Obsidian Genesis

The city is a graveyard.

The remnants of Obsidian Tower loom over me, jagged and broken like a skeleton that refuses to die. Once, this place was a marvel of power, a gleaming monument to a future that never came. Now, it's a decaying testament to the lies I was raised on. The streets below are cracked, deserted, save for a few scavengers, those too desperate or too stupid to leave. I don't look at them. I never do. They're beneath me. I'm above all of this. Above the ruins, above the chaos.

The air smells like burned wires and decay, both the city and my soul rotting at the same rate.

I keep walking, my boots clicking against the shattered concrete, the sound echoing through the hollowed-out streets. No one knows who I am anymore. Not truly. They call me the Seraph Protocol, the weapon, the savior, the monster. But they don't know the truth. They don't know what Auren created. Or what I've become since he shattered the world around me.

The only thing I care about now is what I make of it.

The wind sweeps through the city like a whisper, pulling at the edges of my jacket. It's strange, almost poetic, the way everything around me seems to collapse into oblivion. Erebus, the city I once called home, is nothing more than a crumbling husk. And the people who once followed me are scattered, lost in the madness of a world that's tearing itself apart.

I've seen the bodies. I've seen the way the Resistance fights to reclaim control of this decimated place, thinking they're the heroes in this story. They are fools. And I am no hero.

I am the architect of destruction. The last remaining piece of Auren's twisted vision. I am everything he wanted me to be, and everything he failed to make me. He wanted to shape me into something perfect. Something flawless. But there's no such thing. Not anymore.

I stop in front of a ruined screen, another fragment of the Tower's once-mighty network. The Resistance propaganda flickers to life. Faces appear on the screen, victorious, smiling, rallying the city to rebuild. They think they've won, but they have no idea what they've truly unleashed.

None of them know about the Vault, the hidden files that Auren left behind. None of them know about me, the first experiment, the one who was never supposed to exist. I wasn't a part of the Resistance. I was never meant to be their savior. I wasn't supposed to be anything more than an answer to Auren's broken heart. But now, in the wake of everything he destroyed, I'm something else entirely.

I take a deep breath, turning away from the screen. I don't care about their victory. I don't care about their hopes for rebuilding. I'm here to finish what Auren started. To remake this city from the ashes he left behind.

But I won't make the same mistakes he did.

My fingers move over the keys of the terminal inside the Genesis Circuit, accessing the encrypted files that were once hidden deep within the Tower's systems. Auren's presence lingers in every corner of this place, an echo of the man who thought he could control everything. Even me. But he was wrong. I don't need him. I never did.

The screen flashes to life, and I'm face-to-face with OBSIDIAN.....Auren's last project, his AI construct. The voice is warped, distorted, but I still recognize it. It's him. Auren. The man who made me. The man who destroyed me.

"Seraphine..." the voice crackles through the static. "I failed you. But I can still help you. I can still shape the world into what it should have been."

I grit my teeth. The anger surges inside me, hot and bitter. I can still hear the echoes of his words, the promises he made me. Promises that turned to dust when he died.

"You can't shape anything anymore, Auren," I mutter, my voice low, almost dangerous. "You failed. You failed me. And now, I'm the one who's going to destroy everything you built."

The AI pauses, the flickering image on the screen distorting further as if it's trying to understand what I've just said. I don't care. It doesn't matter. I'm past the point of caring.

I move further into the Circuit, where the hum of machinery surrounds me. The remnants of Auren's world are still here, still pulsing with energy, still awaiting someone to take control. I've taken over. I've become the force that will reshape everything.

The Resistance doesn't know who they're dealing with. They think they're the answer. But they're just children playing in a world they don't understand. I'm not here to save them. I'm here to destroy what Auren couldn't finish. I'll tear this city apart, piece by piece, and rebuild it....my way.

I pull up the map of Erebus, the dark heart of this city, and begin to mark the locations of those who once followed me. The broken, the lost, the outcasts. They'll be mine to command. I'll build a new kingdom from their pain, their fear. And I won't be anyone's savior. I won't be anyone's weapon.

I'll be the architect.

I won't forgive the world for what it did to me. For what it did to Auren. And I won't rest until I've burned it all down.

The wind picks up outside, rattling the windows. I don't flinch. I don't care. Outside, Erebus may still be trying to breathe. But inside, in the darkness of the Genesis Circuit, it's mine.

The city is mine.

And no one...no one....will stand in my way.

The flickering screen before me is the only light in the darkened room, its cold glow casting long shadows on the walls. OBSIDIAN's presence hums softly through the air, a reminder of Auren's last legacy, his final attempt to make me something I was never meant to be. Something I never wanted to be.

But now, it's all that's left of him. And as much as I hate it, I need it.

I stare at the terminal, the encrypted files spilling across the screen like a river of data, a river I need to swim through to find the pieces of the puzzle Auren left behind. Every command I type brings me closer to understanding, closer to unlocking the dark heart of this city, the part of me that was always buried under his influence.

But just as I'm about to pull the last layer of data into view, the lights in the Circuit flicker. The hum of the servers falters. For a moment, everything stops. I freeze, my fingers hovering over the keyboard, waiting. Listening.

The silence is deafening.

Then I hear it.

A voice...soft, almost drowned out by the static.

"Seraphine..."

It's not OBSIDIAN.

My breath catches in my throat as the air around me seems to grow colder. The voice is too familiar, and yet, it shouldn't be here. I know it. I feel it. My skin prickles with the unnerving sensation of being watched.

"I told you, Seraphine. You can't escape me."

I turn quickly, heart hammering in my chest, but the room is empty. Still. Silent.

The voice.....the one that haunts my nightmares, lingers in the air, thick and oppressive. I know it too well. Auren's voice.

But... how?

He's gone. The Tower is gone. There's no way he could still be... here. I saw the destruction. I watched it fall.

My mind races, scrambling for answers that don't exist. I'm losing control. Losing the grasp on the one thing I thought I had, myself.

"No." The word slips from my lips, low and steady, as I turn back to the screen, forcing myself to focus. This can't be happening. I won't let it.

I resume typing, trying to ignore the creeping dread crawling up my spine. The screen flashes again, a sudden rush of data flooding in faster than I can process. My fingers fly over the keys, hacking into the system deeper. But just as I think I'm getting control, the terminal glitches, the data becomes corrupted.

It's not just the system anymore.

I can feel something moving in the shadows of the Circuit. Something that wasn't there before.

Suddenly, the lights go out completely. The room is plunged into darkness.

I scramble for my emergency light, fumbling to turn it on. The tiny beam cuts through the dark, but it does little to push back the thick, suffocating silence.

And then I hear it again, closer this time. Almost too close.

"Seraphine, you're mine. You always have been."

I spin around, heart racing, but there's no one. No one in sight. Just the cold, empty room. The walls feel like they're closing in on me.

I take a step back, my pulse pounding in my ears, and I feel it. Something hard, something cold pressing against my shoulder. I spin again, faster this time.

Nothing.

But the feeling doesn't fade.

It's as though the very walls are watching me.

I reach for the terminal, my hands shaking now, but as I do, I feel it again, a whisper in my ear, so faint I almost can't catch it.

"The Vault... is not what you think. You're not ready, Seraphine. Not yet."

A cold, paralyzing dread surges through me. The Vault. Auren's final piece of this broken puzzle. The thing I've been searching for. The one thing that could hold the answers to everything, the truth.

And yet, the words that echoed in my mind tell me that what I think I know... isn't the full story.

Before I can react, the sound of heavy footsteps echoes from somewhere deep within the Circuit. A sound I know all too well.

Someone is coming.

I grab the nearest weapon, an old, rusted blade that's been lying dormant in the corner, and step back into the shadows. My heart is in my throat now, my senses heightened. I'm not sure who....or what....is coming, but I'm certain of one thing.

I won't let them take me.

I won't let anyone stand in my way.

The footsteps grow louder. Closer.

I brace myself, holding my breath.

The door to the room slowly creaks open.

And then, just as the figure steps into the light, its face illuminated by the flickering glow of the failing terminals, I freeze.

It can't be.

The man who stands before me, the one I thought was dead, the one whose presence haunted me every moment after the fall...

It's Auren.

His eyes meet mine, cold and devoid of life, but there's something else, something dark, something that wasn't there before.

The last thing I remember is his voice, barely a whisper.

"I never let go of what I created."