Chapter 5: Ash in the Veins
Saltspire's underbelly was less a city and more a scar. Metal scaffolds twisted like rusted vines around collapsed buildings. Bio-luminescent fungi pulsed along the walls, casting the alleys in cold green light. Everything smelled of oil, ash, and damp synthetic skin.
Kael walked in silence, Serrin at his side, nervously tapping into his Codex with one hand while palming a shockblade with the other.
"That pod kid back there? Still creeps me out," Serrin muttered.
Kael didn't respond. His thoughts were wrapped in the girl's violet eye, the way she'd looked directly at him. Not like a stranger. Like something... familiar.
[Codex Status: Fractured Awareness Detected. Echo Sync Incomplete.]
ARKHIVE's voice crackled inside him, distant now—like a signal too far from its tower.
He turned into a side corridor. Noise echoed ahead. A crowd.
They entered a market ring.
Slaves.
Human. Hybrid. Even partial constructs with chrome-plated limbs and dulled eyes.
A man barked over a comm-horn: "Flesh for coin! Codex-compatible stock only! Breeders, workers, loyal units!"
Kael stopped.
One hybrid—a small, hunched creature with ankylosaur plating and massive forelimbs—dragged a rusted support beam across the lot. Its body was scarred but controlled. On its side was a faded brand: Utility-Class: Stoneback, V13.
Serrin followed Kael's gaze. "They use 'em to build walls and haul bones. Tail doubles as a pile driver. Not built for war. Built for endurance."
Kael frowned.
Nearby, another hybrid slurped foul runoff from a barrel. Part cassowary, part horse, part gene-spliced predator. Its rider adjusted a saddle and checked a scroll.
"Transport hybrid," Serrin explained. "Call 'em Trailrunners. Bio-stable. Smart. Run for days."
Kael's hand twitched.
Another cry rang out: "Spitfire going for 4,000 GMK! Digestive grade two! Turns rot into fuel!"
A long-necked creature with oily feathers and a mouthful of serrated beaks hissed, restrained by a double chain.
Kael turned away.
Not all were born to kill. Some were built to survive.
He saw himself in the mirror of their eyes.
He walked on.
Back at their bunker, Serrin worked furiously on an info-rig, a dozen holoscreens flickering.
"I pulled encrypted logs off the Mirrorborn pod," he said. "Guess what I found?"
Kael leaned forward.
Serrin exhaled. "The DNA harvest wasn't post-battle. It was during your fight. Auto-drones tagged your blood mid-combat. Codex bio-lancers were waiting."
Kael's stomach turned.
He remembered the battle. The screams. Ravager's last roar. The heat. The rage.
And somewhere amid that chaos, someone took a sample of him like he was cattle.
"Who ordered it?" he asked.
"I don't know," Serrin admitted. "But the Codex tag says... Order 11-X. High priority. Legacy track."
Kael turned to the window. Outside, the city crackled with static screens and fractured lightning.
"ARKHIVE," he said aloud. "Did you authorize this?"
No answer.
Instead, static. Then a brief flicker.
[Codex Alert: Memory Fragment Detected.]
Kael's vision blurred.
He was somewhere cold. Underground. Screaming filled the air. A woman with eyes like his reached for a glass tube filled with red light. Children banged on the walls from inside pods.
Then—
Nothing.
Back in the room. Kael was sweating.
"I saw... something," he whispered. "A lab. A vault."
Serrin leaned back. "Echo Vaults. Lost Codex archives. Buried for decades. Some say they hold backups of failed hosts."
Kael nodded slowly. "Then I'll find them."
Later that day, while Kael rested, a knock echoed through the metal hatch.
A courier in a tattered cloak handed Serrin a chip.
"From the Shadowfeed," he said. "Encrypted bid notice."
Kael watched as Serrin loaded it.
[Open Tag Detected: Echo Host — Ash-Crowned King]
[Bounty: 10,000 GMK. Status: Active. Condition: Alive or Dead. Hybrid sample preferred.]
Serrin's face paled.
"They're hunting you now, bro. And not just your head—they want your blood."
Kael clenched his fists. "Let them come."
That night, Kael sat alone with Subject 47-B. The pod was stable again. The girl slept in silence.
But then—
Her eye opened.
Violet. Glowing.
She whispered a word.
"Father."
Kael froze.
He didn't know what he felt.
But he knew something had changed.
The pod's surface pulsed faintly.
And deep beneath the city, another vault stirred.
[Codex File: Global Hybrid Economy]
Currency: GENMARK (GMK)
Bio-verified credits used by Codex Hosts
Synced with identity and location
Used for trading hybrids, mods, black market goods
Other Forms:
Black Tokens – untraceable currency, used for illegal upgrades, off-record hybrids, and assassinations
Gene-Chips – encoded mod tokens, usable at med-stations and hybrid clinics
Trade Zones:
Saltspire Black Exchange
Ruinfront Boneyards
Red Synapse Markets
Warning:
Currency instability detected in regions where Codex governance is fractured.
[Codex File Entry — 47-B: MIRRORBORN]
Designation: Lot 47-B
Project: Mirrorborn Initiative
Host Type: Echo-Fused Hybrid
Codex Status: Semi-Aware
Genetic Source Alpha: [KAEL SORRÉN]
Genetic Source Beta: [UNIDENTIFIED, CLASS R-X]
Purpose: [Legacy Preservation / Experimental Sync Breeding]
Note:
Subject 47-B exhibits 96.2% genetic resonance with Echo Host Kael Sorrén. Emotional tethering protocols detected. Subject remains in developmental stasis.
Warning:
Emotional entanglement with Mirrorborn subjects has resulted in prior Host degradation in 4/7 test instances. Use caution. Mirrorborns reflect more than just code.
— END FILE —