They finally left the vault—but slowly. Selene guided Yuki toward Nexus Relay C, a facility hidden beneath the cracked spires of the Stone Forest.
Along the way, they met a survivor—not a prototype, not a hero. A man named Kael, who called himself a Custodian.
"I maintain the fragments," Kael said, pointing to the glitches in the terrain. "Keep the walls of this world from falling in. But even I can't stop what's coming."
He gave Yuki a warning:
"When the Cycle begins to name you—when it speaks your true code aloud—it means it's trying to write you back into the system. To control you."
They reached the outer gates of Relay C. Behind it, echoes whispered:
"Zeta. Reclaim. Reset."
Yuki felt something twist in his chest.
Synchronization Node Detected.
He turned to Selene. "No more running. Let's break it piece by piece."
And so, they stepped forward—slowly, ready for every memory and monster that would follow.