Chapter 28: Beacon of the Forgotten
The fog had thickened.
It curled around the streets like a living thing—coiling through rusted cars, collapsed buildings, and shattered billboards still displaying glitched advertisements from a game world long forgotten.
Zayn tightened the strap on his vest. Every step west felt heavier, not from exhaustion but from the tension of the unknown. The signal pulse from the Core Server led them deeper into what the map labeled as *Sector Null*. An area with no spawn data, no recorded player deaths. A dead zone.
Reina marched ahead with her rifle drawn. Behind her, Max kept glancing over his shoulder. Iris monitored the signal strength. Kira moved silently beside Zayn, eyes narrowed, blade close at hand.
\[Objective: Reach Override Beacon Signal]
\[Distance: 1.4 km | Threat Level: Red]
\[Warning: Signal Interference Detected]
"This place doesn't feel like the rest of the city," Iris said under her breath.
Zayn nodded. "Like it was erased."
They passed through what looked like an abandoned military outpost. Cracked pavement led to barbed fences and broken searchlights. A rusted sign read "Project Nexus – Research Zone 03." The letters below were scratched out, smeared in dried black.
"Another Nexus site," Kira murmured.
Zayn stepped carefully over a trail of bones—human, by the shape. All bleached clean.
Something buzzed in his ear.
He flinched.
Not a sound in the world. In his mind.
A whisper.
It wasn't clear, just a glitchy hum, like audio broken into fragments.
\[...find me…]
He looked up.
Nothing. Just the fog. But he knew he'd heard it.
"Zayn?" Kira's voice steadied him.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm okay."
They pushed on.
Past collapsed barracks. Past crates labeled "Bio-Sample: Class Omega." The world grew quieter with each step.
Then Iris held up her hand.
"We're close."
In the center of a ruined square stood a massive broadcast tower, half-collapsed, its lights flickering weakly. Wires snaked across the ground, attached to a single humming console. The override beacon.
"It's still running," Reina said, surprised. "After all this time?"
Zayn stepped forward.
The Core Server pulsed.
\[Signal Sync Achieved – Fragment 2/4 Detected]
\[Processing Archive Playback…]
The world around them shimmered. Light flared—then memory took shape.
They stood in the same square—but whole.
Soldiers in black uniforms were rushing around the tower. Scientists in hazard suits spoke into consoles. In the center stood a boy in restraints. Pale skin. White hair. Eyes glowing faintly.
"Subject-07," one of the scientists said. "Beginning memory transfer protocol."
Zayn stared.
It was him.
Or someone like him.
\[Voice Log: Project N – Day 87]
*"We isolate trauma, inject it into the core, and let the simulation replicate the triggers. We create survivors. Or we create monsters. Either way, we control the outcome."*
Then it ended.
The memory vanished.
The square was silent again.
Max swore softly. "That was you. Wasn't it?"
Zayn didn't speak. He looked at the restraints in the dirt. Old now. Rusted. But still shaped like the ones from the vision.
"I think I was a test subject," he said. "Part of whatever Project N was trying to build. Soldiers trained in simulated war zones. Memory-coded survivors."
Reina walked slowly to the tower's console. "They didn't just make this game. They turned people into weapons using it."
Then the beacon let out a loud *crack* of static.
The screen flickered—then a face appeared.
A woman. Pale. Hair matted. Her eyes half-mad, but aware.
"You're still alive," she said. "Whoever you are… if you found this beacon… I'm still here."
\[Override Transmission Restored: 36%]
\[Location: Sublevel Alpha – Coordinates Attached]
\[Warning: Containment Failure Detected]
Then the feed cut.
"No way that's real," Max said.
Zayn looked at the tower. Then at the Core Server orb, now glowing with another fragment secured.
"I believe it is."
\[New Objective: Locate Survivor in Sublevel Alpha]
\[Memory Archive Fragment 3/4 Nearby]
\[Devourer Activity Spiking – Movement Detected]
Reina raised her rifle. "We'll need to move fast. They're coming."
Far off, a shriek echoed through the fog.
Closer than before.
Then another.
And another.
Zayn gritted his teeth and drew his weapon.
"Then we don't waste time."
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Author's Note:
Thanks so much for reading Chapter 28! We're diving deeper into Project N, and Zayn's past is becoming clearer—but more dangerous. A real survivor? Or another trap? Either way, the fog is closing in. Hope you're enjoying the arc—I'll see you in Chapter 29!