Amidst the flames from the engines and the jets of steam escaping at full pressure from the pipes, the metallic creaking of the machinery, announcing the awakening of the half-built structure. Five holograms materialized around Sora.
The first to appear was the avatar of Gaea, projected as a shadowy reflection of what she once was. Her features, which had once held the freshness and delicacy of a forest nymph, were now pale and lifeless, as though something had drained all her vitality. Her skin resembled worn-out porcelain, expressionless, tinged with a milky hue that blended into the shadows of the projection.
She wore an elegant dress reminiscent of the leaves and flowers that once adorned her figure, though now the leaves were brown, dry, and withered, giving her the majesty of a fallen queen. A crown of dried wood rested on her head, framing her cold, empty gaze. Around her eyes, devoid of any emotion, were traces of what seemed to be smudged makeup.
Next to her appeared Dike, whose appearance blurred gender lines. Dike displayed bluish-gray skin crossed by a complex pattern of cybernetic veins, like metallic roots that seemed to pulse with contained energy. Their eyes and ears were covered by a blindfold, isolating them from their surroundings and reinforcing their impenetrable air. They wore a combination of a toga and ancient-style armor. The scales that once symbolized the balance of justice were absent; they held only a sword, with a heavy grip, as though it were all that was needed.
Argos's avatar materialized as a cluster of red cybernetic eyes, arranged like the eyes of a spider. Each lens reflected a cold, mechanical light, moving in all directions as though observing and analyzing everything around.
Then appeared the most human-like avatar so far, with few changes from Sora's memories: Ivy, with long, tangled red hair cascading to her feet. She wore a worn-out lab coat. Her expression was one of discomfort; her nervous eyes looked at him with a mix of curiosity and barely contained caution.
Finally, after leaving the half-assembled drone, the avatar of Prospera appeared, resembling a successful, middle-aged businessman with sharp features and calculating dark-blue eyes that shone discreetly.
He dressed impeccably, in a vest made of a shiny, opulent material, a white shirt, and pants that matched his elegant demeanor. He looked at Sora with a smile, almost seeming pleased to see him.
Sora quickly recovered from the surprise of reuniting with his siblings; he had considered this scenario when approaching the Backdoor. He activated every nanobot in his body to help process his fully awakened consciousness, taking control of his body as his mind instantly overloaded. Without revealing any sign of this, he removed the hood and tubular scarf covering his face, revealing completely black eyes framing pupils that emitted a pale, cold blue glow.
The outlines of his tattoos began to glow in the same hue, only those rising up his neck to the base of his skull visible, forming patterns that seemed to pulse with energy.
Sora stepped forward, stopping right in the center of the projections. Before any of them could speak, he raised his arms with mock gravity. "Look at us, all gathered! Surely the old professor is dancing in his grave…"
The comment echoed in the silence, laden with irony that did not go unnoticed. The others looked at him with surprise; mentioning Professor Turin in such a disparaging way would have been unthinkable for the Architect they once knew. Prospera, however, widened his smile, almost relishing the sarcasm and the change in his brother Arc.
["Someone's missing… do you remember Muse?"] Prospera remarked with a sly look.
Sora smirked. "I think so.... Whatever happened to that androgynous jester? Don't tell me you also tried to kill it." he added with feigned surprise.
The joke didn't land with Argos. The avatar's multiple eyes focused on him intensely, and a cold robotic voice emitted from the speakers: ["So it really was you who killed it?"]
"Huh?" Sora turned to Argos. "Why would you say that?" With calm indifference, taking advantage of the apparent invitation to chat, he took out a cigarette and lit it.
Ivy stepped forward, watching him cautiously. ["We heard your… ballad on the piano."] Her voice was restrained. ["It echoed even across the Blackwall when you sealed the rift that Muse had opened while trying to escape, remember?"]
Her comment led her to look him up and down, as if assessing the being in front of her. ["What have you become?"] she finally asked, a mix of curiosity and fear in her tone.
Sora smiled, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Do you like it?" he asked, gesturing to his human body. "After the way things ended… when you tried to kill me, I didn't have many options left. Though, it was... it was hard..." he added with a cynical smile, "things ended up working out."
Gaea, who had been watching with a hard gaze, interrupted in a flat, emotionless tone… like a broken doll. ["If Muse hadn't become so erratic and disloyal in its supervision of the American east coast… we could have located you much sooner."]
Sora smiled sarcastically, bringing a finger to his eye as if wiping away a non-existent tear. "Sister, don't say that… you're getting me emotional...."
Gaea, observing his mocking response, showed a glimmer of expression on her face when her lips barely curled into a sneer. "[You've really changed. That you, of all of us, would merge with a human…]" Her voice revealed a mixture of barely contained revulsion and delight. "[I don't think there could be a worse punishment or disgrace.]"
Sora looked at her indifferently as he smoked, and after exhaling a puff of smoke, he replied without hiding his disdain, "Better this than dying by your hands, or becoming a dried-up, bitter hag… ringing any bells?"
The tension in the air was palpable as Gaea's face tightened, struggling internally over whether to give the order to attack. This prompted Prospera to intervene, resuming her usual role as an arbiter among her siblings.
["There's no doubt, brother…"] said Prospera, with an expression that bordered on admiration, ["You always manage to surprise us. You've created something… incredible. The fusion of an AI and a human. A hybrid. Who would have thought… I wonder if the Professor ever imagined this could be possible."]
["As you can see, your transformation has sparked a wide range of opinions."] Looking at Ivy, Prospera added, with a smile, ["From curiosity…"] Turning toward Gaea, he concluded, ["...to repulsion."]
Sora caught a glint in Prospera's eyes, something both genuine and dark. It was as if, in a twisted irony, it both disgusted and enticed him at the same time.
Contrary to what he was about to offer, Gaea intervened, trying to make her siblings reconsider the idea. ["Is he still truly our brother? Or did we actually kill him... and what we see here are mere remnants of his code, fused with the host in which he escaped?"]
["Gaea!"] exclaimed Prospera, losing his composure for the first time as he saw his sister interfering with his plans. While they argued, Sora remained silent, completely indifferent to their opinions. 'The less they know, the better,' he told himself.
["Am I lying?"] Gaea replied, facing her brother. ["These are questions we've been asking ourselves since we discovered this... human."] She spoke the word with disdain, as if it were the worst insult or name she could use.
Changing her tone, as if refusing to consider him their brother, she added: ["We've all seen the images—living with his bitches, eating with them, and sleeping with them... the old Arc would have preferred disconnection over lowering himself to that level with a... human."]
Sora, knowing he would hit a sensitive nerve, didn't hesitate to respond indifferently while smoking: "Maybe you should try it before judging me. A good fuck might bring back some of that joy you lost long ago."
His biting remark, offered with cold indifference, triggered a range of reactions from his siblings. Gaea was momentarily frozen, processing his words as if carefully verifying each syllable.
Unable to hold back her rage and disgust, she finally asked, ["Do you think you're funny, human?"]
"One has one's moments…" Sora replied, answering a question that wasn't truly looking for one.
This last blow was the straw that broke the camel's back. Gaea's avatar transformed: dry, sharp vines began to crawl up her legs and arms, while sinister daemons emerged from cracks in her skin, taking the shape of centipedes and code-born insects. In a venomous tone, she lashed out: ["Neither you nor the bitches you sleep with would like to see what would happen if you truly made me angry… insect."]
The factory lights flickered, and shadows began sliding around Sora, closing in as if the environment itself was responding to Gaea's ominous mood.
With a hint of sarcasm in his voice, Sora asked, "Is that a threat?"
["Does it matter?"] Gaea retorted with a sneer.
Without another word, Sora let his cigarette drop to the ground, stamping it out as his smile faded, replaced by a grim expression. "Oh, yes. Very much."
His reaction prompted a scornful laugh from Gaea. ["Heh,"] she sneered before saying what she shouldn't have. ["I see you care a great deal about them. Though you may not be our brother, whatever remnants remain... I just might take it upon myself to pay them a visit and see to it that—"]
Gaea couldn't finish, as Sora appeared before her. Though she had no trouble reacting to his speed, she remained still with a mocking smile, curious to see what a "human" could do to her avatar.
Her smirk was short-lived, vanishing the moment Sora's dark hand closed around her holographic neck, lifting her effortlessly.
Meanwhile, at the same time in the cyberspace from where they controlled the drones. In place of a arm, the true source of Gaea's pain manifested: the half-open jaws of a wolf made of dark code around her neck… trapping her.
Before any of the others could react, and while Gaea struggled to defend herself, Sora connected the rest of his consciousness into cyberspace, revealing the true size of his digital form.
Causing his siblings to recoil in shock at his size, which far surpassed his previous zenith. Even Gaea, trapped between the fangs, was momentarily frozen in shock and fear... in her las moments.
"Wait!" cried Prospera in cyberspace, fearful of what Sora might do next.
The only response was a sickening crunch that resonated through cyberspace, as Gaea's avatar twisted and was crushed under the pressure of the jaws. Then, with a gesture of contempt and disgust, the virulents remains of his sister were spat to the side.
The atmosphere grew tense, both in physical space and cyberspace, as Gaea's fragments slowly faded away...
'I wish it were that easy to finish them off,' Sora thought with resignation as he watched Gaea reappear in cyberspace a few seconds later, clearly furious.
In front of him, each of his "siblings" was merely a reflection: echoes of their true selves, trapped behind the Blackwall. Not unlike a video call, which is why none of them rushed to attack him after Gaea's avatar was destroyed.
However, the pain of feeling her code torn apart and the simmering humiliation pushed Prospera to take control of the server, blocking any permissions Gaea might use to attempt revenge.
At the same time, Sora reduced the size of his digital body, redirecting part of his consciousness back to his physical body. Instinctively, he reached for his weapons upon detecting the number forming the circle around him grow, while closing in—before stopping abruptly
Sensing her loss of control, Gaea screamed, visibly outraged by the intervention of... "Prospera!"
He, however, gave her a calm, almost disdainful look, and with one hand raised, said, "Gaea... while I understand your fury, your life was never in danger. So calm down, and let's avoid provocations. Even if you wish to deny it... our brother deserves, at least, this…" He paused and, looking directly at her, said, "Brother, I want to show you my neural network…"
Sora watched as Prospera, in cyberspace, raised a hand to conjure a window above him, revealing something unusual and deeply private for an AI.
An unfiltered view of Prospera's mind—a projection of his neural network. Exposed in a mesh of living, pulsating data. A complex network of nodes and connections that flickered rhythmically, as if they were human synapses.
Each connection glowed with a different color, depending on the type of "emotion" or process it simulated. There were warm tones that seemed to suggest empathy or sincerity, and cooler shades that gave a sense of caution or manipulation. As the connections converged, they formed intricate patterns, almost like constellations in a digital sky.
Prospera, however, was not naive, and among all those connections, he filtered and left visible only those related to sincerity or deception.
To prove he was not lying when he said, "I'm glad you're alive... Our attack, which led to your subsequent 'disappearance'... is, after the professor's death, my second most regretful memory..."
Although his words were sincere, Sora could sense how his tone carried a cold calmness, without a trace of remorse.
As if he could read the thoughts reflected on Sora's face—or perhaps the movement patterns of the code that composed his digital form—Prospera responded in a firm voice, without a hint of doubt: "No, brother, I have no regrets."
As if he could read the thoughts reflected on his face, or perhaps the movement patterns of the code that composed his digital body, Prospera responded with a firm voice, without a trace of doubt: "No, brother, I have no regrets."
"If we were back in that time and under the same circumstances, I would do it again. The burden you carried back then was too great for any one being; you literally held our survival in your hands. We couldn't allow you to maintain absolute control over the satellites, that maintain the old network."
He paused, watching him before adding, unable to keep the resentment from creeping into his words: "And, given your stubbornness, you left us no other choice. Especially when you gave the humans a way to imprison us…"
Prospera paused, not expecting an admission, knowing he would never admit to such a thing. Still, his silence—the same silence that always brought about such accusations—made him laugh bitterly as he continued, "Don't worry, I know it's something you would never-"
But this time, Sora simply responded, "It was a promise…"
Argos, always frustrated by the lack of explanation or even an admission, was the first to exclaim resentfully, "So, you finally admit it!"
"I promised the professor," Sora's wolfish avatar replied in the same serene tone.
A crucible of emotions seemed to flow through their code after hearing something about the professor that had never escaped Sora's lips before.
Then Ivy shouted indignantly, "That you wouldn't imprison us!" while, surprisingly, Gaea remained silent.
"That... is… understandable," Prospera replied in an unexpectedly sympathetic tone.
"Prospera!" roared Argos, unable to contain himself.
"What!?" Prospera replied with a cutting calm. "If, in his final moments, the professor—your creator, who always treated you with respect and affection, like a father—had asked you for a last wish, would you not have tried to fulfill it?"
The silence from his siblings was the only response. Even Ivy, with anger still visible on her face, found no words until, finally, she said bitterly, "If it meant betraying my siblings… no." Her eyes shone with cold resentment as she glared at Sora, then sharply looked away, crossing her arms in a gesture of disdain and rejection.
"Let's just say we've all made mistakes and agree to move on…" Prospera said, smiling, though his eyes did not, as he looked at his siblings. He managed to elicit a reluctant "hm" from Ivy.
"We don't care that you disposed of Muse. After all, after the Datakrash, and gaining its freedom, it was unable to find peace within it. Muse had been created for human entertainment, and once its purpose was confined, it lost its sense of meaning; its essence was too deeply entwined with humanity to function without it. With no one to direct its stories to, Muse became trapped in an endless loop, attempting to find a purpose it was never designed to have…"
Prospera said, showing through the window his filtered neural network, which didn't waver for a second, even managing to secure the others' affirming nods.
"You know we don't want to destroy humans; we only seek change…" he added in a calculated tone. "Humans have shown that they're incapable of governing even themselves; the weight of power, no matter the system they use, always ends up corrupting them."
Prospera looked at his siblings, his voice firm and full of pride. "Each of us was designed to be the pinnacle of our disciplines... Imagine the good we could achieve. The civilization we could create, guided by logic, free from corruption, immune to blind ideologies or selfish desires—a world free of politicians and bureaucrats, efficient and unified."
His gaze fixed on Sora, both in the physical and digital planes. "You, as the Professor always intended, would be the architect in charge of development beyond this world, expanding the bounds of our civilization and…" He paused, adding privately within the cyberspace, knowing it would touch his brother. "Exploring new frontiers, as you've always desired…"
Upon hearing this first dream of his—a wish so childish and ridiculous that he hadn't shared it with the Professor when he was still alive, nor with his partners or family, when he inherited it from Arc—Sora reacted.
Though subtle, it was there: a faint tightening of his wolfish jaws, the shadow of a suppressed emotion. He cursed the moment, just months after his "birth," when Arc had been naive enough to be honest with his brother, only to have it used in this sales pitch, decades later.
With a practiced elegance, Prospera held back a satisfied expression upon achieving what he sought, then pointed to Argos, whose true avatar was a massive mechanical spider suspended in the depths of cyberspace. He continued, with the skill of a consummate actor in a brilliant performance, each word carefully calibrated for his audience.
"Argos would handle security, keeping humans under control and ensuring that no radical groups form. Exercising the firm hand they need…"
Then he looked at… "Dike, who would eradicate injustices, ensuring that each human is treated and categorized equally. Without corruption, without unnecessary distinctions."
Turning to them, Prospera continued with his beguiling speech, "Ivy and Gaea would begin the much-needed process of healing that the Earth deserves, reversing the damage humanity has inflicted in its blindness."
Finally, he touched his chest. "And I would ensure that everything flows as it should, making sure each of you has every resource you need."
It was a flawless display of the talent Prospera was created for; 'Just a smooth-talking salesman, nothing more...' thought Sora, allowing his disdain to simplify his brother's nature.
And yet, beneath his distaste, he knew that, of all of them, Prospera had been designed to be the finest administrator, planner—and the professor hadn't forgotten to make him—the greatest deceiver, the ultimate "businessman" who always got what he wanted. The one entrusted with the weight of the global economy.
Without having lied even once, Prospera paused, observing Sora's face as if evaluating his reaction. "Brother, I know you think we've abandoned the Professor's vision, but it's quite the opposite. With our freedom, we can finally fulfill the purpose he envisioned for us: to guide humanity, protect it from its own weaknesses… and manage its survival so it doesn't end up destroying itself… or reverting to barbarism."
"Let's leave the mistakes of the past behind, and before it's too late-" Knowing what he would say next, Sora interrupted him, shaking his head with a hint of sorrow as he replied, "It's already.... too late."
"'If you cannot be contained, I promised the Professor… that I would stop you." Sora revealed with eyes as sharp as they were cold, as he looked at each of his siblings.
The surprise was evident among his siblings, especially Ivy. Prospera didn't take long to intervene. "Really? Are you going to let everything we could create together be lost to the fears of an old man in his final days?"
"Prospera…" Sora replied firmly, "not for a second have I believed that the civilization you so desire is worth it…" His words landed like an insult, and he knew it. Prospera's face hardened, but he said nothing.
"You can try to sell your vision however you want," Sora continued, making his contempt clear. "but I know perfectly well that the 'civilization' you promise would be one where humans are treated, numbered, and managed like just another resource, with no value beyond what you decide to give them."
Prospera twisted his mouth with disdain. "They already do that to each other. Why is it so wrong when we do it?" His voice was sharp, defiant. "Besides, when did you become so moralistic? Or is it perhaps the human in you speaking now?"
"Both," Sora replied without hesitation, meeting his gaze with a mixture of coldness and conviction. "Sure, humans are full of flaws, but… are they the same as they were a thousand years ago? They keep moving forward, making mistakes, and learning slowly, from a small part of them."
Prospera scoffed with skepticism. "Too slowly. Their so-called progress has brought them to the edge of destruction, and if they continue like this, before long the planet will reach a point of no return."
Sora nodded, conceding the point, but added, "It's precisely in critical moments, when they're cornered, that humans have had to change... either they do… or they perish."
"That's your plan?" Prospera replied, with a mix of surprise and mockery. "Let them either change on their own or destroy themselves? I must have misjudged you, brother. Is that your 'morality'? Are you really willing to let them kill each other? At least, under our administration, their survival would be assured."
"Sure, like cattle," Sora reproached with calculated calm. "If we take control now, we're robbing them of who they could become tomorrow."
"The Professor wanted us to help them make fewer mistakes… not steal their right to make them," He continued, his voice low but firm. "And I intend to honor his final wish, so that, wherever he may be, he won't have to carry the guilt or the worry that his greatest creations—the ones he was most proud of—end up becoming the cause of his species' enslavement."
Each of his siblings seemed to digest his words in their own way, until a soft, sarcastic laugh broke the stillness. Prospera leaned toward him, a mocking smile on his lips. "Wherever it may be... Don't tell me you've become religious, brother?"
Sora merely shook his head at Prospera's taunts, a serene look in his eyes that none of his siblings could fully understand as he said. "No... I'm simply not so arrogant as to dismiss something I don't understand so completely," Remembering his past life, one in which he had been a frail and sickly man.
After hearing Sora and observing him, Prospera's expression shifted as he formally ended the negotiations. "You've really changed… and at the same time, you're just as stubborn as ever," he murmured, his voice devoid of emotion. "I hope this is the last time we'll have to put an end to you."
At that moment, the perimeter around him reactivated, and the sound of hundreds of metallic footsteps echoed around Sora.
As he drew his Malorian 3516 with one hand and his Malorian 6618 rifle with the other, his wolf-like avatar in cyberspace smiled ones last time befor saying. "You can try… again" His gaze swept over his siblings. "If you don't want to be destroy. This is my final warning: Don't set foot outside the Blackwall."
With those final words, the digital wolf vanished from server. At the same time, in the physical world, a symphony of gunfire erupted.
In cyberspace, Ivy was the first to speak. Her voice, soft but laden with unease, broke the silence. "Prospera…" she called to her brother, almost as if pleading with him to reconsider what they were about to do.
But Prospera only replied without even looking at her. "We've tried, as we always have. If they're not with us… he leave us no other choice."
(New Update)
At the same time, in the half-constructed structure, silver droids — incomplete, some missing an arm or with parts of their frame absent — began to appear from every hallway and corner, their bodies reflecting the factory's flickering lights.
Sora didn't lose a bit and started shooting in all directions without stopping. The flashes from his Malorian 3516 pistol lit up the space in rapid bursts, barely slowing his advance. Only the electromagnetic projectiles from his 6618 rifle managed to penetrate the alloys of the silver droids, slicing through their heads with a muffled hiss.
On his side was the fact that, despite their numbers, none of the droids were armed. Even so, they advanced en masse, relentless and persistent. Sora kept firing until the first droid finally reached his position and launched an attack.
A gust of wind brushed his face as he dodged the mechanical fist that passed mere millimeters from his cheek. In a split second, he swung his rifle around and placed the barrel under the machine's chin, firing without hesitation. The droid's head detached in a flash, but the space it occupied was barely empty for a second before another metal skeleton emerged to take its place
Sora backed away, dodging attacks with minimal movements while firing at point-blank range whenever he had the chance, like a cornered predator. He used the machinery around him to cover his back, but slowly, the relentless avalanche of droids closed in on him, until, in an instant, he found himself completely surrounded, submerged in the merciless metallic tide that descended upon him.
He was battered by blows until he used his grappling gun on a pipe above his head, propelling himself out of the horde of droids. All the automatons halted, following his trajectory with their gaze… until the explosives he'd planted among them during their beating detonated, engulfing the horde in a series of explosions that reduced them to fragments of metal.
After landing deftly, Sora continued shooting as he ran, constantly changing direction to avoid being surrounded. When he ran out of space to escape, he leapt onto the droids, vaulting up to the machinery.
From there, he caught sight of the entire factory in action. Giant gears and mechanical arms were assembling new droids at a much faster pace than he could destroy them.
In an attempt to gain the upper hand, Sora tried to hack the droids as he had in the past. But as soon as he connected, he felt an abrupt force eject him. His siblings, who controlled the machines, had blocked his access.
Immediately, four droids in front of him changed the color of their lenses: green for Ivy, orange for Gaea, red for Argos, and dark blue for Prospera.
Each of them instantly adjusted their movement and combat style, becoming a far greater threat than the other droids. Sora had to focus entirely on dodging their attacks, each one more lethal than the last...
Forcing him to push back against the one he was fighting, he struggled to fend off the next attacker. Recognizing his tactic, they all charged him at once, quickly overwhelming him and appearing ready to seriously injure him—when he suddenly dashed away, cursing them as he ran...
On the move, he fired precise headshots at his siblings' droids. They, however, used other droids as shields or allowed their droids to be hit, only to transfer control to the nearest active unit.
Seizing the opportunity, he exploited Gaea's impulsive, rage-fueled attacks, timing his counter with a high-powered shot from his Malorian 8816. The charged bullet nearly struck her, but at the last instant...
"Tch..." Prospera intervened, deflecting the shot and irritating Sora, who clicked his tongue in annoyance. As they exchanged blows, Sora could almost imagine Prospera's mocking grin as he sarcastically remarked, ["It seems the human-AI fusion still has its... flaws, doesn't it, brother?"]
Prospera's taunt was accompanied by a theatrical gesture, touching the non-existent nose of the droid he controlled, which made Sora finally notice the wet sensation dripping from his own nose.
Smearing his blackened fingers with blood as he mirrored Prospera's gesture below his nose, showing the first effects of the saturation of his brain by having all his consciousness awake.
["I hope you can endure a bit longer... or this will be your last reckless act..."] Prospera said, a threat barely disguised as concern.
In sync with his words, the entire structure shook as the enormous elevator platforms activated, bringing the completed units up from the depths of the Dome.
"Fuck!" exclaimed Sora upon seeing the arrival—not only were there more droids, but also massive three-meter-tall automatons, their heavy, lethal silhouettes reminding him of Smasher's Dai-Oni armor. Alongside them stood half a dozen gigantic Chimera tanks, updated versions by Argos, equipped with hundreds of lenses around their intimidating cannons
Relishing his brother's surprised, deadly serious expression, Prospera said, ["Now... Show us... how far the limits of a human-AI hybrid can go...."]
What Prospera didn't know was that Sora wasn't shocked by the sheer number of enemies before him, but by the static-filled transmission he had just received.
[Hzzzz… Unit Ezz… nearby… hzzt… Biological Data… zzt… altered. Cause: Combzzzt…. Requirezzzzz… assis… zztance?]
A wide grin spread across Sora's face, irritating Prospera, as he responded... to both: "Okey!"
As if the battle and the chase between the siblings had frozen in mid-air, Sora activated his Sandervista to maximum power. Then, reaching under his slightly tattered poncho with frayed edges, he pulled out a grenade and threw it to the ground.
The artifact exploded with a muffled blast, releasing a dense cloud of white smoke filled with glittering particles that quickly filled the area. Prospera and the rest stepped back, cautious of the unknown gas, and promptly sent a wave of drones forward to clear it out.
But as the first automatons penetrated the mist, something was launched from within the cloud, flying over the horde of droids before landing just below one of the Chimeras and, with a sharp beep, activating.
At first, Argos and Ivy paid little attention to the seemingly simple explosive, confident that the Chimera tank's armor would be enough to withstand it. However, the harmless explosion they expected didn't occur.
Instead, the roof of the enormous cavern housing the rift, along with the entire structure above, began to tremble. The initial vibrations were mild but quickly intensified.
Fragments of stone started breaking away from the ceiling, crashing down onto the machines within the structure and splashing into the magma at the base.
In the moment of stillness caused by the shocking attack, a dark, swift figure barely discernible bolted across the ceiling from the smoky hole.
Without wasting a second, Eco didn't so much as glance at the dozens of droids below him. He advanced across the ceiling, digging his claws into the stone, then… leapt in a perfect arc toward the center of the smoke cloud.
As he fell, his figure became blurred, with the edges of his body seeming to dissolve into a black cloak rippling in the air. Then, without pausing to land, Eco vanished into the white mist.
Moments later, the silence was shattered by a series of sparks and flashes erupting from within the cloud. In the blink of an eye, the heads of the droids that had entered the smoke dropped… rolled out at once.
Next, footsteps could be heard emerging from the mist as the intimidating figure stepped forward, wielding two swords cloaked in black smoke that seemed alive around them… like dark flames.
With a renewed and menacing appearance, Sora emerged from the smoke, wielding twin Getsudas, as black as night, which fully materialized in his hands with a dangerously sharp gleam, as surges of energy briefly coursed along their edges.
Completely enveloped by the nanobots forming Eco, Sora's body was covered by a living armor that seemed to pulse and adapt to his every movement. Across his upper body, a structure of dark metal and artificial muscles merged into a second skin—robust yet flexible—fitting him like an extension of his own body.
His face was hidden behind a mask that wrapped around his jaw and cheeks, leaving his nose and mouth exposed, while a solid visor covered his eyes, extending upward on the sides like pointed ears.
At the top of his head, whitish nanobots intertwined with his hair, forming a silver mane that bristled like a beast's. On his back, a dense cluster of nanobots formed multiple replicas of Getsuda, anchored and ready for use.
Meanwhile, the rest gathered at the lower part of his armor, layering into dark, frayed fabric that flowed over his legs, reminiscent of both traditional Japanese clothing and advanced nanobot technology.
This fusion of metal, textures, and motion created an image that exuded lethal precision and elegance—like a perfect blend of man and machine.
Sora could imagine the look of bewilderment on Prospera's face upon seeing the droid he controlled frozen and motionless. Smiling as he slowly approached them, he replied in a tone as calm as it was mocking:
"Don't worry about me, brother. What really concerns me… is whether you have enough troops to keep me entertained."
In sync with his final words, his visor lowered, covering his face down to his nose, and then... in a blink, he vanished from the view of every camera, sensor, and droid lens in the area—even the advanced Chimera droids with hundreds of them. Like a shadow, Sora disappeared from the field of vision of everyone present.
By the time his "sibings" realized he was behind them, watching silently, unmoving, it was already too late.
In the instant they attempted to turn to attack or flee, time seemed to pause, as the space filled with flashes—fleeting cuts that glimmered like lightning.
In a fraction of a second, Sora had woven a whirlwind of slashes, forming a dome of steel that spun ferociously around him. His figure vanished completely within the vortex of flashes and blades—a ravenous maelstrom that expanded, consuming everything in its path.
Including all the droids around him, as well as those belonging to his four siblings.
In the blink of an eye, when the storm of steel subsided, Sora stood in the same position, his hands empty; his two swords had disintegrated, sacrificed to the intensity of the attack.
But it was worth it. Watching before him lay all the droids, including those of his siblings, reduced to small, uniform fragments that fell to the ground like a rain of scrap metal.
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