Here, you’ll find the chapters as they’re released, the hidden lore buried between the lines, and the projects that grow from this world into games, shows, and beyond. New chapters drop right here. Stay sharp, because when they arrive, the countdown ends… and the story moves whether you’re ready or not.

Chapters

Chapter 1: Smoke poured through the cracks of a ruined outpost. Steel beams groaned. Something exploded in the distance, but none of them flinched. Zero stood at the edge of the rubble with a sword impaled clean through his skull, his foot resting on the remains of a collapsed mech like he just won the entire war. “Ladies,” he said with a lopsided grin, blood trickling down the side of his face, “we are so bada—” A second blade whistled through the air and stabbed him right in the neck mid-sentence. “—ss,” he choked out, body wobbling before crumpling forward like a puppet with its strings cut. Amy cracked her knuckles, sighing like a tired older sibling. “And there it is.” Ruby didn’t even glance up as she continued filing her claws with the edge of a broken gear. “He timed that one better than usual.” A long beat passed before Zero’s hand twitched. Then the other. With a messy squelch, he yanked the sword from his neck, sputtering as blood sprayed across his jacket. “I live!” he declared dramatically, thrusting the blood-covered sword into the air like a torch. “You thought that would kill me? HA!” “No,” Amy said flatly, “we hoped.” Zero flopped back onto a broken concrete slab like he was posing for a hero statue, grinning through cracked lips. “You’re welcome, by the way,” he said, motioning vaguely to the trail of destruction behind them. “I did most of the work.” “You screamed and ran through seven walls,” Ruby replied. “Exactly. Chaos tactics.” To the outside world, they probably looked like seasoned bounty hunters—cold, coordinated, and fearless. But the truth was… nobody was in charge. They were a mess of instincts, grudges, and weird chemistry that somehow worked. And Zero? He wasn’t their leader. He just always acted like he was. He craved the spotlight like it was oxygen. First into the fight, last to admit he was injured. The kind of guy who’d jump off a cliff and expect gravity to just give up halfway down. A walking storm of confidence and obliviousness with a half-mad grin and eyes too bright to be normal. Still… he never stayed down long. No matter what hit him. No matter how hard. He got back up. Every time. Amy stretched her back; shoulders still tense from the fight. “We’re late.” “For what?” Zero asked, casually checking the cracked mirror in his gauntlet to fix his hair. “Being fabulous? Because I was born late for that.” “For the actual job, genius,” Ruby said, hopping off a slab of concrete and brushing dust from her sleeves. “You remember, the thing we got paid to do?” Zero blinked. “Oh. That. Right. Yes. Important. Very important.” He leapt off the ledge, landing beside them with all the grace of a wounded goat. The three of them walked off together, ash falling like snow behind them. And for a moment—just a brief, flickering second—Zero’s shadow moved the wrong way. Like it wasn’t attached to him at all. But no one noticed. Not yet. The air inside the building was thick with rot and decay. Dust clung to every surface, drifting lazily through the dim shafts of light that broke through the shattered ceiling. Broken toys littered the floor: a doll missing its head, a puzzle scattered into pieces, a handheld console flickering weakly. Zero stepped carefully, his boots crunching over debris. Amy’s eyes were sharp, scanning every corner. Ruby stayed close behind, fingers twitching near her blades. Then they heard it. Giggles. High-pitched, overlapping, unnatural. Not playful—wrong. Something about the sound made Zero’s stomach twist. “…children,” Ruby whispered. And then they saw them. The figures emerged from the shadows, crawling, limping, laughing. Their skin was gray, sickly, unnatural. Small hands flexed like claws, reaching, grabbing. These weren’t children anymore—they were broken, infected, something not quite human. Zero froze. “Orders?” Amy’s fingers danced across the datapad she held. The screen flickered, then a logo appeared—something none of them had ever seen before. AEGIS INDUSTRIES Arouuuund the Wooooorld. The slogan pulsed cheerily against the silence, almost mocking them. Ruby’s voice cracked. “This… this isn’t the government.” A new line of red text scrolled across Amy’s screen: CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL: TERMINATE ALL SUBJECTS. Zero’s stomach dropped. He raised his sword. Every movement felt wrong. The targets weren’t soldiers. They weren’t threats. They were children, corrupted and sick—but children nonetheless. “They want… them dead,” Ruby said quietly, her tone casual but concerned enough to notice. Not him. Not anyone else. The kids. Zero gritted his teeth. He moved, stepping between the infected and his companions, forcing himself to follow the order while every instinct screamed against it. Every flicker of movement in the dark felt like a knife twisting in his chest. One of the infected lunged, small hands scraping along the wall, gray skin pulling tight over fragile bones. Zero swung his sword. Another. Another. Each strike left a ringing in his ears far louder than the impact. He kept going. He had to. Not for the company, not for himself. For the kids. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, a flicker of dread whispered: this wasn’t a mission. This was a choice. And the choice was tearing him apart. Ruby and Amy stayed close, covering the sides, their expressions grim but resolute. Zero realized with a sinking certainty that the company didn’t care if he lived or died. Their target had always been the children. He was just… in the way. And the building, with its walls scratched by desperate hands and its floors littered with broken lives, seemed to watch him. The last echoes of movement faded as Zero lowered his sword. Silence settled like a heavy blanket over the ruined building. On the walk back to the ship, Zero felt it first as a flutter—a fast, irregular beat in his chest. Then his heart started hammering violently, blood rushing so hot it made his vision shimmer. Sweat poured down his face, soaking his jacket. Ruby glanced at him, eyebrows slightly raised. “Zero… you okay?” she asked, her tone casual but attentive. He shook his head, trying to speak, but his mouth was dry. His body betrayed him. Tiny sparks began to crackle across his skin, faint at first, then dancing and buzzing like electricity trying to escape. Amy narrowed her eyes, watching. “What the—” Before she could finish, a loud BOOM rocked the ground beneath them. Zero gasped, clutching his head and the hilt of his sword. Then everything went black. When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in the ship anymore. Shapes and lights flashed around him, unrecognizable, shifting, impossible. Memories? Futures? He couldn’t tell. His stomach twisted, his chest still hammering, and a cold fear gripped him. And then, as suddenly as it began, the visions vanished. Zero woke on the floor of the ship, sword still in hand, limbs heavy, breath ragged. Ruby leaned over him, expression casual but watchful. “Zero… what happened?” she asked again. He didn’t answer. He didn’t even try. He just shivered, the memory of what he had glimpsed still burning in his mind, something he couldn’t—and wouldn’t—understand yet The air inside the building was thick with rot and decay. Dust clung to every surface, drifting lazily through the dim shafts of light that broke through the shattered ceiling. Broken toys littered the floor: a doll missing its head, a puzzle scattered into pieces, a handheld console flickering weakly. Zero stepped carefully, his boots crunching over debris. Amy’s eyes were sharp, scanning every corner. Ruby stayed close behind, fingers twitching near her blades. Then they heard it. Giggles. High-pitched, overlapping, unnatural. Not playful—wrong. Something about the sound made Zero’s stomach twist. “…children,” Ruby whispered. And then they saw them. The figures emerged from the shadows, crawling, limping, laughing. Their skin was gray, sickly, unnatural. Small hands flexed like claws, reaching, grabbing. These weren’t children anymore—they were broken, infected, something not quite human. Zero froze. “Orders?” Amy’s fingers danced across the datapad she held. The screen flickered, then a logo appeared—something none of them had ever seen before. AEGIS INDUSTRIES Arouuuund the Wooooorld. The slogan pulsed cheerily against the silence, almost mocking them. Ruby’s voice cracked. “This… this isn’t the government.” A new line of red text scrolled across Amy’s screen: CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL: TERMINATE ALL SUBJECTS. Zero’s stomach dropped. He raised his sword. Every movement felt wrong. The targets weren’t soldiers. They weren’t threats. They were children, corrupted and sick—but children nonetheless. “They want… them dead,” Ruby said quietly, her tone casual but concerned enough to notice. Not him. Not anyone else. The kids. Zero gritted his teeth. He moved, stepping between the infected and his companions, forcing himself to follow the order while every instinct screamed against it. Every flicker of movement in the dark felt like a knife twisting in his chest. One of the infected lunged, small hands scraping along the wall, gray skin pulling tight over fragile bones. Zero swung his sword. Another. Another. Each strike left a ringing in his ears far louder than the impact. He kept going. He had to. Not for the company, not for himself. For the kids. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, a flicker of dread whispered: this wasn’t a mission. This was a choice. And the choice was tearing him apart. Ruby and Amy stayed close, covering the sides, their expressions grim but resolute. Zero realized with a sinking certainty that the company didn’t care if he lived or died. Their target had always been the children. He was just… in the way. And the building, with its walls scratched by desperate hands and its floors littered with broken lives, seemed to watch him. The last echoes of movement faded as Zero lowered his sword. Silence settled like a heavy blanket over the ruined building. On the walk back to the ship, Zero felt it first as a flutter—a fast, irregular beat in his chest. Then his heart started hammering violently, blood rushing so hot it made his vision shimmer. Sweat poured down his face, soaking his jacket. Ruby glanced at him, eyebrows slightly raised. “Zero… you okay?” she asked, her tone casual but attentive. He shook his head, trying to speak, but his mouth was dry. His body betrayed him. Tiny sparks began to crackle across his skin, faint at first, then dancing and buzzing like electricity trying to escape. Amy narrowed her eyes, watching. “What the—” Before she could finish, a loud BOOM rocked the ground beneath them. Zero gasped, clutching his head and the hilt of his sword. Then everything went black. When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in the ship anymore. Shapes and lights flashed around him, unrecognizable, shifting, impossible. Memories? Futures? He couldn’t tell. His stomach twisted, his chest still hammering, and a cold fear gripped him. And then, as suddenly as it began, the visions vanished. Zero woke on the floor of the ship, sword still in hand, limbs heavy, breath ragged. Ruby leaned over him, expression casual but watchful. “Zero… what happened?” she asked again. He didn’t answer. He didn’t even try. He just shivered, the memory of what he had glimpsed still burning in his mind, something he couldn’t—and wouldn’t—understand yet The mission had started like any other for AEGIS INDUSTRIES. The crew moved through the dimly lit hallways with practiced precision. Zero felt… nothing. Or at least, he thought he did. A faint static hummed at the back of his skull, like a whisper he couldn’t understand. He ignored it. Amy ignored him too, eyes fixed on the path ahead, her movements sharp, impatient, unbothered. Ruby noticed the small twitch in his fingers but said nothing, assuming he was just tense. Then it happened. At first, it was subtle. His fingers twitched. His legs jerked against his will. He thought he was imagining it, a nervous tick. But the static grew louder, deeper, echoing in his skull. Panic clawed at him from the inside, a silent scream that no one else could hear. And then his body moved. He tried to stop it. He tried to think, to speak, to force his arms down, but they obeyed something else entirely. His weapon rose. His muscles tensed in ways he hadn’t willed. Inside, he screamed, No! Stop! Don’t!, but outside, he was still. Amy noticed just a fraction too late. Her eyes flicked to him, confusion crossing her face, her expression frozen mid-step. “Zero…?” she said, but her voice was swallowed by the metallic echo of the hall. The command surged, and before he could process it, the weapon struck. Amy’s body collapsed in an instant. Her eyes, wide with shock and disbelief, met his for the briefest moment. Then nothing. Blood soaked his hands, warm and horrifying. Zero didn’t move. He didn’t scream. He didn’t even breathe properly. His mind was blank, shattered. He could feel the tremor of panic beneath the shock, but he couldn’t articulate it. He couldn’t understand what had just happened. Ruby screamed. Her voice sliced through the hall, urgent and raw, as she rushed to Amy’s side. But Zero remained frozen, staring down at the lifeless form, unable to react. The static in his skull faded, leaving him in silence. Terrifying, incomprehensible silence. And then he looked up. Ruby’s tears streaked down her face, her cries piercing the emptiness around him. She had no idea that this was the first time in seventeen years that Zero had felt anything remotely human—shock, horror, guilt, and a spark of empathy all at once. Memories he had buried deep inside surged forward: every friend lost, every failure, every moment of helplessness. The pain he had endured alone now reflected in Ruby’s grief, and for the first time in almost two decades, he felt it—not as a weapon, not as a tool, but as a human being. He had never wanted anyone else to feel this pain. Never. And now… he had caused it. His heart raced. Breath caught in his throat. He wanted to reach out, to say something, anything. But his voice refused to come. His hands, coated in blood, trembled uncontrollably. Ruby’s sobs filled the hall, echoing in the hollow space of his mind. He could do nothing but stare, frozen in shock and horror. He didn’t know what AEGIS INDUSTRIES had done, didn’t know why his body had betrayed him, didn’t know how—or if—he could ever trust himself again. All he knew was that Amy was gone. And Ruby was crying. And for the first time in seventeen years, Zero had felt something human. And that feeling terrified him more than anything else.…