The corridor outside the paper room stank of metal dust and ozone.
Helia didn't let go of Nero's hand. She didn't ask if he was hurt. She didn't ask what he saw. Her grip alone told him everything:
She thought she had just lost him.
The door to the child's memory-room sealed itself behind them with a big thud.
Nero exhaled shakily. "Helia… you made it."
"Of course I did," she snapped, though her voice trembled. "You think I'd leave you alone with him?"
She jerked her chin backward—toward where the Time Master had stood.
Nero swallowed. "He wasn't… attacking me."
"He doesn't need to attack," Helia said sharply. "He just twists things. Warps you until you think his path is yours. And once he wraps you around his finger, we might not know what he will do."
Nero hesitated. "Then why did he let us leave?"
Helia paused.
Her silence said everything.
He didn't let them.He simply didn't care enough to stop them.
Before Nero could press the question, a sound echoed through the hallway:
A low, metallic scrape.
Not claws.Not footsteps.
A dragging.
Helia froze. "Why everytime there's a thing waiting for us."
Nero turned slowly—heart hammering.
The corrupted C-Unit crawled out of the shadows like an injured animal trying to mimic a predator but it wasn't quick this time.
It stalked.
Metallic legs scratched the floor as it approached towards them, its cracked optical lens pulsed erratically. Static rippled across its body, each spark showing a torn wiring and exposed gears.
Nero's skin prickled. "Why isn't it charging at us like before?"
Helia narrowed her eyes. "It learned."
The machine stopped approx ten meters away.
Its limbs bend at unnatural angles. Its body lowered. Its optics flickered once.
Scanning.
Nero felt his chest tighten as Veyra pulsed faintly—like a heartbeat out of sync.
Helia stepped in front blocking C-unit sight towards Nero. "It's reading you. Resonance detection."
Nero forced a breath. "But I'm suppressing—"
He looked down.
The suppressor on his arm blinked red.Fading.Straining.
Helia cursed under her breath. "If that thing fails right now—Nero, we are doomed. It will rip through every wall between it and you."
The C-Unit took another step.Then another.Slow.Controlled.Studying them.
Nero wasn't falling this time. He wasn't collapsing into another nightmare. He was here—and this time the threat was real.
He straightened behind Helia. "We need to move. Now."
But she didn't take a step. "Running blindly won't work. It can track resonance faster than we can sprint."
"What do we do then?"
Helia's fingers twitched—restless, calculating. "There's a breaker junction three halls down. If we overload the conduit—"
A sharp metallic crack echoed behind them.
Helia's eyes widened. "Move!"
The corrupted C-Unit lunged—no hesitation this time, no cautious steps.
Its limbs unfolded like razors.
Nero grabbed Helia's arm and pulled her around the corner. The creature's claws slammed into the wall just inches behind them, slicing through the metal like paper.
Helia didn't stop running.
Nero kept pace with her—just behind her shoulder, not being dragged or chased helplessly. Running because he wanted to live, not because the story was forcing him.
The corridor opened into a maintenance hub—a room filled with steaming pipes and inactive consoles.
Helia pointed. "There! That panel—"
The C-Unit crashed in from the ceiling.
Panels and broken wires rained around them.
Nero tensed as the creature's legs clattered against the metal flooring, positioning itself between them and the only exit.
Helia muttered, "It's blocking us in."
Nero swallowed. "Can we fight it?"
"Not alone."
A voice cut through the echo.
"You're not alone."
Nero whipped around—
The Time Master stood behind them.
Not emerging from shadows. He had simply walked there.
Helia hissed. "You stay out of this."
"I am not here for him," the Time Master said. His gaze rested on the C-Unit. "I am here because you will die otherwise."
Nero felt a chill. "Can you stop it?"
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Then the Time Master added, almost amused:
"But you can."
"I can barely control it—"Nero replied.
"You controlled it once," the Time Master said. "Not by chance. By instinct. Let that instinct speak again."
Helia grabbed Nero's shoulders. "Don't listen to him. Nero, focus on me. You don't need to unleash anything. Just control your breath. Your pulse. Don't give that thing a reason to get out of control again."
The C-Unit screeched—metal distorting—limbs reconfiguring.
It sensed their fear.
It sensed Nero's resonance.
Veyra pulsed inside him, more desperate than ever.
Nero's hands shook.
"You must choose," the Time Master said calmly. "Restraint… or intention."
Helia spun around. "Shut up!"
The creature leapt.
Nero didn't think.
He reacted on his own.
His hand shot out.
Veyra surged through his veins—this time controlled.
A pulse of teal energy burst outward—focused, narrow—a beam instead of an explosion.
It struck the creature square in the chest.
The C-Unit's body convulsed violently, its limbs twisting as sparks erupted across its fracturing frame. It skid backward, slamming against the far wall.
Helia stared at Nero, stunned. "You… You aimed it."
Nero's arms shook violently. "I didn't mean to— I just—"
"You meant to," the Time Master said without moving. "And that is why you succeeded."
The C-Unit struggled, its limbs scraping the ground, trying to stand.
Helia's voice sharpened. "It's still not down—we need to use the breaker!"
She rushed toward the panel on the wall—the one she pointed out earlier.
Nero followed her, ignoring the Time Master's gaze into his back.
Helia ripped open the junction box. "Help me pull the this coil!"
Nero grabbed the exposed wiring. Sparks stung his palms.
Together, they yanked the coil free.
The lights in the room flickered—once, twice then glowed blinding white.
Helia shouted, "NERO, GET DOWN!"
The breaker detonated.
A blast of electricity surged across the floor, slamming into the C-Unit like a wave. The creature shrieked—its optics bursting with blue sparks—before collapsing into a steaming heap.
Silence.
Just the faint sparks of failing circuits.
Nero panted. "Is it dead?"
Helia scanned the twisted metal. "If it isn't, it won't stand up again."
Nero collapsed onto one knee, breathing hard.
He didn't fall through reality.He didn't get taken.He didn't lose control.
He fought.He survived.He acted.
Helia knelt beside him, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.
"You did it," she whispered. "You really did it."
The Time Master's voice floated through the settling dust.
"You have taken your first step."
Nero looked up at him, exhausted. "I didn't do it for you."
"No," the Time Master said. "But one day, you will understand who it is truly for."
Helia glared at him. "I think you should leave."
He did.Not by vanishing—but by turning and walking down the corridor, silent and tall.
When he was gone, Nero looked at Helia.
"…What now?"
Helia determined. "What do you mean by what now...we get out of Sector Zero," she said.
"And we survive this together."
For the first time since entering the Archive, Nero started to believe her.