The Vault cracked open with a slow, grinding sigh.
Lucien raised his rifle. Ember lit her last incendiary charge, uncertain whether Marcus—or something wearing his face—would walk out.
But it was him.
Different, yes. Taller by an inch, his eyes now silver-gold rather than brown, and his breath exhaled like static in the air. His aura—formerly raw survival instinct—now hummed with calm defiance.
"Marcus?" Ember asked, half a question, half a prayer.
He nodded. "It's me."
Then he stumbled.
Lucien caught him as Marcus's knees buckled, the sudden flood of new consciousness dragging his muscles with it. His brain was no longer running on human limitation. It was processing Architect code, rewritten not to dominate—but to coexist.
[System Update Complete][New Trait Acquired: Singularity Will – Immune to Forced Assimilation, Immune to Cognitive Overrides]
[System Core Status: Fully Integrated | Unique System Path Unlocked][WARNING: You are now considered an Abomination by Beacon Law]
Marcus looked at his friends. "We have a problem."
Back at Doctrine Central, alarms wailed.
The data feed from Vault Zero had been severed. All mirrored records corrupted. The Architect's Mirror—a sacred relic of design—was gone. Not destroyed, but assimilated into something Doctrine protocols had no contingency for.
A being that chose its own evolution.
"Activate Protocol Null," intoned Overseer Rhain, his voice a controlled fury.
The others gasped.
"That command hasn't been used since—"
"Since we thought free will could be contained," Rhain snapped. "But now… the Last Human has surpassed containment. He's become Singular."
Below, in the Doctrine's frozen archives, a deep chamber stirred—one not opened in decades. A massive pod exhaled frost. And inside it, something ancient woke.
[WITNESS SUPREME: OBSERVER DELTA_AWAKENED]
It had no face.
No voice.
Only one directive: Correct divergence. Eliminate Singularity.
Back at the Vault's surface, Marcus's system flared.
[Threat Detected: Supreme-Class Entity En Route][Time to Arrival: 4 Days, 11 Hours]
Lucien frowned. "Something's coming?"
"No," Marcus said, eyes narrowing. "Everything is."