Kill to evolve: A system that demands blood
Chapter 44: Erased

Chapter 44: Erased

Chapter 44

The Sentinel chopper descended onto the rooftop landing pad of the HQ with surgical precision, its blades kicking up a storm of dust and wind as security operatives rushed forward. Doors hissed open the moment they touched down.

A team of medics and technicians were already waiting.

"Move him!" one barked.

"I’m not dying," Ronan muttered as they tried to help him off the chopper.

"You look like crap," one of them replied flatly, pressing a scanner to his temple.

"Thanks," Ronan grunted, swatting the device away as Karla rolled her eyes and followed close behind.

Myles led the way into the building, barking orders into his comms. "Clear Lab-03. I want full isolation, all external feeds cut. And prep the sync chamber."

"What’s the sync chamber?" Dez asked, jogging to keep up.

"It’s where we plug into a system’s root—monitor its code directly. Think of it like open-brain surgery for system users."

"Neat. Creepy, but neat."

Ronan was guided through layers of biometric security before being led into a sterile, brightly lit lab with glass walls and floating holographic interfaces.

The sync chamber sat in the center like a futuristic medical pod—half-capsule, half-coffin. A thick cable ran from the back into a glowing orb mounted on the wall. The system core.

Myles turned to Ronan. "Lie down. I’m going to connect your nervous system directly to the system’s code through a neural trace."

"Cool. No pressure," Ronan muttered, climbing in and lying flat as the capsule hissed and closed over his body. A gentle hum filled the room.

Myles tapped on his screen. "Beginning sync... now."

Lines of code scrolled rapidly across the wall-mounted display. Data packets surged through the orb, and then—

ERROR. UNAUTHORIZED CODE DETECTED.

The system jolted.

"What the hell?" Karla stepped back as red warning signs flashed around the lab.

Myles cursed under his breath. "It’s rejecting the sync—someone added a failsafe. Every time we try to access the deeper layers, it starts corrupting its own data."

"Like it’s defending itself," Mila said.

"No," Myles whispered. "Like someone programmed it to fight back."

Then came a sound, low, almost like static, but layered with a voice that didn’t belong.

"He’s not yours to fix."

The screens glitched. The capsule trembled.

"He’s mine."

"Shut it down!" Karla shouted.

Myles slammed his fist on the emergency override.

The capsule hissed open, and Ronan bolted upright, drenched in sweat and panting like he’d run a marathon.

"I saw him," Ronan gasped. "In the code. He was there. Like a shadow inside the system."

Myles paled. "He’s already integrated. You weren’t hallucinating, he’s laced into the core functions. That’s why it shut down before. He’s overriding you from inside."

Ronan slid off the capsule and stood on shaky legs. "Then pull him out."

Myles shook his head. "Not that simple. If we extract the foreign code, we risk destroying the whole system. That thing is your system now."

Silence.

Then Siena stepped forward. "There has to be a way to separate them."

"There is," Myles said hesitantly. "We run a system purge. Wipe it all. Start from scratch. Reset everything back to zero."

"You mean... delete it?" Ronan asked, stunned.

"Everything. Your abilities. Your stats. Your system history. Gone. You’ll be back to baseline, assuming you survive the re-sync."

"Will he still be in there?" Karla asked.

"No. But neither will Ronan’s progress."

Ronan ran a hand through his hair, overwhelmed. "So either I live with a psycho lurking in my head... or I start over like a level-one noob?"

Myles nodded.

Ronan took a breath and looked up at Myles. "Then do it. Wipe the damn thing."

Karla’s head snapped toward him. "Ronan—"

"I’m not risking anyone’s life because I was too proud to let go of a few levels and stats," he said firmly. "That bastard’s already talking through my system. Next thing you know, he’s taking over my body."

Myles hesitated. "You realize if this fails—"

"Yeah, yeah. Brain turns into pudding, or whatever." Ronan gave a thin smile. "Let’s roll the dice."

The room fell silent. Even Dez had nothing to joke about.

"Alright," Myles finally said. "I’ll initiate a full purge. You’ll be unconscious during the process. We’ll start a fresh sync and see if your system bonds without the intruder."

Ronan climbed back into the capsule, slower this time. More aware.

As the lid hissed shut, Karla leaned in close. "You better come back."

"I will," he said quietly. "Just don’t let Dez name my abilities again."

"I make no promises," Dez called out.

Myles nodded to Siena. "Triggering purge... now."

The capsule lights dimmed.

A low hum filled the lab as the orb connected again. This time, the code turned white-hot, burning through every fragment of corrupted data. Ronan’s system stats flickered, glitched, then dropped to zero.

Inside the capsule, Ronan felt it.

The pull. Like someone yanking his soul out through his spine.

Pain screamed through his nerves, but he didn’t move. Couldn’t.

In the void, he saw him again—that shadow with eyes like dying stars.

"You really think this erases me?"

Ronan didn’t answer. He just clenched his jaw and pushed back.

"I’ll find you again."

"No," Ronan whispered, voice shaking. "Tbe next time we meet, it’ll be my turn."

Then, light.

The shadow vanished in a burst of static, and everything went still.

In the lab, the capsule powered down. The orb dimmed. The room was silent.

Myles swallowed. "Vitals?"

Mila checked. "Stable... but barely. He’s in system-zero. No data, no connection. Clean slate."

"Begin the re-sync," Myles said. "Let’s see if he comes back."

Thirty minutes later...

The capsule hissed open with a faint click.

Ronan lay there, eyes closed, then they fluttered open.

Karla stepped closer. "Ronan?"

He blinked slowly, then sat up with a groan.

"Please tell me I didn’t just dream that reset and this is all a prank."

Dez grinned. "Nope. Welcome back, rookie."

Ronan exhaled, exhausted but conscious. "Alright. So what powers do I have now?"

Myles pulled up the screen. Then frowned. "That’s... impossible."

Everyone looked up.

"What?" Ronan asked.

Myles turned the tablet toward him.

What the hell? His stats... they weren’t erased, but instead....they had increased....but how?

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