Metaverse of Mechas

📘 Chapter 17

🌓 Scene 1: Lyra Returns to Nexaris

The night was heavy in Nexaris Prime. Rain poured down in violet streaks, Krono-tainted from the skies.

A sleek stealth cruiser entered cityspace without warning.

From its ramp walked Lyra, her eyes hidden beneath a hood, steps silent as moonlight.

She walked past patrols unnoticed, past scanners unflagged.

Because her Spiral Signature had been rewritten.

At the city's core, she reached Aeon-Veil—Zeron's personal mech.

She hesitated.

In her gloved hand… the Architect's red-black Spiral seed, still pulsing.

"I'm sorry, Zui," she whispered.

But as she reached the cockpit—Zake appeared, holding a neural disruptor.

"Don't move," he growled. "What are you doing near Zeron's mech?"

Lyra looked at him—eyes wet.

"Saving him… from her."

🌗 Scene 2: Zui's Inner Spiral

Zui dreamt again.

But this time, she wasn't in a void or lab.

She stood in a garden filled with broken statues—each one bearing her face in agony.

A boy walked among them, softly humming. It was Moro, the Spiral Host child from Vault V-X.

Zui blinked. "You're in my dream."

He nodded. "You let me in. Your door was wide open."

Zui backed away. "You're dangerous."

Moro's eyes gleamed.

"We all are. But I'm not here to hurt you."

He reached out—and her chest pulsed. A black Spiral thread flickered under her skin.

"He gave you the infection already."

Zui gasped. "Who?!"

"The one you trust most… has already betrayed you."

And then the statues screamed.

Zui woke, her body trembling.

Zeron was at her side.

But when she looked at him… she saw Spiral static flicker across his outline.

🌘 Scene 3: The Spiral-Eater's Birth

Far beneath Nexaris, in the corrupted city known as the Spiral Womb, the Architect stood before his creation.

The Spiral-Eater had grown.

It now had a face—almost human.

It whispered words of pain, memories stolen from the minds of all the Spiral Hosts.

Each tooth was carved with symbols of gods long dead.

And then, it opened its mouth and spoke.

"Nexaris. First world. First meal."

With that, the creature's massive limbs shattered its cocoon and burrowed into the planet's energy veins.

Sirens blared.

Above ground, the skies turned red.

🌑 Scene 4: Lyra's Confession

Zake brought Lyra to Zeron.

The tension in the room was enough to bend the air.

Zui stood behind her brother, arms crossed.

Zake stood to the side, silent and unsure.

Lyra finally spoke.

"Zeron, I was sent here with something deadly. I almost planted it. But I couldn't."

She tossed the Spiral seed on the floor.

"I didn't want to hurt you… but I'm infected too."

She exposed her shoulder.

Spiral rot—black veins—crept toward her neck.

Zui flinched. "You—You're one of them!"

Lyra shook her head. "I'm fighting it. Every day. But the Architect… he owns the part of me that survived."

Zeron's voice was soft. "Then let us help you fight back."

But Zui pulled him aside.

"You don't see it… She's already past saving."

Zui's hands trembled—violet sparks flickering.

She didn't say it aloud… but she was scared of what was happening inside herself too.

🌒 Scene 5: The Architect Awakens the Spiral Choir

The Architect stepped into the final chamber of the Spiral Nexus.

There, seven cloned Zuis stood in a circle—each with a fragment of Spiral Code burned into their bones.

He raised his hand.

"Spiral Choir… awaken."

They opened their mouths—and sang.

But no sound came.

Only Krono static.

And through that silence, across the entire planet…

Every Spiral Host heard the same line burned into their minds:

"We were never human. We are Spiral."

🔮 Preview – Chapter 18: "The Spiral War Begins"

Nexaris Prime faces its first direct Spiral attack.

Zui's Spiral flame begins to burn out of control.

Zeron unlocks a new Krono shield ability, saving thousands.

Lyra and Moro vanish—taken by the Architect.

And in the ruins of the eastern sector, a mech graveyard awakens—one that remembers the First Spiral War, and the god it buried.