The path to Project Genesis wasn't marked on any map.
It existed beneath layers of false data, magnetic interference, and encrypted distortion. Only Marcus's system—fused with Architect code and his mother's legacy—could see the pattern.
They followed it north, past the broken rail systems and through old terraforming zones long overtaken by mutated wildlife. The snow grew darker as they approached the coordinates—each flake tinged red, not with rain, but with memory.
[Cognitive Interference Detected – Environmental Perception Degrading]
Ember wiped her visor. "Anyone else seeing things?"
Lucien frowned. "No. But I feel it. Like the world's listening."
Marcus knew what they meant. Trees leaned in strange directions. Shadows moved in ways that light didn't permit. The further they went, the more the forest warped around them—like reality was being redrafted.
And then they saw it.
A ruin made of smooth, white alloy—not stone, not Beacon metal—emerged from beneath the ground like a buried cathedral. Its surface shimmered with shifting fractals. The entrance was shaped like an iris, dilated and blinking.
[Location Reached: Genesis Vault 0 | Architect Signature Detected]
"This is it," Marcus said. "Where the system was born."
They entered.
Inside, the walls were polished to mirror-like perfection, but the reflections weren't theirs. Instead, the mirrored surfaces showed twisted versions of themselves—Lucien with mechanical limbs, Ember covered in scales, and Marcus…
He didn't even look human.
[WARNING: YOU ARE WITHIN RANGE OF THE ARCHITECT'S MIRROR][Caution: Psychological Distortion Possible – Anchoring Required]
Marcus stared at his reflection—taller, leaner, eyes filled with stars instead of irises. His skin was traced with circuits. His voice, when he spoke, echoed back in three different languages.
"What is this?" he whispered.
The mirror responded—not with sound, but thought.
You are what they feared you would become. Not an evolution of man. A rewrite of the species.
Ember touched the surface, and it rippled like water.
"The Mirror's not just reflecting us," she said, voice tight. "It's showing what we could be—if we surrendered to the Architect design."
Then they heard it.
Footsteps.
Not the heavy stomp of hybrids or the glide of Doctrine agents—but soft, deliberate steps, accompanied by the hum of ancient machinery.
A figure entered the chamber, wrapped in an Architect exosuit half-grown into its flesh.
It wore Marcus's face.
But older. Colder. Perfect.
"I am Mirrored Chen," it said calmly. "The result of full Architect integration. Your final form."
Marcus stared, heart pounding. "No… You're just a possibility."
"Not quite," the Mirror replied. "I am the key the Architects left behind. And I've come to assess your divergence."
[System Lock Detected – Combat Readiness Blocked]
[Mirrored Chen – Origin Class: Final Prototype]
The figure stepped closer, hands behind its back, as if analyzing prey. "Tell me, Marcus. What will you choose? Your humanity… or the perfection you were born to complete?"
Marcus didn't flinch.
"I'll choose choice. That's what they feared most."
The Mirror tilted its head.
"Then let us begin your evaluation."