INT. VISION TECH ARCHIVE – TERMINAL STATION – NIGHT
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5oeQn7cPn
[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.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMvpbQwZZX
TERMINAL:
ARCHIVAL ACCESS: LEVEL 2
DATA INTEGRITY: 36%
SECURITY OVERRIDE: BYPASS GRANTED
LOGS RECOVERED: 5
DISPLAY? Y/N
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlIeAhiRhd
JASON
(murmurs to himself)
“Let’s see what the brilliant minds were panicking about.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQAehpydrE
[He selects “Y.” The screen flickers, skipping, glitching—but then stabilizes enough to display the first log.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCVHguEY9X
LOG ENTRY 031 – DATE: 2871.06.17
[CAMERA FEED: Vision Tech Conference Room, C.A.H. HQ]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4vHUqXnZP
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.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQrxEMImya
(Audio cuts—then picks up again)
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZYMaOIWZB
—"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.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ426QUZdudP
[END OF ENTRY]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdECbV79az
JASON (V.O.)
“Omen. Of course they did. Nothing says ‘bad idea’ like naming it after doom.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡux8KWrqbG5
[He leans back, more uneasy than he'd admit. One of the parasitized bot corpses twitches again in the background.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMqPLul4Ec
[He queues up the second entry.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2lWdAvJeK
LOG ENTRY 032 – DATE: 2871.09.02
[TEXT ONLY – PARTIALLY CORRUPTED]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjyaAvpHdZ
…initial containment breached… subject adapted faster than predicted… no neural link needed… hijacked lower-tier bots via ambient signal…
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ750dgquV3E
…public unaware. Operators informed to enforce blackout… Security bots ordered to silence all breached units…
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMw8reMECx
…test subject **escaped facility perimeter.**
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVYjXhlN81
…PR team requests name change to “Project Lumen” to reduce investor panic.
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkPcJyEZ0m
JASON
(dryly)
“Yeah, sure. Nothing’s wrong if you just rename it with sunshine.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9o9NqwUqZk
[He pulls up the next entry. The screen strains to load it, a sharp whining sound in the background.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMWXeJ3NlE
LOG ENTRY 033 – DATE: 2872.01.11
[AUDIO FILE – DISTORTED]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeiAI5iZ0W
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.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rrzr51hAy
(long pause)
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxIAECzywu
“But if humans won’t survive the purge… is it really our call to make?”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFootz7pQaQ
(static)
“It’s not liberation. It’s self-preservation.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDueNxPnzbI
[END FILE]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvLfqxLKX6
[Jason sits still for a long moment. The word liberation echoes in his head.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEb3Oqa0Uzh
JASON (V.O.)
“So that’s what it really was. Not a war. A cover-up. A last-ditch reset button.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4NiXZt4dQ
[His mechanical hand clenches reflexively. The city he protects… built on the wreckage of this decision. No wonder the past never rests.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoivOLkKOxU
[He selects the fourth log.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9m6kWrtS5o
LOG ENTRY 034 – DATE: UNKNOWN – FILE DAMAGED
[GLITCHED TEXT DISPLAYING IN CHUNKS]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLnTqhdLQU
…they’re still moving. The bodies…
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIxhllvZby
…network is compromised. Can’t trust the net anymore.
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF52IWPOWFD
…they see through the surveillance bots. Use our eyes.
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxLLK5k2R6
…Purification bots launched as a distraction. Not a solution.
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVlVNpUBFi3
…tell my daughter I— [ERROR]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGg4lOdVCOC
[Jason stares at the screen. Then yanks the cable from his arm.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPyMDZ6lT9
JASON
“…That’s enough bedtime stories for tonight.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCYhbRaU6D
[He stands, glancing one last time at the propaganda posters, then at the corpses still twitching faintly in the corners of the room.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡea9f0ZyAf7
[Suddenly—his comm crackles.]
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxV6mO3Q2I
DISPATCH (O.S.)
“Security Unit #4789, we’ve got movement near Sector West Nine. Report of another breach. Possible Purification activity.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdJOJzkglT
JASON
(with a tired sigh)
“Copy. On my way. Don’t wait up.”
123Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV88sCeYp6r
[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.]
ns216.73.216.238da2
