CHAPTER 11: "SECTOR ZERO: THE FIRST BREATH OF THE CITY"
Kael's POV
The path to Sector Zero wasn't a path at all.
It was a descent.
A spiral into the oldest wounds Neon Haven ever carved into itself.
Lira and I walked through a tunnel slanted so steeply downward that the neon glow from above disappeared step by step, swallowed by a darkness that felt… ancient. Dust shifted under our boots. Rusted pipes vibrated with the low hum of forgotten machinery.
Nobody had been here for decades.
Maybe centuries.
"This is the original foundation," Lira whispered, adjusting the brightness on her visor. "Before Neon Haven… before the districts… before the Council."
"So this is where the city was born?" I asked.
She nodded. "And maybe where it learned to lie."
We pushed deeper, the air growing colder. My armor lights dimmed automatically, adapting to the environment. Lira's tech suit displayed holographic readings, mapping structures older than any blueprint she'd ever seen.
A feeling tugged at the back of my mind.
A memory? A warning?
Or Elyndor's shadow again.
"Kael," Lira said softly, "your pulse is rising."
"Just nerves," I lied.
The truth was, I felt something below us… a vibration syncing with my heartbeat. Like the ground recognized me.
After fifty more meters of descent, the tunnel opened into a massive cavern—so vast it swallowed our footsteps. A colossal circular chamber stretched before us, lit dimly by pale blue rings embedded into the walls.
Lira inhaled sharply. "This… this architecture wasn't built by the settlers."
I frowned. "Then who?"
She stepped forward, scanning the walls. "Whoever built this… they were far beyond even today's tech."
"So older than all recorded history?"
She nodded once. "And Kael… there's something else."
She pointed to the largest structure in the chamber.
A pillar the size of a skyscraper, covered in metallic engravings.
At its base, glowing faintly…
A symbol.
The same symbol burned into the hilt of my blade.
I froze.
"Lira… why is my mark down here?"
She didn't answer.
Because she couldn't.
Before we could process it, a low mechanical groan echoed through the chamber. The ground vibrated. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Then, from the shadows, seven beams of blue light ignited around us.
I instinctively raised my blade.
But then—they stepped forward.
The Guardians.
All seven.
Fully armored.
Fully awakened.
Their masks glowed with deep cerulean symbols, each different, each alive. Their armor hummed with ancient energy, synchronized with the chamber.
"Kael Elyndor," the central Guardian said. His voice was calm… too calm. "Welcome home."
Lira gasped. "Home?"
The Guardian tilted his head. "Sector Zero houses the origin of your line. The first imprint. The first spark."
I swallowed hard. My heart thundered. "I'm not Elyndor."
"You are his echo," the Guardian replied. "His ninth iteration. His final chance."
Lira stepped between us, defensive. "He's not a tool. He's not a weapon. He's—"
"Important," the Guardian finished. "We agree."
That startled her.
"We are not your enemy, Lira Sorn. You, too, have a role that must be fulfilled."
"What role?" she demanded.
"Anchor. Stabilizer. Keeper of the tether."
Lira flinched. "The Oracle said something like that…"
The Guardians moved closer—not threatening, but towering. Their presence felt like compressed gravity.
I tightened my grip on my blade. "Why did the Council send hunters after me? Why erase the Requiem files? Why stop me from coming here?"
"Because the Council fears what they do not understand," the Guardian said. "Fears what they buried."
"Then tell me," I growled. "Tell me what I am."
The chamber rumbled again—deeper, angrier.
But the Guardians didn't move.
"Very well," the leader said. "Truth comes first."
A circular platform rose from the center of the chamber, light rippling across its surface.
"Step forward," the Guardian said. "Place your blade into the pillar. It will reveal what lies in your past… and your future."
Lira caught my arm. "Kael… we don't know what it will do to you."
"I need answers," I said.
"You need to survive to get them," she whispered, voice trembling.
I leaned closer. "Lira… if I don't know who I am, I can't protect you."
She dropped her gaze.
That was her weakness—caring too deeply, too quietly.
I stepped onto the platform.
The engravings on the pillar flared bright blue, reacting to my presence. My blade vibrated—light pulsing at the hilt like a heartbeat.
I raised it.
Placed the edge into the slot.
The chamber roared.
A blast of energy shot upward, freezing my breath in my lungs. Symbols carved into the walls ignited one by one, racing around the room like awakened spirits.
Images flashed in my mind—violent, scattered, ancient.
A city of light.
A war above the clouds.
A figure with my face but older, colder… more powerful.
A machine tearing through reality.
A weapon forged from living energy.
My name whispered across the void—not Kael.
Elyndor.
My heart seized.
My armor reacted, locking me in place. Light poured through the seams of the platform, flowing into my body, rewriting something inside me.
Then—
A scream.
Lira's scream.
I snapped back.
She was being pulled backward by a gravitational force erupting from the center of the chamber. The Guardians struggled to maintain stability as the platform's energy spiraled out of control.
"KAEL!" she cried, reaching out.
I lunged toward her—but the energy dragged me back.
The pillar glowed brighter—too bright—and the chamber cracked open.
"No!" I shouted. "LIRA!"
She slammed into the far wall as the blast finally hit.
Everything went white.
—
When the light finally faded…
I was on my knees.
The platform was gone.
The engravings dimmed.
The Guardians flickered, their forms unstable.
Lira lay unconscious near the back of the chamber.
And carved into the pillar's surface…
A message.
Written in the same language the Oracle used.
But I could read it now.
"Iteration 9: Judgment Awaits."
My blood ran cold.
The Guardians slowly approached me, voices layered with distortion.
"The awakening has begun," the leader said. "Now we must move quickly."
"Move where?" I asked hoarsely.
"Above," he replied. "To the Skyline Spire. The Council prepares to execute Protocol Requiem."
I tightened my fists. "And what is Protocol Requiem?"
The Guardian's mask glowed.
"A city-wide purge. A reset. A cleansing of every mind connected to the neural grid."
I froze.
"That's millions of people…"
"Yes," he said. "Unless you stand against it."
I looked at the pillar… at Lira… at the glowing message calling me a judgment.
Who was I becoming?
Did I want to know?
The Guardian extended his hand.
"Kael Elyndor. Will you ascend? Or will Neon Haven burn?"
I looked at Lira—still breathing, still alive.
My answer was already clear.
"I'll fight," I said.
The chamber lights flared.
The Guardians' masks ignited.
And the path to Chapter 12 opened.