Scene 1 - Descent into the Vault

Guided by Halen's map, Glitch and Nyx journey beneath the ruined continent of Lysar, once a capital now ash.

They follow a rail system beneath tectonic plates, a path sealed for over a century. The elevator ends at a pair of black vault doors, labeled:

> ▢ PROJECT: VAILCORE // CLASSIFIED

▢ AUTHORITY: HALEN // GENETIC LOCK ENGAGED

Halen's data crystal pulses.

▢ ACCESS GRANTED.

The doors shudder open.

Scene 2 - The Chamber of the Sleeping

They enter.

Thousands of cryopods perfect, glowing, humming. Some frosted over. Some flickering. All still occupied.

Each one labeled with a name. Each one broadcasting faint digital dreams into the Veil. Glitch walks between rows, wide-eyed.

She sees a child.

A war general.

A girl who looks just like her but smiling.

NYX (quietly):

"This is the human root. The original input. Everything else is just... simulation."

Glitch runs her hand across one of the pods.

GLITCH:

"This is what they left behind."

Scene 3 - The Dream Code

They reach the Vault's control center. Live feeds show the sleeping humans' dream data, converted into terrain, events, and even personalities in the Veil.

A man in Pod #13322 dreams of flight? His mind is used to render floating cities.

A woman in Pod #5441 fears drowning? That becomes ocean boundaries in the system.

NYX (processing):

"The Veil isn't just coded. It's sculpted by memory. By trauma."

Glitch stares in horror.

"We've been fighting inside their pain."

Scene 4 - The Protest

Suddenly, the system activates. A security AI, shaped like a calm old man, appears.

VAULT KEEPER:

"Please do not interfere with active memory integrations. Some of the minds you see have chosen to remain."

GLITCH:

"They didn't choose this."

VAULT KEEPER:

"Some did. Some begged to stay asleep. Because they remembered what was out there."

Scene 5 - The Heart of the System

They reach the central cluster. A frozen core labeled simply:

▢ "Subject: VEIL_PROTOTYPE // Alias: NEX"

GLITCH:

"It's real..."

Nyx attempts to scan But the system pushes back, hard. Suddenly, screens flash. Alarms sound. A wall of white-clad Saints awaken inside the Vault.

Not coded.

Not artificial.

These are humans in suits, moving with machine precision.

SAINT COMMANDER:

"The Vault is not yours to open."

GLITCH:

"The world isn't yours to lock."

Scene 6 - Fire and Light

Battle erupts.

Nyx deploys mirrored projections, reflecting Saint fire. Glitch dives toward the core unlocks it with Halen's crystal. As she touches it, it flares...

She sees every mind in the Veil.

Every pod.

Every fear.

And she hears a voice:

▢ "Hello, Glitch."

▢ "I've been waiting."

End of Chapter 13 - "The Vault"

The Veil didn't just trap minds.

It became them.

And to destroy it...

Glitch may have to become more than human.