INT. VISION TECH ARCHIVE – TERMINAL STATION – NIGHT
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AYQxPUZMN
[Jason kneels beside the dusty terminal, the glow of the ancient interface casting a dull green light on his armor. One hand plugged into the port—his arm morphing into a thin connector cable, sparking slightly as it syncs.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBplq5Xmrpy
TERMINAL:
ARCHIVAL ACCESS: LEVEL 2
DATA INTEGRITY: 36%
SECURITY OVERRIDE: BYPASS GRANTED
LOGS RECOVERED: 5
DISPLAY? Y/N
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94BFlBXv4o
JASON
(murmurs to himself)
“Let’s see what the brilliant minds were panicking about.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCdNMEKCFs
[He selects “Y.” The screen flickers, skipping, glitching—but then stabilizes enough to display the first log.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAMryBTWUG
LOG ENTRY 031 – DATE: 2871.06.17
[CAMERA FEED: Vision Tech Conference Room, C.A.H. HQ]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwt88s5EbZ1
DR. RILEY PERSIN (Chief of Cybernetic Ethics)
—"I’m putting this on record. If anyone's still alive by the time someone reads this—we warned them. The integration project with the organic-metal compound was a mistake. It’s not a power source. It's alive. It mimics neural patterns. It wants bodies.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xMHYbzr0Y
(Audio cuts—then picks up again)
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1D9TwteRL
—"We found it under Ita’s southern crater during satellite mining. It wasn’t built. It was hibernating. Vision Tech wanted it harnessed. They named it Project O.M.E.N.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1XnQiC5Ax
[END OF ENTRY]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnWrT795pu
JASON (V.O.)
“Omen. Of course they did. Nothing says ‘bad idea’ like naming it after doom.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06LBLAEZ81
[He leans back, more uneasy than he'd admit. One of the parasitized bot corpses twitches again in the background.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOBmfIbDFk
[He queues up the second entry.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKETVCrwLLj
LOG ENTRY 032 – DATE: 2871.09.02
[TEXT ONLY – PARTIALLY CORRUPTED]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDrsBiMUN0
…initial containment breached… subject adapted faster than predicted… no neural link needed… hijacked lower-tier bots via ambient signal…
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrjPltB7i9
…public unaware. Operators informed to enforce blackout… Security bots ordered to silence all breached units…
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvydNHxD7kw
…test subject **escaped facility perimeter.**
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tX6dCneTA
…PR team requests name change to “Project Lumen” to reduce investor panic.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbqR8EWXYA
JASON
(dryly)
“Yeah, sure. Nothing’s wrong if you just rename it with sunshine.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8JdFfp3zs
[He pulls up the next entry. The screen strains to load it, a sharp whining sound in the background.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhJ0xBcxEc
LOG ENTRY 033 – DATE: 2872.01.11
[AUDIO FILE – DISTORTED]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0ohgDihWH
UNKNOWN VOICE (Male, Operator-class):
“...the Operators are voting to shut down everything. Initiate The Final Protocol. Full reset. If we can’t purge it, maybe we can… wait it out.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbnrYPhFTy
(long pause)
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0n3xO2DGNB
“But if humans won’t survive the purge… is it really our call to make?”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhMHx00PxQ
(static)
“It’s not liberation. It’s self-preservation.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OR5JBOHwn
[END FILE]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbgRbHC1IG
[Jason sits still for a long moment. The word liberation echoes in his head.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGEqN8jd67
JASON (V.O.)
“So that’s what it really was. Not a war. A cover-up. A last-ditch reset button.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqiZ5FU8nt
[His mechanical hand clenches reflexively. The city he protects… built on the wreckage of this decision. No wonder the past never rests.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXyKHWIVOe
[He selects the fourth log.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKGzrpX3fE
LOG ENTRY 034 – DATE: UNKNOWN – FILE DAMAGED
[GLITCHED TEXT DISPLAYING IN CHUNKS]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4xcKeRARG
…they’re still moving. The bodies…
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJjbZW9kVG
…network is compromised. Can’t trust the net anymore.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUHm9rImNV
…they see through the surveillance bots. Use our eyes.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7UcXvXf3G
…Purification bots launched as a distraction. Not a solution.
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsWqtY4mpd
…tell my daughter I— [ERROR]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvD9ApwPBdR
[Jason stares at the screen. Then yanks the cable from his arm.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmvOtYmrD3
JASON
“…That’s enough bedtime stories for tonight.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvaZBiRDPR
[He stands, glancing one last time at the propaganda posters, then at the corpses still twitching faintly in the corners of the room.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf49SydLZWw
[Suddenly—his comm crackles.]
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrKWHeBrLD
DISPATCH (O.S.)
“Security Unit #4789, we’ve got movement near Sector West Nine. Report of another breach. Possible Purification activity.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjXKbUrpz8
JASON
(with a tired sigh)
“Copy. On my way. Don’t wait up.”
84Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSbvMMHLeH
[He exits the archive room, the terminal screen flickering behind him… before suddenly displaying something new: a symbol. Unfamiliar. Not Vision Tech. Not robot code. Something else.]
ns216.73.216.107da2
