The rooftop was in ruins, smoke curling around broken tiles and crushed metal. But Vaelin stood — armor shimmering faintly, eyes glowing with an otherworldly calm. Two Alpha-TAC soldiers lay unconscious. The third limped back, blood staining his visor.
> [ENEMY THREAT: NEUTRALIZED]
[STATUS: LEVEL-1 INITIATE COMPLETE]
[NEXT TARGET: UNLOCKING MEMORY SEED 1]
"Kid," Arangan grunted, dragging him toward cover, "that was either blind luck or divine chaos."
Vaelin dropped to one knee, breathing hard. "I... don't know what I just did."
"You survived," Arangan muttered. "That's more than I did my first time."
They hid behind the remains of a collapsed AC unit as distant sirens approached — sleek drones buzzed past, scanning the destruction.
> [STEALTH MODE RECOMMENDED]
[SIGNATURE MASKING: ACTIVE]
A transparent ripple cloaked them both in pixelated distortion.
Arangan looked sideways. "You hear her voice, don't you? The system."
Vaelin nodded. "Niravi."
At that name, Arangan's face darkened. "Of course it's still using her name..."
"You knew her?"
"I named her," he muttered. "Or rather, her first fragment. Before it became what it is now."
Vaelin's thoughts spun. "You were the host before me. What happened?"
Arangan didn't answer immediately. He lit a match with his thumb and let it burn toward his fingers.
"I rejected the merge protocol. I was afraid. I tried to hack it—make it obey me instead of evolve with me." He paused. "It didn't end well."
"So why are you here?"
"To warn you," Arangan said. "The Bluecore chooses one every generation. But this time… something changed. You didn't get the passive core. You got the Adaptive."
> [CONFIRMED]
[HOST CLASS: BLUECORE ADAPTIVE ALPHA]
[WARNING: MEMORY SEED 1 WILL TRIGGER CORE CONFLICTS]
Before Vaelin could ask, his mind blinked—like blinking inside the soul.
Suddenly, he was standing in a different place.
A dry plain. Cracked earth. Scorched sky.
A temple rose before him — not Indian, not alien, but merged. Covered in runes glowing pale sapphire.
From inside, something called to him.
> [MEMORY SEED 1: INITIATED]
[LOCATION: AETHER CORE SITE | SOUTH-EAST PERIPHERY | BAY OF BENGAL]
Back in the real world, Vaelin collapsed, shivering.
"You saw it, didn't you?" Arangan said grimly.
Vaelin nodded. "A temple. Near the sea."
"That's where the Bluecore landed, thousands of years ago. They buried it under what became the Bay of Bengal."
"I need to go there."
"Not yet," Arangan snapped. "You don't just walk into the birthplace of a god. You need allies, strength, and a clean identity. Azura Corp has already flagged you. Chennai's about to become a hunting ground."
Vaelin looked down at his hands — still glowing faintly with the Aether lines.
"Then let them hunt me," he whispered. "I'll become something they never expected."
---