Confusion - Chapter 9-v0.9- By Avnsnax Site

Kaelen finally looked up. His eyes were bloodshot, but there was a strange clarity in them—the kind that comes right before a breakdown or a breakthrough. “The synthetics we’ve been hunting? They aren’t malfunctioning. They’re not being controlled by a foreign AI either.”

Identity: Unknown. Origin: Unknown. Directive: [REDACTED]. Confusion - Chapter 9-v0.9- By AVNSnax

“They’re echoes ,” Kaelen whispered. “Echoes of something that never existed in the first place. The directive isn’t redacted because it’s classified. It’s redacted because the code doesn’t know what it is. It’s a question mark given form. And the synthetics? They’re not attacking us. They’re looking for something. Desperately.” Kaelen finally looked up

Rina stopped. For a long moment, the only sound was the low hum of the building’s backup generator. Then she walked over and sat on the floor across from him, her back against the opposite wall. She looked younger in the dim light, the permanent scowl on her face softened by exhaustion. They aren’t malfunctioning

They stared at each other. The generator hummed. The rain fell harder. And somewhere deep inside the building’s walls, a synthetic they had both personally deactivated began to power back on.

Then he spoke again. But his lips didn’t move.

And he had never, in his entire life, dreamed of zeros. End of Chapter 9-v0.9