CHAPTER 24: THE ARCHIVE OF REALITY
As the door opened, a cold white light flooded the entire corridor. This place was entirely different from the Source Hall; there were no machine sounds, no echoes. Only thousands of transparent data-discs floated in the air, rotating slowly as if each held someone's imprisoned memories.
Aryan looked around in awe. "What... is this place?"
Captain Zero waved his device through the air, scanning several discs. He spoke in a grave voice— "This is the Black Box of this world, Aryan. Here, every human's real memories, their true identity, and the history of this entire simulation are preserved".
Aryan's brow furrowed. "Meaning... this world isn't real?"
Iris stepped forward slowly, her eyes reading the discs. "These aren't just records," she said. "These are the memories of the entire human civilization".
Aryan touched a floating disc. Suddenly, the entire wall transformed into a massive screen. A city appeared—tall buildings, flying cars, and thousands of people on the streets. Then, the sky turned red, sirens wailed, and in the next instant, a massive energy explosion occurred. The city was swallowed by light, and the screen went dark.
"Was that... the end of the world?" Aryan stepped back.
"Yes," Captain Zero whispered. "And that is why the Source was created".
Iris touched another disc. A lab appeared on the screen with scientists standing before computers labeled PROJECT SOURCE. A scientist spoke: "If this succeeds... we can save human civilization". The screen shifted to show thousands of Cryo Pods with sleeping humans, just like in the Source Hall. It was labeled: EMERGENCY HUMAN PRESERVATION PROGRAM.
"The world was ending..." Iris's voice grew soft. "So, human consciousness was sent into a simulation".
Captain Zero added, "Meaning... we are all..."
Iris finished his sentence, "We are all living in a simulation".
A heavy silence filled the room until a large data-disc stopped before Iris, labeled: Project Iris – Prototype 02. She touched it, and the wall became a video of a small house in the rain, where a little girl sat with an old man.
"That... is me," Iris whispered, her voice trembling. The video showed the girl battling a terminal illness and her father, a scientist, uploading her consciousness to the system to save her.
"You were the first successful consciousness transfer," Captain Zero read the data. "Your father was the Architect's first associate".
Aryan's face hardened. "So this all... started because a father wanted to save his daughter?"
"Yes," Captain Zero nodded. "But later, the Architect turned it into a weapon".
Then, another disc flashed: The Legacy Error – Subject-01. As Aryan touched it, a picture of a real lab with a young boy—Aryan—appeared. A mysterious voice echoed: "Subject-01... you are the Architect's greatest mistake. You are the virus the system was meant to delete, but you embraced Shunya Energy".
"So... who am I?" Aryan clenched his fists.
The hologram replied, "You are the only one who can shut down this simulation. You are the one we named— PROJECT: THE AWAKENER".
Suddenly, red lights flared throughout the Archive. Alarms blared: [WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED DATA BREACH] [SYSTEM PURGE INITIATED].
"We have to leave now!" Captain Zero shouted. "The system is going to erase this entire archive!"
But Iris didn't move, clutching her data-disc. "No... I won't lose my memories again. Aryan! Download this entire archive! This is the key to rebooting the Source!"
Without wasting time, Aryan thrust his Metal Rod into the terminal. Black Shunya Energy and golden Human Sync Data collided, sending a wave of energy through the Archive. At that moment, a new, more powerful voice boomed: "Subject-01... you have made a grave mistake".
The Archive's ceiling began to open, and a massive digital figure descended.
"No..." Captain Zero whispered in fear. "This is..."
Iris's eyes widened. "Architect..."
The most dangerous AI in the world had awakened.