The ground crumbled beneath their feet as Aiden, Lyra, and Rhea sprinted toward the towering Eclipse Engine.
Its wings, now fully unfolded, tore through the sky like the ribs of a dying god.
Lightning of red data crackled with every beat of its pulse.
WORLD OVERRIDE: 81%
Aiden's chest felt like it was burning from the inside
not with fire,
but with memories that weren't his.
He stumbled.
Lyra caught him instantly.
"Aiden, stay with me!"
He gritted his teeth as a surge of light shot from his back like fragments of broken wings.
"I I can't hold it anymore…!"
Rhea spun, blocking debris with her blade.
"Then don't hold it. Control it!"
But the voice inside him growled
"YOU ARE NOT THE ONE IN CONTROL."
Aiden screamed as the Architect's power erupted.
A blue shockwave exploded outward, flattening entire ruins.
Lyra and Rhea were thrown back, sliding across the dirt.
Aiden floated his body glowing with a chaotic fusion of blue, silver, and red code.
His expression twisted between fear, rage, and complete emptiness.
Lyra's eyes widened in horror.
"It's already happening… His limiter is collapsing."
Rhea stood up, coughing.
"Limiter? Then STOP IT!"
Lyra shook her head painfully.
"It's too late. His human consciousness… it's starting to separate."
Aiden opened his eyes
and they weren't Aiden's.
"ARCHITECT SIGNATURE—FULL EMERGENCE."
Lyra walked toward him slowly, trembling.
"Aiden… look at me. Please."
For the first time, the Architect responded.
"YOU… are the limiter."
And Aiden's right hand rose—aiming at her.
A sphere of unstable code formed in his palm.
Lyra did not move.
"If this is what I was created for… then go ahead."
Rhea screamed
"LYRA, MOVE!"
But Lyra closed her eyes.
Aiden's face twitched.
His hand shook.
The sphere flickered.
"Lyra…"
"Aiden, come back to me."
A flash of memory pierced through the Architect's control—
Aiden and Lyra sitting together under the neon lights, laughing.
Her leaning on his shoulder.
His promise: "I'm not afraid as long as you're with me."
Aiden's voice broke through just for a moment.
"I… won't… hurt you…"
He forced his hand downward.
The energy exploded harmlessly into the ground.
A shockwave hit them all.
Aiden dropped to his knees.
Lyra rushed to him and held him tightly, tears glitching down her cheeks like broken pixels.
"You're still there… Aiden, you're still you…"
But only for a moment.
The Architect surged again.
Lyra stood and stepped in front of Aiden as the red sky cracked more violently.
Rhea yelled, "Lyra what are you doing?!"
Lyra looked back once.
"Ending my original purpose."
Her body glowed brighter than ever.
Fractals of light spun around her, forming a halo.
Rhea's eyes widened.
"This… this is your true form?"
Lyra nodded.
"The form of the Limit Protocol. The only thing that can suppress an Architect."
Her hair extended into glowing streams of data.
Her eyes turned into radiant, multi-layered code rings.
Her voice multiplied gentle yet colossal.
"Initiating Limit Break Sequence."
Aiden screamed as the Architect resisted, the ground splitting around him.
Lyra raised her hand, touching his forehead.
"Aiden… I'm going to overwrite the part of me designed to kill you."
Aiden reached out weakly, voice trembling.
"Lyra… don't… you'll erase yourself…"
Lyra smiled gently.
"If it means protecting you… it's worth it."
Rhea grabbed Lyra's arm.
"STOP! You erase yourself, and Aiden loses his anchor! He'll vanish with the Architect!"
Lyra froze.
The Eclipse Engine roaredWORLD OVERRIDE: 96%
Red wings of pure energy spiraled outward.
Aiden's body began lifting again, the Architect taking dominance.
Rhea bit her lip hard enough to bleed.
Then she made her decision.
She grabbed her blade
and stabbed it into the ground.
A massive barrier erupted, shielding all three of them.
Rhea turned to Lyra, eyes fierce.
"You want to save him? Then listen to me."
Lyra blinked, stunned.
Rhea continued:
"If you erase yourself, he loses the person he's fighting to come back to."
Aiden trembled violently, whispering:
"Ly… ra…"
Rhea grabbed Lyra's shoulders.
"The world doesn't need the Limit Protocol."
"Aiden doesn't need a tool."
"He needs you."
Lyra's expression broke glitching in pure emotion.
Aiden reached out to her
"Don't… leave me…"
Lyra fell to her knees, crying silently.
Rhea lifted her sword again.
"I'll hold back the Eclipse Engine."
"You hold on to Aiden."
"Don't let him go."
Lyra wiped her tears.
"I won't."
Aiden's body exploded in blinding light
and Lyra embraced him.
The Architect roared
"YOU CANNOT STOP ME."
Lyra pressed her forehead to Aiden's.
"Watch me."
She poured her entire code into him
not as a limiter,
not as a tool,
but as someone who cared for him beyond her programming.
Aiden's scream tore through the sky
Blue light.
Silver light.
Red light.
Then—
White.
Pure.
Blinding.
World-shaking.
Rhea shielded her eyes as the ruins disintegrated into dust.
The Eclipse Engine's wings shattered.
The corrupted sky evaporated.
And Aiden…
Aiden fell forward, unconscious, into Lyra's arms—
his eyes no longer glowing with Architect code.
Just human.
Just Aiden.
Lyra breathed out.
"You're home."
To Be Continued…