ARIA

"Get back! The whole thing's coming down!"

The shout barely registers over the groaning metal above me, and I keep moving deeper into the tunnel because I heard something that nobody else seems to notice. A child's cry, muffled and weak, cutting through the chaos.

"Hayes, what are you doing? Get out of there!"

My supervisor's voice desperately crackles through the radio, but I ignore it because I have never been able to walk away from someone who needs help, and right now that little girl needs me more than I need to survive this. The tunnel shakes violently around me, dust raining down from the cracked ceiling, and I spot the child pinned beneath a collapsed beam, her small body trembling as she screams for her mother.

"Somebody help me! Please, somebody help!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming, stay with me."

I drop to my knees beside her, ignoring the rough debris cutting into my palms, and I grip her face gently to force her gaze away from the darkness above us. Her legs are trapped under the beam, blood seeping through her torn clothes, and her eyes are wide with terror that makes my chest ache.

"Hey, hey, look at me. What's your name?"

"L-Lily. My name is Lily."

"Lily, that's a beautiful name." I grab the beam with both hands, ignoring the sharp edges digging into my flesh. "I need you to stay still for me. Can you do that?"

She nods frantically, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please, I don't want to die. I don't want to die."

"You are not going to die." The words come out stronger than I feel, the beam shifting slightly as I strain against it. "I promise you that. You hear me? I'm getting you out of here, Lily. Just hold on a little longer."

"Aria, I'm ordering you to evacuate! That tunnel is going to collapse any second!" My supervisors voice echoed loudly.

"I can't leave her!"

The metal screeches as I push upward, the weight nearly crushing me as I wedge my shoulder underneath and use every ounce of strength I have left. Lily screams again, and I grit my teeth and push harder until the beam moves just enough for her to pull her legs free.

"Move! Crawl toward the light! Go, go, go!"

She scrambles forward on her hands and knees, crying and coughing from the dust, and I follow behind her, my body screaming in protest as I drag myself through the debris. The entrance is so close now, I can see the emergency lights flickering and the rescue workers waving their arms frantically.

"She's coming! Get the stretcher ready!"

"Come on, Aria! Now!"

I grab Lily's ankle and yank her forward just as the ceiling behind us collapses in a loud sound, the sound so loud it feels like my eardrums have burst. I push her toward the waiting arms of the rescue workers, her small body pulled to safety, and I see her face turn back toward me as she screams my name.

"Miss! Miss, come on!"

"I'm coming, I'm—"

I try to move, I try to crawl forward, but the ground gives way beneath me and I feel myself falling into darkness. Strange lights begin appearing through the gaps above, beautiful streaks of light painting the sky in colors I have never seen before, and I watch them as I fall, mesmerized despite everything.

"Did you see that? What is that?"

"It's a meteor shower. They're everywhere. Something's wrong."

"Is that... is that an explosion?"

The ground begins shaking even harder than before, the tremors spreading across the city like waves, and I realize this is not just a collapsed tunnel but something much bigger. The meteors are not ordinary, the energy they release spreading across Earth like a disease, disrupting technology and changing the atmosphere and triggering disasters all over the world.

The Fall. That is what they will call it later. The moment humanity's old world ended forever.

I hit the ground hard, my body broken in ways I cannot even feel anymore, and my vision fades in and out as the ceiling collapses completely above me. I can still hear Lily's screams echoing somewhere far away, her small voice calling for me over and over again.

"Miss! Miss!"

"Get her out of here! Move, move, move!"

"She saved my life. Please, she saved my life, please go back for her!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. There's nothing we can do now."

Please, I whisper through the blood filling my mouth, please, let her be okay. The girl survives, I see her small silhouette being carried away by rescue workers before the darkness swallows everything, and my final thought is not fear for myself but relief that she made it out alive.

Then I close my eyes, believing my story has ended.

A cold voice echoes through my fading consciousness, speaking directly inside my mind without any warmth whatsoever.

[Life signs detected.]

"Who's there?" I ask.

[Host consciousness unstable.]

"I said who's there? What is this?"

[Analyzing final action. Survival instinct confirmed. Self-sacrificial behavior confirmed. Rare compatibility detected.]

The voice studies my choices and my memories and the moment I sacrificed my own survival for another person, and I try to demand answers but my body refuses to respond.

"Where are you? I can't see anyone."

[System 001 has selected a host.]

"I don't understand. I'm dying. I should be dead."

[Beginning binding process.]

A strange warmth spreads through my fading consciousness, something indescribable that pulls me away from the darkness and pushes me toward something else entirely.

"Wait. What's happening to me? What is this?"

[System 001 binding complete. Welcome, Host. Awaiting awakening.]

"What does that mean? You can't just say things like that and expect me to—"

[Host consciousness fading. Hold steady.]

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about! What are you?"

[System 001 is your guide. Continue holding steady. Awakening imminent.]

The warmth intensifies, spreading through my chest and limbs and head, and I feel myself being pulled away from the collapsed tunnel, away from the broken body I left behind, away from everything I have ever known.

"Where are you taking me? Answer me!"

Before I can finish my question, before I can understand what is happening, everything disappears and I am gone.

[System 001 binding complete.]

[Welcome, Host.]

[Awaiting awakening.]