Part I: The Lock and The Lie
Kai stood over the inert body of the Sentinel, his expression unreadable, a study in focused efficiency. Ume watched him retrieve the glowing Memory Fragment from the creature's core, its faint blue light reflecting in the wet slate of his eyes. The tension between them was palpable, woven from the threads of impossible revelation and necessary deception.
"This is the key," Kai stated simply, holding the fragment aloft. It was larger than the Rank E fragment Ume had gained earlier, humming with a more potent, specialized energy.
"It contains the access code," Ume confirmed, her voice low and steady. She maintained the fiction of her 'admin insight,' though every word felt like a calculated lie pressed against her husband's fragile life. "The Sentinels are designed to store a one-time access key upon destruction. That fragment will interface with the main lock on the Spire's gate."
"Interface," Kai repeated, a touch of dry amusement in his tone. "You speak like a machine, Ume. You see the world in code and function."
Ume met his gaze without flinching. "I am focused on results, Kai. Sentiment is a liability in this place, as is unnecessary conversation. Let's open the gate."
The immense iron gates of The Fallow Spire were three times the height of a man, etched with complex, non-functional glyphs that Hara had likely designed for aesthetics and intimidation.
Kai walked to the lock mechanism—a recessed panel that crackled faintly with residual energy—and pressed the fragment into the interface slot.
A deep, grinding roar echoed through the marsh, the sound of ancient digital mechanisms grinding back to life. The gate swung inward just enough to admit a single person at a time, revealing a dark, cavernous space beyond.
"It worked," Kai observed, turning back to Ume. "Now, we need to address the disruption. That hacker—whoever was trying to bypass the system—will have noticed the moment their power siphon failed. I think they are close."
Ume nodded, the stomach beginning to squeeze and the thought of the attack, the same tactics used to control the Sentinel, it all came to her like the wind.
And all she could think after bringing everything together was a name, Den Wills. Hara's best friend and whom he trusted more than anyone. From the moment they have been friends, Ume would notice some jealousy and hatred in his eyes for Hara. And all the details pointed out that there is a high chance that he might be the attacker and the hacker.
She couldn't say the name aloud. She couldn't confirm if it's really him for now. She could only confirm that the strategies are his and she was sure to find it out as soon as possible.
"The system records all unauthorized code intrusions," Ume explained, keeping her language neutral and technical. "If the hacker was attempting a remote bypass, there will be residue—a digital footprint near the point of failure, which was the central Sentinel."
"Residue?"
"A trail," Ume clarified, stepping past him toward the remaining two Sentinels. "A ghost in the machine. The hacker will assume the failure was a system correction. They will not assume another player sabotaged them unless they find the evidence. We need to find the evidence first, understand their exact attack vector, and erase it, or they will know we are here."
Part II: The Ghost in the Machine
Ume stopped at the base of the central Sentinel, the one that had violently sputtered before going dark. Its metallic skin was cold, and the residual energy around its left arm—the point of the hack—felt subtly different, almost greasy.
"The Memory Fragment from the central unit," Ume instructed, pointing to the spot where its core would have been. "We need to analyze the data within it. It will contain the log of the failed siphon attempt."
Kai, though clearly hesitant to waste a Fragment on mere intelligence, trusted Ume's cold logic of Risk Management. He quickly dispatched the central Sentinel, extracting the second Fragment.
"Now what?" he pressed, holding the humming shard.
"I need to borrow its insight," Ume confessed, watching his reaction carefully. "My Chest allows me to briefly access the knowledge stored in these fragments. I need to know the specific signature of the hack."
Kai hesitated, his eyes narrowing. "You absorb the skill, don't you? Is that your actual power? Not 'admin insight,' but absorption?"
Ume knew the complete truth would shatter their truce. She offered a partial truth, couched in complexity. "My Aspect is not a simple absorption, Kai. It is analysis and temporary replication. I can steal the knowledge required to perform the function of the fragment, be it a skill, a resistance, or, in this case, a log review."
She extended her hand. "The information is volatile. I must take it now."
With extreme reluctance, Kai placed the Fragment in her palm. Ume immediately activated The Chest, directing the immense cognitive effort into the task. The Fragment dissolved, and a torrent of pure, unadulterated code flooded her mind. It was complex, elegant, and chillingly familiar.
This wasn't a corporate hacker. This was a friend, a collaborator, someone who knew Hara's security protocols intimately.
The internal log revealed the attacker's approach: a backdoor loop injection, designed to create an infinite "charge" command, bypassing security checks. It was brilliant, methodical, and signed with a unique, unclear digital signature.
Ume instantly recognized the architecture. It was a variation of a sandbox security exploit Hara and Den had playfully developed three years ago—a ghost key designed to test the system's absolute limit.
Den Wills is here. He is not trying to beat the game; he is trying to break the framework Hara built. He is not a rival player; he is an Internal Threat.
The realization was a punch to her gut, but she kept her face perfectly neutral. She processed the critical data: the Signature Trace, the Injection Point, and the hacker's last known System IP before the connection was severed.
"The attack was a loop injection," Ume announced, handing the empty space where the Fragment had been back to Kai. "It failed because the supply line broke. The Hacker is still unaware.
But the signature trace—the unique ID used to authorize the hack—is still resident in the core code of the remaining Sentinel."
Ume pointed to the sole, fully functional Sentinel on the far left. "That Sentinel holds the key to tracing the hacker's identity and location. We must neutralize it and erase the trace, or we will have a far greater threat than simple monsters hunting us."
And now, she was sure that Den Wills was behind everything and if he finds out she's in the game, he will do anything to kill her and destroy everything.
Part III: Erasing the Evidence
Kai's eyes gleamed with interest. The idea of neutralizing a serious, unseen rival—likely a high-value target—was far more appealing than fighting mere automatons.
"The third Sentinel," Kai calculated, adjusting his grip on his sword. "Its energy is stable now that the siphon is broken. It will be at full power. What's the weakness now, Ume? No riddle, just raw force."
Ume accessed the insights from her previous interaction with the Sentinels. "The core defense remains the same: repulsion of mass. But since the drain failed, its cooling systems will be exposed, having just overcompensated for the sudden energy return."
"The upper shoulder vent?" Kai pressed.
"No," Ume countered firmly. "The primary power coupling. The energy flow will be surging back into the system's main battery. A strike there will overload the coupling, causing an immediate internal shutdown. It requires a vertical plunge, precisely ten centimeters below the main neck bolt."
Kai didn't argue this time. He absorbed the instruction like a set of coordinates. "Ten centimeters. Vertical plunge. Got it."
The engagement was quick and brutal. Kai, using the debris as a springboard, launched himself over the Sentinel's initial suppression burst—a violent flash of blue energy that vaporized the earth where Ume stood seconds before.
He landed on the creature's massive shoulder, ignored its flailing, thick arms, and executed the precise, calculated strike Ume had demanded.
The Sentinel didn't explode or collapse. It emitted a single, deafening error tone—a high, clean frequency—before its entire metallic structure seized up, its lights dimming to black. The Sentinel was down.
"Flawless," Kai said, landing softly beside Ume.
He was breathing slightly harder this time, but his triumph was evident. He collected the third, final Memory Fragment. "Now, what about the trace?
How do we erase the hacker's digital footprint?"
Ume took the third fragment—a [Sentinel System Reset (Function)]—and immediately absorbed it.
The pain of integrating the complex system logic was sharper this time, a cold migraine settling behind her eyes, but she ignored it, focusing on the newly acquired System Reset function.
"The reset function will wipe the internal logs and traces," Ume explained, feeling the temporary digital blueprint of the Sentinel's programming active in her hand. "We use it on the dead Sentinel. The trace is gone. The hacker will only see a system failure, not a rival."
She walked to the final, prone Sentinel and pressed her hand against its cold metallic shell, using the power of the temporary function. A barely visible, pulsing wave of white light enveloped the creature, and a quiet thrum signaled the successful System Reset.
Ume sighed, the energy draining from her, leaving her utterly spent. She had secured the location, eliminated the threat, and erased the evidence of her interference. But the cost was immense: she now knew her husband's attempted killer was closer than ever, a lethal ghost operating in the very code she had been sent to save.
"It is done, Kai," Ume stated, turning towards the now-open gates of The Fallow Spire. "The hacker's work is undone, and we have the keys to the next level. Let's move. We have much further to go."
Kai looked at her, then back at the dark, still Sentinels. "You are an astonishing liar, Ume. And a terrifying ally. I look forward to seeing what other truths you can steal."
They walked toward the Spire, two ruthless minds entering a den of greater threats, bound together by a fragile thread of mutual necessity and deadly secrets. The path ahead was treacherous, and Ume knew she had only delayed the inevitable confrontation with the man she now knew was pursuing them—the hacker who possessed the blueprint for her husband's destruction.