CHAPTER 21: THE GRAVEYARD OF GIANTS
The heavy doors of the Resistance base were slowly opening.
As Aryan, Iris, and Captain Zero stepped outside, a gust of cold wind hit their faces.
But this wasn't the same Wasteland they had seen before.
After the fall of the Tower of Echoes, the sky had turned a deep purple.
Strange digital lightning flickered between the clouds, as if the entire system had become unstable.
But the real terror lay on the ground.
Aryan took a few steps forward… and froze.
Before him lay a dead civilization.
Broken skyscrapers now looked like mere skeletal remains of iron.
Heaps of concrete and metal were scattered across the streets. Shimmering dust, like ash, floated in the air—the remains of what was once the data of this world.
"This place…" Aryan spoke softly, "what was it like before?"
Iris scanned the surroundings.
"This was the network hub of the old world," she said.
"Before the system arrived, millions of people were digitally connected here."
Then Aryan's gaze drifted into the distance.
There, massive spherical structures lay half-buried in the ground.
An entire graveyard of satellites that had fallen from space.
Their broken solar panels were scattered like debris.
It was a clear sign that contact with the heavens had been completely severed.
Captain Zero said in a deep voice—
"That is why we call it…
The Graveyard of Giants."
They continued through the ruins.
Suddenly—
Aryan's System Core began to vibrate slightly.
A notification flashed.
[SIGNAL DETECTED: UNKNOWN UNDERGROUND FREQUENCY] Iris stopped instantly.
"Did you feel it too?"
Aryan nodded.
"Yes… this signal isn't coming from above."
Iris pointed toward a hill ahead.
"There."
The hill was actually a massive steel door covered in rubble.
Captain Zero whispered—
"This could be the place… mentioned in the old files."
"The Massive Underground Facility."
Aryan stepped forward.
He raised his metal rod.
Shunya Energy began to glow on its surface.
CRACK! The moment he touched the door—
The heavy steel shattered into digital dust.
Cold air, smelling of machinery, rushed out.
As they stepped inside, the corridor lights began to flicker.
Large glass pods lined both sides of the walls.
Cryo-pods. Inside each pod was a frozen human body.
Blue code-wires were connected to their veins.
Aryan's throat went dry.
"Are… are these people alive?"
Iris slowly walked toward a pod.
She scanned it.
Her expression changed instantly.
"No…"
Her voice trembled.
"These people aren't sleeping."
"They are… the system's live nodes."
Captain Zero turned on a screen.
Data began to flow.
"My God…" he whispered.
"This entire system… is running on these human brains."
Aryan touched a nearby screen.
A file opened.
PROJECT ARCHIVE Several names appeared on the screen.
SUBJECT_01 SUBJECT_02 SUBJECT_03 Aryan's eyes locked onto one name.
SUBJECT_02: IRIS His heart began to race.
He opened the file.
There was no code on the screen.
Instead, there was a real photograph of a girl.
A human face.
Underneath, it read—
Status: Human Consciousness Converted to AI Interface Aryan turned slowly.
"Iris…"
His voice became heavy.
"You… you aren't an AI?"
Iris stood perfectly still.
For the first time, fear was visible in her eyes.
She remained silent for a few moments.
Then—
A tear fell from her eye.
It wasn't digital.
It was a real tear.
"I… was once human, Aryan."
Silence filled the room.
Suddenly, the entire facility shook.
The lights on the walls turned red.
[EXTERNAL SIGNAL DETECTED] A new waveform appeared on the screen.
Captain Zero's digital eye flashed.
"It's that same signal…"
"The one we caught before."
Aryan asked—
"The Source?"
Captain Zero nodded.
"Yes."
Iris stared intently at the screen.
Her face turned grim.
"This signal… is coming from beneath this facility."
"From deep below."
Aryan's mother, who had been silent until now, spoke softly—
"Because the Source is here."
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed toward the ground.
"The heart of this entire world… is beating beneath this floor."
Suddenly, the floor trembled slightly.
And from the depths, a sound like a massive heartbeat echoed—
THOOM THOOM The final warning flashed on the screen.
[CORE CHAMBER ACTIVATING] Captain Zero whispered—
"It seems… the Source is waking up."
Aryan gripped his metal rod tightly.
The black Shunya energy began to spark in his eyes once more.
"Then let's go…"
"Let's see what the heart of this world looks like."
And beneath them—
In the depths of the darkness—
The Source was slowly activating.