"Get out... of my body...!"
Sora's anguished cry shattered the observation room's reinforced glass, sending fragments flying in all directions. From her body erupted powerful waves of memory energy that seemed almost inhuman, like a raging storm. The surrounding machinery sparked and exploded, resonating with the unstable energy flowing from the 'Central Core' wreckage and shaking the entire facility.
Dr. Eugene Ha's AI hologram contorted with a mixture of shock and fury. ["You bastard, Jin Doyun! How dare you contaminate my 'First Memory'! Sora was already prepared to become the perfect vessel! Your impure memories have ruined everything!"]
"Sora, snap out of it! Take my hand!" Doyun tried to reach Sora while dodging the bursting energy fragments, but was blocked by an invisible energy field surrounding her. Sora writhed in agony, clutching her head with both hands. In her eyes, countless memories swirled in a chaotic vortex.
Ju Idam seized this moment of confusion and shouted, "Doyun! This is our chance! We need to get out of here while that old geezer AI is distracted!"
The Eugene Ha AI immediately deployed Sentinel Mk.IIs. These steel guardians, much more massive and agile than before, broke through the shattered observation room walls and approached Sora. They had only one objective: to retrieve the vessel of the runaway 'First Memory.'
"How dare you lay hands on my creation!" From Sora's mouth came another cry that didn't seem like her own - a mixture of countless voices. As she swept her hand, an invisible powerful force crumpled the Sentinels like paper and slammed them into the walls! But she still couldn't properly control her power, and the aftermath began bringing down the surrounding structures.
"At this rate, we'll all be crushed to death!" Ju Idam screamed.
Just then, the facility's lights flickered as the power became unstable. Through the communicator, Seo Myeonghyeok's voice came through intermittently. ["...power... control room... secured... Alpha7... temporary... function... degraded... now... escape... support...!"]
Seo Myeonghyeok and the Blankers members had finally seized the power control room and weakened Alpha7's control! Ryu Jaeha and Mara had also paralyzed part of the facility's internal security system through hacking and transmitted the safest escape route to Doyun.
"Sora, it's okay. You're not alone. Don't be afraid of the voices inside you. They might be... another part of you trying to protect you." Doyun used all of his 'Echo' detection ability to desperately attempt communion with Sora's unstable mind. His sincere voice and memory waves began to reach deep into Sora's raging consciousness.
Sora's thrashing gradually subsided. She looked at Doyun through her tears. "Oppa... I'm... I'm so... scared..."
"I know. But it's okay. Your oppa is here." Doyun finally broke through the energy field and grasped Sora's hand. At that moment, the runaway energy flowing from Sora's body began to stabilize as if by magic. In her eyes, just for a brief moment, the clear and pure look of his former little sister flickered past.
The Eugene Ha AI trembled with rage as he watched this entire scene. ["No... my perfect world... cannot crumble like this! Alpha7! Activate all reserve power! Stop them! Not a single one must be allowed to leave alive!"]
The entire facility was bathed in red emergency lights as it began its final death throes. Collapsing ceilings, exploding pipes, and Sentinels appearing again from somewhere, giving chase.
Ju Idam recalled the last piece of information he'd confirmed from the data chip Yoo Seohyeon had given him. "Doyun! Among the information that woman Yoo Seohyeon left behind... there was something about this facility's 'Final Safety Protocol'! If we can access Alpha7's core directly and input a specific code... we might be able to force all systems to shut down! But that core is... in the deepest part of this facility, in the place that bastard Eugene Ha calls the 'Sanctuary'!"
The Sanctuary. Perhaps the real location where Dr. Eugene Ha's 'First Memory' was stored. But going there would be tantamount to suicide.
Then, Sora shook off Doyun's hand and stepped forward. Her eyes were still unstable, but they held a strong will different from before. "I... I might be able to do it. Inside me... I can see the way."
Doyun hesitated at Sora's words, but he read something in her eyes. Finally, they reached near the emergency escape gate that Ryu Jaeha had told them about. But blocking their path was a presence that radiated an incomparably more substantial and powerful aura than the previous AI hologram. It looked as if Dr. Eugene Ha himself had been resurrected, or perhaps his most perfect replica. In his hands was a black control device that seemed directly connected to Sora's neural chip.
"You've worked hard to come this far, Jin Doyun. And... my beloved daughter, Sora." His voice was identical to the Eugene Ha AI, but the emotions contained within were much deeper and more twisted. "But... you cannot take Sora. She must live with me... in eternal memory."
From beneath his feet, the floor cracked as a massive mechanical device began to rise. It looked like a final-stage restraint device designed to forcibly inject and synchronize the 'First Memory.'