Inside the cryo chamber, the cold mist dissipated like fragments of memories disintegrating over time. Kael stood still. He had never seen someone so... unreally beautiful. But it wasn't artificial beauty – it was stillness. As if she had slept through the end of the world.

A "click" sounded. The cryo chamber opened. The girl gasped, as if she had just emerged from a thousand-year dream.

"My name is Kael," he said softly.

"And you?"

The girl raised her head. Her deep, sea-black eyes opened slowly.

"Nova."

A simple name. But in that moment, it rang like an ancient command code that had just been activated.

Reboot memory

Coremind transmitted the necessary data to Nova. The lights around the room flickered in sync with her brainwaves. But Nova didn't flinch. She didn't panic. She didn't cry. She just looked at Kael like she had seen him... before.

"You know me?"

"No. But I know you."

"You are the Last Host. The one who is the crystallisation of all three periods of history: Pre-Destruction, Restoration, and the Aberration Era."

"I don't understand..."

Nova stood up. Her voice didn't tremble, but was steady, as if the wisdom of centuries were speaking at once.

"Before the world fell, humanity split in two: One chose to save the Earth, the other chose to escape to the sky. Those who fled built Skyholm. Those who stayed created the ARK. But Skyholm didn't just flee – they erased history. They rewrote everything, severed the past."

Kael clenched his fists.

"And what am I in all of this?"

Nova looked at him. A sad look.

"You are the only one still connected to the true memory. You... are the witness."

Activation warning

The red light flashed. The Coremind voiced a warning:

"The Skyholm Guard has reached the outer layer. They have the first ARK access codes. Time-out: 4 minutes."

Nova turned to Kael, her eyes no longer as cold as before.

"If you come with me, I will show you where the first betrayal began. But after that... everything will be different. You will not be able to return to Skyholm as a citizen."

Kael looked back at the flashing lights from the ceiling. The metal footsteps were approaching – he could feel them in his spine.

"I do not belong to Skyholm."

Nova smiled.

"Then follow me. To the bottom of the memory."

She held out her hand. Kael took it. The two burst through the door behind the Coremind – sealed by genetic code – and open the path deeper into human history.