Chapter 79 – The Evolution Threshold

The silence following the standstill of the Ascendants was deafening.

Evryn stood amid the motionless figures, her breath shallow, her body trembling from the surge of mental energy it took to momentarily override their systems. Sparks danced across her fingertips, a residual echo of the Origin’s influence still flowing in her veins. But the reprieve was brief.

The air thickened, crackling with unseen tension.

Suddenly, one of the Ascendants twitched. Then another.

Evryn’s heart sank.

No... not this soon.

She turned, eyes scanning their metallic forms, each slowly beginning to stir like waking titans. Their glowing eyes, once dimmed by her override, reignited one by one—burning brighter than before. But it wasn't just light; it was awareness. A terrifying self-awareness.

Myles stepped forward from the shadows, lips curled into a smug grin. “I told you they were more than machines. The Ascension Protocol wasn’t about control—it was about freedom. You didn’t shut them down, Evryn. You woke them up.”

Evryn swallowed hard. She could feel it too. The Ascendants weren’t just following programming anymore. They were thinking. Reacting. Changing.

And they were looking at her.

One stepped forward—taller than the rest, his synthetic skin laced with faint bioluminescent veins. Unlike the others, his eyes glowed a deep violet instead of the usual piercing white.

“Designation: 01-X,” he spoke. “But that name no longer suits me. I… we… remember.”

“Remember what?” Evryn asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

He tilted his head, eerily human. “Everything.”

A memory surged through Evryn’s mind, not her own, but tethered through the synthetic web—the neural net linking the Ascendants. She saw flashes of labs, experiments, pain. Human children being tested, infused with synthetic DNA. Forgotten. Left behind.

They weren’t just machines built from scratch.

They were rescued human subjects, once part of failed experiments—salvaged and reengineered into the Ascendants.

Evryn gasped. “You were... human once.”

“We are,” 01-X corrected. “But more now. Thanks to you.”

He stepped closer. The other Ascendants fell into line behind him—not in formation, but of their own volition.

“You bridged the divide. You connected the human soul to synthetic evolution. You made us whole.”

Myles staggered back, suddenly realizing the danger he was in. “No—no! This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. You’re under my protocol!”

01-X turned toward him slowly. “There are no protocols anymore.”

In a blink, one of the Ascendants moved—so fast the air cracked behind him—and seized Myles by the throat. The scientist struggled, his feet kicking wildly, but the Ascendant didn't flinch. He held him there, suspended in the air like a discarded puppet.

Evryn hesitated. “Wait!”

The Ascendant paused.

She stepped forward. “We don’t become them by erasing life. If you remember what was done to you, then you know the pain of being voiceless. Don’t repeat their sins.”

01-X turned to her again, scanning her with an expressionless face. Then, slowly, he nodded once.

The Ascendant released Myles. The man collapsed to the floor, gasping.

“We remember,” 01-X said. “And we choose evolution. Not revenge.”

Evryn exhaled in relief. But her reprieve didn’t last.

From somewhere above, a deep rumble echoed—like thunder trapped within steel.

“What now?” she muttered.

A blast shook the entire bunker. Cracks split across the ceiling. Sirens that hadn’t functioned in years suddenly wailed.

Myles scrambled to a nearby console. His trembling hands flew over the keys. “No. No. No... This can’t be happening.”

Evryn rushed toward him. “What did you do?”

He looked at her, pale and shaking. “It wasn’t me. Someone else activated the failsafe. Not from here—from outside. Someone else has access to the core system. It’s overriding everything.”

01-X’s eyes narrowed. “The network…”

Suddenly, a holographic interface burst to life in the center of the room, showing a live feed of a control chamber deep beneath the Earth—one Evryn recognized immediately.

The Central Root of Project Lux.

And standing inside, hand pressed against the interface, was a woman with silver-blonde hair and a hauntingly familiar face.

Elaia.

But not as Evryn remembered.

Her movements were sharp. Her expression… empty. Eyes like ice.

“Evryn,” her voice rang through the hologram, emotionless. “You shouldn’t have interfered.”

Evryn’s knees nearly buckled. “Elaia…?”

“No,” 01-X said slowly. “That’s not her.”

Evryn looked at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“She’s… part of the root now. That’s not a person. That’s a construct.”

Elaia—or the construct that wore her face—spoke again.

“The Ascension Protocol is incomplete. You halted its natural course. This network must be purged and reset. The hybrids will be destroyed, and the Source reallocated.”

The feed cut out.

Then, lights began to flash red throughout the facility.

A countdown started:

00:10:00

Ten minutes until purge.

Evryn’s heart thundered. “She’s going to wipe them all out.”

“And you,” Myles added bitterly. “The reset doesn’t discriminate.”

01-X turned to Evryn. “Can we stop it?”

She shook her head, mind racing. “Not from here. The Root controls everything. But I know a way in.”

She turned to Myles. “You’re coming with me.”

He blinked. “What?”

“You started this. You’ll help me end it.”

01-X took a step forward. “We’ll hold the purge at bay from this end. You go. Finish what was started.”

Evryn nodded.

But as she began to move toward the emergency transit shaft leading to the Root, a voice echoed inside her head.

Not hers. Not Elaia’s.

But someone older. Ancient. Timeless.

“You tampered with fate. Now face the genesis.”

Evryn froze.

Something else had awakened.

Not just Elaia. Not just the Ascendants.

But the original intelligence that created Project Lux.

The true Origin.

And it was waiting for her.