In a post-nuclear world fractured between Matter and Spirit, Compact pilot Rhys Carrick trusts the system. His life is defined by the rigid logic of his Warden-class Mecha and the orders he receives from the Babylon Towers; for him, obedience is survival. But his loyalty is shattered in a desolate ravine when his commanders, in a secret pact with their Ascended enemies, sacrifice their own troops. Rhys and a lone Ascended oracle, Nysa Calder, are the only survivors, left for dead in a kill zone where the only sound is the frantic Geiger click of approaching patrols. Marked as traitors and hunted by both factions, the soldier of technology and the prophet of a faith she no longer feels forge a fragile truce. To understand why they were betrayed, they must navigate the lawless Grey Wastes, where scavengers pick at the bones of civilization. Their hunt leads them to the Sunken Archive, a pre-Fall data bunker haunted by ghosts of the past, and the horrifying secret behind the massacre: the Keystone Slate, a terraforming engine that can either restore the world by annihilating all spiritual life, or irradiate the planet to dissolve all matter. It's a doomsday switch, and a fanatic who understands its true power is closing in, eager to force a final, terrible "purity." Trapped between armies and zealots, Rhys and Nysa face an impossible choice. They can trigger the engine's failsafe, destroying the ultimate weapon and branding themselves as traitors to their entire world. The price of this defiance is the loss of any relationship they once had, making them permanent exiles. The alternative is to do nothing and allow a madman to press the button on armageddon. They were components in a war machine, gears in a system designed to fail. Now, they must decide if they are willing to break that machine, even if it means being shattered themselves. In a world demanding absolute obedience, what is the cost of a single, defiant choice?
31 chapters
In a post-nuclear world fractured between Matter and Spirit, Compact pilot Rhys Carrick trusts the system. His life is defined by the rigid logic of his Warden-class Mecha and the orders he receives from the Babylon Towers; for him, obedience is survival. But his loyalty is shattered in a desolate ravine when his commanders, in a secret pact with their Ascended enemies, sacrifice their own troops. Rhys and a lone Ascended oracle, Nysa Calder, are the only survivors, left for dead in a kill zone where the only sound is the frantic Geiger click of approaching patrols. Marked as traitors and hunted by both factions, the soldier of technology and the prophet of a faith she no longer feels forge a fragile truce. To understand why they were betrayed, they must navigate the lawless Grey Wastes, where scavengers pick at the bones of civilization. Their hunt leads them to the Sunken Archive, a pre-Fall data bunker haunted by ghosts of the past, and the horrifying secret behind the massacre: the Keystone Slate, a terraforming engine that can either restore the world by annihilating all spiritual life, or irradiate the planet to dissolve all matter. It's a doomsday switch, and a fanatic who understands its true power is closing in, eager to force a final, terrible "purity." Trapped between armies and zealots, Rhys and Nysa face an impossible choice. They can trigger the engine's failsafe, destroying the ultimate weapon and branding themselves as traitors to their entire world. The price of this defiance is the loss of any relationship they once had, making them permanent exiles. The alternative is to do nothing and allow a madman to press the button on armageddon. They were components in a war machine, gears in a system designed to fail. Now, they must decide if they are willing to break that machine, even if it means being shattered themselves. In a world demanding absolute obedience, what is the cost of a single, defiant choice?
World
