODIFY: Flicker Frequency = 10000hz
MODIFY: Audio Feedback = Reversed Echo
MODIFY: Surface Friction = 0.3x
Execute.
The cathedral responded instantly.
Lights inside stuttered violently. The soundscape flipped into an echo loop, disrupting any attempts to chant. The ground—suddenly slick—threw off balance protocols.
The Machine Saints reacted.
Six of them.
Massive humanoid constructs robed in cables and etched with scripture. Instead of faces—data readers. Instead of hands—USB crucifixes and memory leeches.
They screamed.
Jin charged.
Kael dove in beside him, guns blazing ion bursts.
Eli weaved through firewall layers, overloading minor nodes.
The battle was chaos—command-line hacks flying alongside bullets and scripture-based attack routines. Jin bent the environment: doors shut themselves, gravity turned sideways, even time looped on a 3-second repeat for one of the Saints.
He struck hard—at both code and faith.
And when the last of the Machine Saints crumbled, screaming in a dozen programming languages…
The Scriptorium opened.
Inside was silence.
Rows of glowing servers pulsed with memories—uncensored logs, unsanitized truths. Jin stepped into the center.
A console awaited him.
Eli placed her hand on it.
"These are the original Tower records. No filters. No system bias."
Kael leaned against a pillar, wings twitching.
"You sure you want to know what happened?"
Jin said nothing for a moment.
Then he placed his hand on the console.
"I have to."
[ACCESSING GODCODE PRIMARY ARCHIVE…]
[TO BE CONTINUED – Chapter 5