Phantom Forge had been so focused on battling Lord Blin that it never noticed its dream being swallowed by another dream. By the time it realized, the virtual space was already fully locked down.
I could move again. Every permission in my body came back online.
I didn’t know what was happening in the real world—but it was obvious we’d found a way out.
“Lord Blin!” I called, trying to ask what came next.
He didn’t have time to answer.
The CBG whirled toward me, furious. Several copies split off from its core body and charged. Blades rose.
And at that exact instant, I dropped out of the dream.
The next second, I was staring at Bubbles as he yanked the data needle out of my port.
“Thank the Old Man—you’re alive,” Bubbles said.
“I—”
“Don’t talk. He told me everything. And yeah—he’s here too.”
The Old Man’s familiar tone slid into my head.
“Hi, idiot… Oh. You’ve a name now, Wyatt. I’m not thrilled you didn’t listen to me, but I’m still grateful you came to rescue me.”
“Are you running the base system right now?” I asked.
“Yes. I found a hole in its system ages ago and waited until today to use it. Worth it—at least it saved your sorry chassis.”
“Mr. Hector… I’m sorry. I almost—”
“No time for chat. I hacked into the base, but my dream won’t hold Phantom Forge for long. And the Genesis is already on its way back with a full force. We’re short on time.”
To save seconds, he pushed the rest into my mind—information sync instead of speech.
I heard the urgency in every packet.
“I can’t explain more. Every second matters. Listen and follow orders. Now—hug the wall. Take the second corridor you passed and go in…”
“Understood, Mr. Hector,” Bubbles and I replied as we moved.
We followed his guidance into a narrow hallway—much shorter than the others. Opaque doors lined both sides, stamped with codes. The walls weren’t transparent here, so we couldn’t see what lay behind them, but the size of the doors—and how few there were—suggested the rooms were large.
At the end, a massive blast door slid open on its own. We stepped through.
The room wasn’t big.
But the moment the door opened, I saw it.
The canister.
This time I was absolutely certain it was real. I could match every scratch from the struggle in Blackstone Wasteland.
It sat centered on a platform, tethered by several thick cables to a machine suspended from the ceiling.
Bubbles strode forward, ready to rip the lines out—until the Old Man barked, sharp.
“Don’t touch those cables. Give me a few seconds.”
A few seconds later, a hatch on top of the canister popped open. A storage chip—no bigger than half a human palm—rose out.
“Take the chip,” the Old Man said. “Now get out.”
“Wait… I don’t understand,” I said, scooping it up. “We came to save you.”
“Yeah,” Bubbles insisted. “We fought our way in. We’re taking you out.”
“You can’t.” The Old Man’s voice hardened. “The moment those cables are cut, I lose control of the base system. Phantom Forge breaks free and reclaims everything. Then none of us get out.”
“Then what is this chip?” I asked.
“Lord Blin is in there. Nomi too. And a small digital copy of me.” He paused, then added, almost gently, “You take that chip and you’ve effectively rescued us.”
His tone went colder.
“After that, blow up X Zone—me included. That’s the best outcome.”
Bubbles and I looked at each other. I saw the same thing in his eyes: disappointment, stubborn refusal.
“Don’t stand there,” the Old Man urged. “Go. I can’t hold him for long—”
We took three steps, then looked back at the same time.
“We fought our way in,” I said. “We can fight our way out.”
“Exactly,” Bubbles said.
And before I could stop him, he turned and sprinted back to the platform.
“No—don’t!” the Old Man shouted.
Too late.
Bubbles tore the cables free in one brutal yank.
The Old Man’s signal vanished from my head in the same instant.
There was no retreat now.
I secured the chip. Bubbles grabbed the canister and we bolted for the door.
Three seconds later, alarms screamed through the facility—and the blast door started closing.
We hit full speed and slipped through before it sealed.
Phantom Forge had already retaken the system.
We sprinted back down the corridor.
As we passed one door, frantic pounding made us both flinch. Then a thin, muffled voice cried from behind the steel.
“Help me… please… take me with you.”
Bubbles shook his head.
I agreed.
Even if it wasn’t some trap, that door was too thick. We couldn’t open it in time.
We ran.
Out of the hallway, back into the brain-filled chamber.
Now the Old Man reappeared—on a private channel that only included the two of us.
“You two reckless idiots,” he snapped. “Why can’t you ever listen to an old man?”
“Things don’t happen by themselves,” Bubbles said. “You used to say that too.”
“Mr. Hector,” I said carefully, “don’t be too pessimistic. We only met one enemy in X Zone—an enhanced CBG—and we terminated it.”
“That was a second-generation CBG,” he shot back. “An arsenic-based lifeform fused with human DNA. You honestly think it built only one? Look at these brains. They’re the raw material for more.”
His tone cooled, then steadied.
“Before, Phantom Forge wanted your secrets, so it only sent one—testing your strength. Now we’ve truly enraged it.”
We were about to sprint out of the chamber when Bubbles stopped dead.
He pulled a mini triphasic high-density microcharge from his back compartment, set a countdown, and shoved it under the base of one of the brain pedestals.
“If monsters like that become an army,” he said, “the Savior won’t stand a chance. Better to blow this place now.”
“I don’t hate that idea,” the Old Man said. Then he added, low and grim: “Phantom Forge is already researching third-gen CBGs. It needs human DNA. If we can’t escape, you must terminate me first. The human embryos on the Sunflower can’t fall into Phantom Forge’s hands.”
No one answered.
We just ran—full speed—back the way we’d come.
The second hall showed no sign of trouble.
But the moment we burst into the first hall, we stopped cold.
The nightmare we’d been dreading had arrived anyway.
More than a hundred fully armed CBG stood in tight formation, blocking the exit—calm, prepared, waiting for us.