INT. VISION TECH ARCHIVE – TERMINAL STATION – NIGHT
125Please respect copyright.PENANASwYHuf97rt
[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.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANANZatttD8yL
TERMINAL:
ARCHIVAL ACCESS: LEVEL 2
DATA INTEGRITY: 36%
SECURITY OVERRIDE: BYPASS GRANTED
LOGS RECOVERED: 5
DISPLAY? Y/N
125Please respect copyright.PENANAkxoc7gj7KB
JASON
(murmurs to himself)
“Let’s see what the brilliant minds were panicking about.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAeqofGxsaHf
[He selects “Y.” The screen flickers, skipping, glitching—but then stabilizes enough to display the first log.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAER6cfxD5hs
LOG ENTRY 031 – DATE: 2871.06.17
[CAMERA FEED: Vision Tech Conference Room, C.A.H. HQ]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAXon0h2oDgM
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.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAusPaImsy6r
(Audio cuts—then picks up again)
125Please respect copyright.PENANA1hifdumvJF
—"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.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAt1r2ehAA9J
[END OF ENTRY]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAPHoKvoWopW
JASON (V.O.)
“Omen. Of course they did. Nothing says ‘bad idea’ like naming it after doom.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAIwUypLnSUv
[He leans back, more uneasy than he'd admit. One of the parasitized bot corpses twitches again in the background.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANANGIbChvVMb
[He queues up the second entry.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAgTqh8aRzfP
LOG ENTRY 032 – DATE: 2871.09.02
[TEXT ONLY – PARTIALLY CORRUPTED]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAHNV33C0AEV
…initial containment breached… subject adapted faster than predicted… no neural link needed… hijacked lower-tier bots via ambient signal…
125Please respect copyright.PENANA71jxCUTo3Y
…public unaware. Operators informed to enforce blackout… Security bots ordered to silence all breached units…
125Please respect copyright.PENANAlRI8VK2hJg
…test subject **escaped facility perimeter.**
125Please respect copyright.PENANA7Do1UjiEPk
…PR team requests name change to “Project Lumen” to reduce investor panic.
125Please respect copyright.PENANAgrYvPD5fHw
JASON
(dryly)
“Yeah, sure. Nothing’s wrong if you just rename it with sunshine.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAFTcxVRW3j4
[He pulls up the next entry. The screen strains to load it, a sharp whining sound in the background.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAeYJnHGbW2T
LOG ENTRY 033 – DATE: 2872.01.11
[AUDIO FILE – DISTORTED]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAvMGFMcJAiF
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.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANA4kk5vRgdFC
(long pause)
125Please respect copyright.PENANAQDQ0g2mj8k
“But if humans won’t survive the purge… is it really our call to make?”
125Please respect copyright.PENANA1MtkIXTjtr
(static)
“It’s not liberation. It’s self-preservation.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAJSNJkayFHy
[END FILE]
125Please respect copyright.PENANA7JmR6lOiaR
[Jason sits still for a long moment. The word liberation echoes in his head.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAoZQYF8MQJC
JASON (V.O.)
“So that’s what it really was. Not a war. A cover-up. A last-ditch reset button.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAm8YwiNGfDJ
[His mechanical hand clenches reflexively. The city he protects… built on the wreckage of this decision. No wonder the past never rests.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAex0tp9UB7v
[He selects the fourth log.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANA7MYC7oiSPQ
LOG ENTRY 034 – DATE: UNKNOWN – FILE DAMAGED
[GLITCHED TEXT DISPLAYING IN CHUNKS]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAYLJDbeflBj
…they’re still moving. The bodies…
125Please respect copyright.PENANAiP0pglyiAz
…network is compromised. Can’t trust the net anymore.
125Please respect copyright.PENANAMYNYko9Hpm
…they see through the surveillance bots. Use our eyes.
125Please respect copyright.PENANAdmmVha1AUb
…Purification bots launched as a distraction. Not a solution.
125Please respect copyright.PENANAYiEdUJyZsK
…tell my daughter I— [ERROR]
125Please respect copyright.PENANA8edEGKlxFS
[Jason stares at the screen. Then yanks the cable from his arm.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANA5skI7SkU1B
JASON
“…That’s enough bedtime stories for tonight.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAPXIIhWNybX
[He stands, glancing one last time at the propaganda posters, then at the corpses still twitching faintly in the corners of the room.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAA4EJUUpLLO
[Suddenly—his comm crackles.]
125Please respect copyright.PENANAonlFKEC1S7
DISPATCH (O.S.)
“Security Unit #4789, we’ve got movement near Sector West Nine. Report of another breach. Possible Purification activity.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAJT83pTdena
JASON
(with a tired sigh)
“Copy. On my way. Don’t wait up.”
125Please respect copyright.PENANAGXKciVI4cN
[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.]
ns216.73.216.206da2