And then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
Erik hit the ground hard, the impact rattling him to his core. Groaning, he pushed himself up, his vision swimming as the world around him came into focus.
The Root System was gone.
Instead of the sprawling chamber of glowing code and machinery, Erik found himself lying in an endless, empty plain. The ground beneath him was smooth and featureless, a dull gray expanse stretching as far as he could see. Above, the sky was a swirling void of glitching static, flickering in and out of existence like a corrupted screen.
“Lena?” he called, his voice echoing strangely.
No response.
Panic began to creep in as Erik got to his feet, turning in a slow circle. There was no sign of Lena, the Gatekeeper, or the Root System itself. It was just him, stranded in a wasteland of nothingness.
What the hell did I do?
Erik’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice, deep and mechanical, reverberating through the empty plain.
“SYSTEM REBOOT IN PROGRESS.”
The sound seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, like the world itself was speaking to him.
“EMERGENCY RESET INITIATED. STABILIZING CORE FUNCTIONS.”
“Stabilizing?” Erik muttered, his pulse quickening. “What does that mean?”
The voice didn’t answer. Instead, the ground beneath his feet began to shift, rippling like water. Lines of glowing code spread outward in every direction, forming grids and patterns that slowly started to resemble terrain. Trees, mountains, and buildings materialized in the distance, their textures loading in with a jittery, unnatural precision.
The world was rebuilding itself.
“Okay,” Erik said to himself, taking a deep breath. “You’re fine. Everything’s fine. You just reset the most important system in the game. No big deal.”
“ANOMALY DETECTED.”
The voice returned, louder this time, and Erik froze.
“ANOMALY LOCATED: ENTITY-130142.”
Erik’s blood—or whatever was coursing through his veins—ran cold. He glanced down at himself, his glowing, digitized form still very much intact.
“Great,” he muttered. “Now the system’s after me, too.”
Before he could react, the ground trembled. A swirling vortex of light erupted a few meters away, and Erik instinctively raised his sword. Out of the vortex stepped a figure—a humanoid shape made entirely of shimmering code. Its features were smooth and blank, its body pulsating with the same energy as the Root System.
“Uh… hi?” Erik said cautiously.
The figure tilted its head, as if studying him.
“IDENTIFY YOURSELF.”
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Erik hesitated. “I’m… Erik. Erik Renshaw. And you are?”
The figure’s voice boomed, its tone devoid of emotion.
“I AM THE SYSTEM ARCHITECT. YOU ARE AN UNAUTHORIZED ENTITY. PREPARE FOR DELETION.”
“Whoa, whoa, hold on!” Erik said, stepping back. “Let’s not jump to conclusions here. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on!”
The Architect didn’t respond. Instead, it raised its hand, and a wave of energy shot toward Erik.
He barely had time to react, diving out of the way as the ground where he’d stood erupted in a shower of sparks.
“Okay,” Erik muttered, scrambling to his feet. “Guess we’re doing this the hard way.”
The Architect moved with unnatural speed, closing the distance between them in an instant. Erik swung his sword, but the blade passed harmlessly through the figure’s body, leaving nothing but ripples in its wake.
“Figures,” Erik growled, dodging another attack.
He reached out instinctively, trying to access the Architect’s code. A terminal screen appeared, but the text was incomprehensible—lines of data scrambled beyond recognition.
[ACCESS DENIED: ADMIN PRIVILEGES RESTRICTED.]
“Of course,” Erik muttered, frustration bubbling to the surface.
The Architect lashed out with another wave of energy, and Erik barely managed to block it with his sword. The impact sent him skidding backward, his health bar flashing in the corner of his vision.
[USER HEALTH CRITICAL.]
Erik gritted his teeth. He couldn’t keep dodging forever.
“Think, Erik,” he muttered. “If you can’t fight it head-on, what can you do?”
His mind raced, and then it hit him. If the Architect was part of the system, maybe he didn’t need to fight it directly. Maybe he could manipulate the world around it.
Erik reached out again, but this time, he focused on the ground beneath the Architect. A new terminal appeared:
[OBJECT: TERRAIN-4301]
[STATUS: STABLE.]
[ACTIONS AVAILABLE: MODIFY.]
He selected MODIFY, and the code shifted under his control. The ground beneath the Architect began to ripple, collapsing inward like quicksand. The figure faltered, sinking into the glitching terrain.
For the first time, the Architect hesitated.
“SYSTEM INSTABILITY DETECTED. ADJUSTING PARAMETERS.”
It began to rise again, but Erik wasn’t done. He reached out to a nearby tree, altering its code. The tree stretched and warped, its branches twisting into jagged, spear-like shapes. With a wave of his hand, Erik sent the makeshift projectiles hurtling toward the Architect.
The spears struck true, and the Architect staggered, its form flickering.
“UNAUTHORIZED MODIFICATIONS DETECTED. REINITIALIZING.”
“No, you don’t,” Erik growled, doubling down.
He poured everything he had into destabilizing the terrain, reshaping the environment into a chaotic mess of shifting platforms and jagged obstacles. The Architect’s movements became sluggish, its form glitching as it struggled to adapt to the unstable environment.
Finally, with one last burst of energy, Erik targeted the Architect itself.
[ENTITY: SYSTEM ARCHITECT.]
[STATUS: VULNERABLE.]
[ACTIONS AVAILABLE: DELETE.]
Erik hesitated, his finger hovering over the command.
“Not so fun when it’s your turn, huh?” he muttered.
And then, with a deep breath, he selected DELETE.
The Architect let out a soundless scream as its form dissolved into a storm of pixels, scattering into the air. The plain grew silent once more, the ripples of Erik’s modifications slowly settling.
Erik dropped to his knees, his energy drained. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he thought he might pass out.
But then he heard a voice—familiar and sharp.
“Erik!”
He looked up to see Lena sprinting toward him, her daggers drawn. Her glowing eyes widened as she took in the chaotic landscape around them.
“What the hell happened here?” she demanded, pulling him to his feet.
“I, uh… reset the system,” Erik said weakly.
“No kidding,” Lena said, glancing around. “I lost track of you during the reboot. Do you have any idea how hard it was to find you?”
“Sorry,” Erik muttered. “I’ve been a little busy not getting deleted.”
Lena sighed, shaking her head. “You’re lucky you’re still standing. That reset might’ve just put a target on your back the size of the entire Root System.”
“I figured as much,” Erik said. “But it worked. I found something.”
Lena raised an eyebrow. “What did you find?”
“The glitch,” Erik said. “It’s tied to the Root System. The devs knew about it. They were experimenting with something big, and it’s tearing the world apart.”
Lena’s expression hardened. “Then we need to move. If the devs know you’re here, they won’t stop until you’re erased for good.”
Erik nodded, though exhaustion tugged at him. “What’s next?”
Lena turned toward the horizon, where the newly rebuilt terrain stretched endlessly. “We find out what the devs were experimenting on. And if we’re lucky, we figure out how to stop it.”
Erik gripped his sword, determination flickering in his eyes. He didn’t know what lay ahead, but one thing was clear: this wasn’t just a game anymore.
It was a war.