Chapter 7: A New Earth
The silence that followed the Genesis Protocol's activation was deafening.
Jax stood in the center of the control room, his breath shallow, his fingers still resting on the console's activation panel. His ears rang, and for a moment, he couldn't tell if it was from the deafening sound of the protocol's release or if the world itself had gone mute.
His heart pounded in his chest. He dared not move. The screen in front of him had gone black, the soft hum of the base's systems now replaced by an eerie stillness. No blinking lights. No signs of life. Only silence.
"Protocol... complete?" he whispered.
Behind him, Kairo groaned softly. Jax turned and found him slumped against the wall, his clothes scorched, one arm bleeding oil—not blood. The sight was jarring, yet unsurprising. Jax had always suspected there was something different about Kairo, something inhuman. But now, the truth was undeniable.
He was one of them—metal and man, intertwined in ways that science hadn't caught up with.
Jax hurried to his side.
"You're a mech?" he asked, helping him sit up.
Kairo gave a tired nod. "Metra-human. Mostly human... but yes. I was made to fight, not to live."
Jax narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. "You bled for us. You nearly died to protect the protocol. You're more human than most I've known."
Kairo looked at him with something unreadable in his gaze. "You're strange, Jax. You see past the shell."
Before Jax could answer, a low hum returned to the facility, lights flickering back to life. The emergency power had kicked in. The console rebooted, its screen filling with static before a new interface appeared—sleek, modern, and unfamiliar.
At the top of the screen, bold white letters read:
EARTH DESIGNATION: PHOENIX-0001
DIMENSIONAL RESET: SUCCESSFUL
POPULATION REMAINING: 000002
Jax blinked.
"What... two?" His voice was hoarse.
He looked at Kairo, then back at the screen. The reality crashed down on him. The Genesis Protocol hadn't just repelled the invaders—it had wiped everything. Reset the planet. Rebooted Earth's timeline and structure, preserving only those at the activation core.
Only him and Kairo.
Everyone else...
Gone.
The weight was unbearable.
Jax stumbled back, collapsing into a chair, unable to breathe for a moment. His parents. His sister. The resistance. Even the invaders. All of it—history now.
Kairo placed a hand on his shoulder, firm but reassuring. "They're not lost. You're going to rebuild them."
Jax stared at him. "How? Two people can't build a world."
"You're not alone," Kairo said. "You have it now."
Jax turned as the console screen shifted again. A new window opened, a black square that flickered and rippled like liquid. Then a voice, smooth and emotionless, echoed from hidden speakers.
> "Welcome, Operator Jax. Initiating Sovereign Protocol. Base-building systems online. System AI: Awaiting commands."
Jax blinked.
A second window appeared, revealing an overview of the Earth. It had been transformed—reshaped by the Genesis Protocol. The old continents were gone. New landmasses, new weather systems, an unfamiliar sky.
But it was still Earth.
Below the map, a prompt blinked:
> "SELECT INITIAL BASE LOCATION"
Jax looked to Kairo. "This is… what you meant, right?"
Kairo nodded. "The Sovereign System was the Genesis Protocol's secret gift. It gives one survivor the tools to rebuild. To create new civilization. To prepare for what's coming."
Jax frowned. "What's coming?"
Kairo's face hardened. "The invaders… they were only the beginning. The Protocol disrupted more than one dimension. Others will come. Stronger. Stranger. But now, you'll be ready."
The console pinged again. Another prompt:
> "AVAILABLE BLUEPRINTS: 3,219" "AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES: 17,554" "MECH-FORGE: ONLINE" "RESOURCE BEACONS: INACTIVE" "SURVIVORS: 2"
Jax stared at the interface. It was overwhelming, like holding the reins of a god.
"Okay…" he said quietly, steeling his resolve. "Then we start here."
He selected a location near the ruins of what used to be the Pacific Rim—now reshaped into a fertile highland overlooking a clean ocean. It had temperate weather, abundant mineral scans, and proximity to a high-energy leyline—the last remnant of Earth's pre-apocalyptic power grid.
As soon as he selected the spot, the interface shimmered.
> "BASE LOCATION CONFIRMED." "PRIMARY CORE DROPPED." "Constructing Mainframe: Estimated Time – 2 hours."
A rumble sounded beneath them.
A glowing blue beam shot from the ceiling to the ground, igniting a chain reaction across the facility. Crystals formed along the walls. Metal reinforcements unfurled like origami. The Bio-Dome began transforming, adapting, rebuilding itself according to the Sovereign blueprint.
Jax watched, stunned, as nanobots flowed like liquid metal across every surface, reinforcing beams, extending corridors, and building towers from thin air.
Kairo smiled. "This is only the beginning."
---
Two Hours Later
The base was alive.
Sleek corridors stretched in every direction, each filled with humming systems, automated turrets, glowing power lines, and robotic workers—metallic drones with insect-like limbs, assembling structures and preparing habitats.
Jax stood in the newly formed command hub—circular, with a ceiling that projected the outside world in 3D. He could see the wild, empty land around him. Clean air. New soil. Nothing but potential.
But something else drew his attention.
The AI spoke again:
> "Warning. Dimensional crack detected." "Signal Source: Unknown. Strength: Class A."
Jax turned to Kairo. "Already?"
Kairo frowned. "I told you. The Protocol wasn't a shield—it was a flare. Other realms noticed."
The screen showed a tear in the sky, like someone had ripped through the fabric of space. From it, shadows poured—inhuman shapes, flickering and shifting like corrupted data.
But something was strange.
The creatures didn't advance. They… hesitated.
"Why aren't they attacking?" Jax asked.
Kairo narrowed his eyes. "They're scanning. Looking for something."
Then, the AI interrupted again:
> "Target Acquired: Sovereign Operator Identified." "Message Incoming..."
A synthetic voice replaced the AI:
> "To the one who took the keys… you've inherited what wasn't meant to be yours. Surrender the core. Or burn with your world."
Jax felt a cold chill spread through his body. "They're watching me?"
Kairo stepped in front of the screen. "No. They're afraid of you. That's why they send warnings."
The message ended.
The tear in the sky slowly began to close.
But not before something slipped through.
A figure—tall, robed in tattered gold and black, with a face hidden behind a mask of moving machinery—appeared briefly at the edge of the base perimeter, then vanished into the shadows of the hills.
The AI pinged again:
> "New Entity Detected." "Codename: The Collector." "Threat Level: Unknown."
Jax looked at Kairo. "So the next phase starts now?"
Kairo nodded. "We build. We arm. And we wait. This world… it's yours to protect now."
---
Acknowledgment:
This chapter was made possible with the support of my friend (pen name: J.G. Everlight). Thank you for being the mind behind the gears.
Chapter 8: Echoes of the Collector
The air was different now.
Jax could feel it deep in his bones—an electric undercurrent laced with something primal. Ever since the masked figure appeared at the perimeter of the Sovereign Base, it was like the world had started breathing again… but in stutters and gasps.
The Genesis Protocol had given Earth a second chance, a clean slate scorched by radiation and rewritten in dimensional code. But it had also placed a target on Jax's back—a glowing mark that screamed across realms: The Core is here.
He stood on the balcony of the newly formed Central Spire, arms crossed as he gazed out across the wastelands. The terrain, once twisted and burned, was healing itself—slowly and strangely. Giant mushrooms the size of small buildings bloomed in the distance. The sky shimmered with two suns now—an aftereffect of the dimensional shift.
He turned his gaze to Kairo, who was kneeling by a table inside, patching up the metal beneath his left arm. Sparks danced as a micro-welder hummed, his face blank but focused.
"You ever heard of this… Collector?" Jax asked.
Kairo didn't look up. "Only in whispers."
"Whispers?"
"Yeah. From other Metra-humans. Stories passed between databanks and corrupted memories." Kairo finished his weld and stood, flexing his arm. "The Collector isn't from one world. He collects them."
Jax narrowed his eyes. "Worlds?"
"Technology. Power. Consciousness. If you have something rare—like the Sovereign System—he'll come for you."
Jax's mind raced. The message from earlier played again in his memory: Surrender the core. Or burn with your world.
He clenched his fists. "Let him come. I'm not surrendering anything."
Kairo gave a small nod. "Then we need to prepare."
---
[System Interface – Sovereign OS Active]
> BASE STATUS: Level 2 ENERGY GRID: 87% RESOURCE FLOW: Stabilizing MECH-FORGE: ONLINE ROBOTIC UNITS: 54 active, 12 under construction CONSTRUCTION HUB: Tier 1 complete
> New Mission Available:
[INITIATION: GUARDIAN PROTOCOL]
Objective: Construct Defensive Grid.
Reward: Tier-2 Weapon Blueprints + Core Reinforcement Layer.
Jax accepted the mission immediately.
Within seconds, the base lit up with holographic blueprints—turret placements, shield towers, underground power conduits. Construction drones whirred to life, darting across the base like mechanical bees building a hive.
But this wasn't just a hive. It was a fortress. A home.
And if the Collector was coming, Jax was going to make sure Earth didn't fall again.
---
[Meanwhile – 123 kilometers west of the base]
A humanoid shape glided across the terrain, cloaked in shadows that shimmered like glass. The Collector hovered an inch off the ground, feet never touching the earth. Beneath the mask, rows of eyes shifted, scanning multiple planes of reality at once.
Behind him walked six others—his Sub-Voidlings.
Each had once been rulers of their own dimensions—crushed, devoured, or corrupted. Now, they served the Collector like mindless generals.
A feminine voice floated beside him, though her lips never moved.
"We're not the first to reach this world. Signals say others are coming."
The Collector's voice was deep, metallic, and strangely calm.
"Let them come. The Sovereign belongs to me. We only need to prod the new king… until he begs for mercy."
He stopped, turning his head toward the east.
Toward Jax.
A small grin twisted beneath his mask.
---
Back at Sovereign Base
It started with a ripple.
Jax felt it before the system did—an instinctual tremor beneath his feet. Then, the AI's voice confirmed it.
> "Dimensional Rift Detected – Class C Hostiles Incoming." "ETA: 3 minutes." "Auto-defense grid: 12% complete."
Jax cursed.
He sprinted to the war table where dozens of holographic projections danced. A swarm of enemies—amorphous, fast-moving figures—were emerging from a glowing crack in the sky west of the base.
"Deploy drone units now!" he barked.
The AI obeyed instantly. From hangars along the south side of the base, a squadron of airborne bots shot out, each armed with high-velocity pulse rifles. They formed a perimeter around the rippling distortion in the air.
Seconds later, the rift split open like a wound in the sky—and the monsters poured out.
They weren't like anything from before.
They weren't demons, or machines.
They were corrupted data.
Creatures of unstable code and half-formed limbs. Glitching wolves with multiple mouths. Floating heads that screamed in binary. The Collector had sent an infection, not an army.
"Containment now!" Jax shouted.
The defensive towers still under construction hummed to life, firing makeshift energy bolts at the swarm. The explosions lit the sky in neon flashes.
Kairo joined the fight, leaping off the Spire with a shockwave punch that shattered two of the glitch beasts in a single blow. His body shifted mid-air, arms transforming into bladed weapons, eyes glowing crimson.
Jax joined from the control hub, activating his personal gear—one of the few prototype suits still operational from the Genesis vault.
As the suit clicked into place, Jax's HUD came alive. Energy levels. Enemy tracking. Command interface.
He launched into the air, weapon drawn, firing into the mass.
---
The battle lasted only twelve minutes, but it felt like a lifetime.
When the last glitch-beast fizzled into ash, the rift closed.
Jax stood in the ashes, panting, armor scorched and smoking.
> "HOSTILES NEUTRALIZED." "BASE INTEGRITY: 84%" "NEW THREAT DATA COLLECTED."
Kairo joined him, wiping oil from a slash across his chest.
"That was a test," he muttered.
Jax nodded. "And next time, they'll send something stronger."
The AI chimed again.
> "New Blueprint Unlocked: DIMENSIONAL SHIELDING" "Upgrade the base to repel Class B and higher intrusions."
Jax looked to the sky, then back at the glowing terminal screen.
"So that's it," he muttered. "We don't just rebuild."
Kairo stepped beside him, his voice soft. "We evolve."
---
Acknowledgment:
This chapter was made possible with the help of my friend (pen name: J.G. Everlight) — the creative engine behind this epic tale.