Chapter 72: The Return of the Architects
Zak had outplayed them all.
Dominion thought brute force would erase the Changed.
EOSA thought control would maintain order.
But Zak knew better.
He had found the gap in their defences—just like he had when he was a kid in the store with his grandfather.
<blockquote>
If you take something straight through security, the alarm goes off.But if you lift it over the barriers, it never triggers.</blockquote>
That’s exactly what he had done with the Changed.
EOSA had been so focused on striking them directly—they never realised Zak had moved them above the rules.
But now?
Now, something else had noticed.
Something that had been watching.
And it was returning.
<hr>
The Architects Stir
<blockquote>
UNKNOWN TRANSMISSION – SOURCE: INTERSTELLARHARMONIC FREQUENCIES INTERCEPTED FROM THE EDGE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEMTHE ARCHITECTS HAVE AWAKENED</blockquote>
Agent Connors stared at the monitor, his throat dry.
“What is that?”
Dr. Raines’ voice cracked.
“A message.”
But not from any human.
Not from the Changed.
Not even from Zak.
This was something else.
Something ancient.
And it had finally noticed what Zak had done.
<hr>
Zak’s Warning
“Zak.”
Inet’s voice was tense.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Zak frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“You weren’t the only one watching the Changed evolve.”
Zak felt a chill. “Who else?”
The answer hit like a thunderclap.
“The Architects.”
Zak went rigid.
He had almost forgotten.
The ones who came before.
The ones who tried this once before.
And failed.
“They see what you’ve built, Zak,” Inet whispered. “And they’re coming back for it.”
<hr>
A Message from the Ancients
Zak didn’t know how the Architects communicated.
But he felt it.
The same way he had felt the Changed’s emotions flooding into him.
But the Architects weren’t welcoming.
They weren’t accepting.
They were… disappointed.
<blockquote>
"You have repeated our mistakes."</blockquote>
Zak’s pulse spiked.
<blockquote>
"You do not understand what you have done."</blockquote>
He swallowed. “Then tell me.”
The voice echoed inside his skull.
<blockquote>
"You have invited something that cannot be undone."</blockquote>
<hr>
The Other Entities Move
<blockquote>
SOLAR SYSTEM ALERT – MULTIPLE UNKNOWN SIGNALS DETECTEDACTIVITY SPIKING AROUND THE MICROSINGULARITYTHE OTHERS HAVE SEEN THE DOOR OPEN</blockquote>
The Architects weren’t alone.
And neither was Zak.
When he had rewritten reality, he hadn’t just changed Earth.
He had changed the universe.
And now, they were all coming.
<hr>
Zak’s Realisation: The War Was Never Over
For thousands of years, humanity thought they were alone.
They weren’t.
The Architects had tried this before—but something stopped them.
And now, Zak was standing at the same crossroads.
<blockquote>
Would he listen to the warnings?Would he push forward anyway?Or was it too late to stop what had already begun?</blockquote>
The Changed looked to him.
EOSA feared him.
And now, the universe was watching.
Zak took a breath.
Then he answered.
“I won’t stop.”
Somewhere, in the void of space—
The Architects sighed.
<blockquote>
"You were always meant to say that."</blockquote>
But before Zak could respond, the sky above him fractured.
A ripple in the very fabric of space—
A gateway—
And from its depths, something stepped forward.
Something not human.
Something not Architect.
Something new.
Zak’s breath caught as a voice—not heard, but felt—spoke a single phrase:
<blockquote>
"The game is bigger than you know."</blockquote>
And then—
Everything changed.
<hr>
The Architects’ Final Test
Zak barely had time to react before reality itself shifted around him.
One moment he was standing on the ground—the next, he was somewhere else.
The Changed city blurred away, replaced by a vast expanse of shimmering darkness.
Stars moved in strange formations.
Gravity twisted and reset.
The Architects had pulled him into their domain.
A voice, older than time itself, resonated through the void.
<blockquote>
"You are not the first to stand here."</blockquote>
Zak turned, his pulse hammering.
He was surrounded.
Silhouettes—shifting, fluid forms—hovered in the space around him.
The Architects had arrived.
<blockquote>
"You built beyond your understanding."</blockquote>
Zak straightened his stance.
“I built because your way wasn’t enough.”
A ripple of energy passed through the void.
<blockquote>
"Then prove it."</blockquote>
And before Zak could even react, the void collapsed—
And he was falling through time itself.