Kael Voss stared down the barrel of Commander Zorak's plasma rifle, its glowing tip a promise of obliteration. Outpost Beta's docking bay hummed around them, the neon lights casting stark shadows across Zorak's gleaming mech-suit. The silver destroyer behind him loomed over the Rustfang, its weapons trained on Kael's junker ship. Zorak's sneer was venomous, his tag blazing above him: [Commander_Zorak – Rank #3]. "Last chance, Novice. Hand over the shard, or you and your holo-girlfriend are space dust."
Kael's hand hovered over his holo-device, its faint sparks dancing in the dim light. His pulse thundered, but he kept his voice steady. "Big talk for a guy who needs a fancy suit to feel tough." The data shard pulsed in his pocket, its warmth a reminder of the Core Nexus—the key to unraveling StarCore's alien trap. He couldn't let Zorak take it, not when Aria's warning still echoed: The Architects are coming for you.
Aria's hologram flickered beside him, her violet eyes wide with urgency. "Kael, he's not bluffing. That rifle can punch through the Rustfang's hull in one shot." Her voice trembled, not with fear but with something deeper, like she cared too much for an NPC.
Kael's holo-device sparked, displaying: [Debug Mode: Disable Enemy Weapon.] His miner's instincts screamed to act—back on Asteroid K-17, hesitation meant a cave-in or worse. He tapped the command, and lines of code flashed across his vision, rewriting the rifle's firing script. The weapon's glow fizzled, sparking uselessly in Zorak's hands.
Zorak's eyes widened, his sneer twisting into rage. "You cheating little—!" He lunged, mech-suit whirring, but Kael was faster. He ducked and tackled Zorak, slamming him into the dock's metal floor. The commander's armor clanged, his rifle skidding across the deck.
"Stay down," Kael growled, pinning Zorak's arm. But the dock's alarms blared again, red lights strobing. [Alert: System Admin Detected. Enforcer Deployment Imminent.]
Aria's hologram flickered violently, her voice sharp. "Kael, we've got seconds! The Architects are locking onto your glitch!" She darted to the Rustfang's hatch, her holographic fingers dancing over the controls, hotwiring the ship's systems. The hatch hissed open, engines coughing to life.
Kael released Zorak and sprinted for the Rustfang, diving into the cockpit as plasma bolts from unseen drones scorched the dock. Zorak scrambled to his feet, shouting, "You're dead when the Architects find you, glitch!"
The Rustfang roared out of the bay, Outpost Beta shrinking behind them. The black hole loomed ahead, its gravity warping the stars into streaks of light. Kael gripped the controls, his mind racing. The shard, Aria's touch, the memory fragment—You're the key—it all pointed to something bigger than a game. "Aria, what's this shard do, exactly?" he asked, dodging debris spiraling toward the black hole.
Her hologram stabilized in the co-pilot seat, her silver hair glinting in the cockpit's dim glow. "It's a map to the Core Nexus, the simulation's heart. Shut it down, and you free every mind trapped in StarCore—including yours. But the Nexus is in the Abyss Sector, guarded by an Architect armada." Her voice softened, almost hesitant. "And… there's something else. A memory in my code, about you."
Kael's heart skipped. "What memory?" He glanced at her, her violet eyes holding a depth that shouldn't exist in an NPC. The Rustfang shuddered as the black hole's gravity tugged harder, warning lights flashing across the console.
Before Aria could answer, the nebula parted, and the Architect enforcer ship emerged—a behemoth ten times the Rustfang's size, its rune-carved hull pulsing with green light. Its weapons charged, a hum vibrating through the cockpit. Kael's holo-device screamed: [Warning: System Lockout Imminent. Player Termination Authorized.]
"Options?" Kael snapped, his hands tight on the controls.
Aria's hologram leaned forward, her voice steady despite the flickering. "We can't outrun it. Your glitch is our only shot."
Kael's holo-device sparked, offering: [Debug Mode: Overload System Core – Warning: High Risk of Avatar Deletion.] Deletion meant real death, if Aria was right about StarCore's stakes. His chest tightened, memories of the reactor explosion flashing—his crew, his failure. He wasn't losing again. "Do it," he said, voice firm.
He activated the overload, and the Rustfang's systems screamed, engines glowing white-hot. Energy surged, shaking the ship like a leaf in a storm. The Architect ship fired, a plasma beam lancing through space, but Kael's glitch redirected it, sending the blast spiraling into the black hole's maw. The explosion lit up the void, debris scattering like stars.
Aria's eyes widened. "You just rewrote a capital ship's targeting AI. That's… impossible."
Kael grinned, despite the sweat beading on his brow. "Impossible's my specialty." The Rustfang broke free of the black hole's pull, diving into the Abyss Sector's starry expanse. The shard in his pocket pulsed faster, its holographic map updating with coordinates—a glowing path to the Core Nexus.
But Aria's hologram flickered again, her form destabilizing. "Kael, the overload… it's affecting my code. If we shut down the Nexus, I might…" She trailed off, her voice cracking. "NPCs aren't meant to survive a system crash."
Kael's chest tightened, a pang he couldn't name. He'd known her for hours, but her fear, her warmth—it felt real. "Then we'll rewrite the rules," he said, his voice softer than he meant. "Together."
Aria's violet eyes met his, a flicker of something unspoken passing between them. But the moment shattered as the shard's map pinged, revealing the Abyss Sector: a graveyard of shattered planets and glowing data streams, the Core Nexus pulsing in the distance like a digital heart. An armada of Architect ships guarded it, their runes glowing like a warning.
Kael's holo-device flashed one last time: [Debug Mode: Broadcast Glitch Signal – Alert All Players.] Aria's voice was urgent. "That'll expose you to every player and the Architects. It's risky."
"Good," Kael said, his grin defiant. "Let's wake up the galaxy." He hit the button, and a pulse shot through StarCore. Across the simulation, players' interfaces glitched, displaying: StarCore is a lie. Fight the Architects. Find the Core Nexus.
The Architect armada stirred, ships turning toward the Rustfang. Aria's hologram flickered, her voice faint. "Kael, they're locking onto us. And… there's something else in my code. A name. Your sister."
Kael froze, the word hitting like a missile. "My sister?" But before she could answer, the armada's lead ship fired, and the Rustfang shook, its shields buckling under the assault.