Ash barely had time to catch his breath before the forest reacted.
Not the trees.
Not the wind.
The system.
The invisible network buried beneath the soil and threaded through the facility ruins.
Silva heard it first—a deep, vibrating hum rising through the earth like something awakening.
Her eyes widened.
"No… no, no, no—Ash, the project firewall detected your rewrite!"
Palo stiffened, instinctively pulling Ash closer.
"The what?!"
The Founder took a step back, pale.
"The firewall… was designed to contain you. If it senses unauthorized changes to your core, it triggers emergency protocols."
Ash's symbol pulsed once—faint but warning.
"What kind of protocols?"
Silva's voice was thin.
"The kind meant to stop you. Or control you. Or… reset you."
Ash froze.
"Reset?"
The copy's face darkened with recognition.
"It means wiping you. Returning you to the original baseline. Before choices. Before memories."
Palo felt his blood go cold.
"You mean… killing who he is."
The Founder didn't deny it.
A low rumble shook the ground.
Silva cursed under her breath.
"They activated the Core Reinforcement Nodes. This whole clearing is inside a lockdown zone now."
The air thickened—like the atmosphere itself had turned heavy.
Ash