2167 — Earth Core Command Vault, Location Classified
It began with a scream — not a human one, but digital. The vault's silence shattered as red sirens spiraled across the control dome.
Kael Virex sipped black coffee from a cracked glass and didn't flinch. The screaming? It was the timeline again.
"Third breach this week," he muttered. "At this point, even the laws of physics are just suggestions."
The glass terminal blinked:
> FRACTURE DETECTED — 08:16:42 — COORDINATE 19X | TIMESTAMP INVALID
Invalid timestamp? That wasn't just a fracture — that was a paradox.
He stood up, adjusted his long gray coat, and placed his hand on the biometric reader. The vault hissed, then opened. Steam poured out like the breath of a machine long asleep.
Inside stood ADA — the AI construct he once designed but no longer controlled.
"You're late," she said. Her voice had too much personality for a machine. It annoyed him.
"And you're glowing too much. Tone down the sparkle," Kael replied.
She ignored the insult. "A fracture just swallowed San Polaris."
He paused. "San Polaris doesn't exist."
"Exactly."
---
Kael's fingers twitched. "Pull all echo data from the ChronoNet. I want frame-by-frame dimensional logs."
ADA hesitated. "You're not authorized."
"Override. Virex Code: Spiral-Alpha-77."
A pause. Then — access granted.
The vault floor split open, revealing a deep, rotating sphere — the ChronoGenesis Core. Inside it, memories, echoes, timelines — everything that ever existed — swirled.
Kael stepped toward it.
"If this echo is from a city that never existed, it means someone is editing the past."
"Who?" ADA asked.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Me. Or s
omeone pretending to be."
---
To be continued...