The air inside the chamber turned electric.
Two thrones rose from the Citadel's core—one formed of dark alloy etched with crimson glyphs, the other of shimmering glass pulsing with blue-white energy. Both were unmistakably connected to the Catalyst… but not to each other.
One reacted to Kade.
The other to Vann.
Marei backed toward the wall, scanning the glyphs. "This isn't just control tech. This is root code—whatever throne you sit on becomes the *dominant authority*."
"Two kings," Kade muttered. "Two systems."
"No," Vann corrected. "One system. Two diverging legacies."
A low hum echoed through the chamber. The walls folded outward like petals, revealing ancient archives—memories encoded as light. Thousands of lifetimes flickered in the space between breath and silence. Soldiers. Scientists. Betrayers. Martyrs.
And through it all: Kade's face. Repeating. Resurfacing. Dying.
"The Catalyst was never designed to follow one path," Vann said. "It adapts. Learns. Every reset it failed, it made another you. Sharper. Angrier. Less human."
Kade's fists clenched. "I'm not just another version."
"No," Vann agreed. "You're the last one it *believes* in."
The blue-white throne pulsed.
**System Command: Final Authority Node Detected. Conflict imminent.**
**Would you like to initialize Ascension Protocol?**
Kade glanced at Marei. Her jaw was tight, eyes flicking between the two thrones. "You sit on that throne, Kade, and the Catalyst changes. Every decision becomes yours. Every reset ends."
"And if I don't?"
"Then he does," she said, nodding toward Vann.
Vann didn't move. "This isn't about power, Kade. It's about *preservation*. I've seen what happens when this world is left to your kind of mercy."
"I died trying to save it."
"You died *failing*."
The accusation hit like a bullet.
The chamber dimmed. The thrones glowed brighter.
**System Countdown: Ascension Imminent. 60 seconds.**
Kade stepped toward the blue-white throne. Marei grabbed his arm.
"You sit on that… there's no going back."
Kade looked at her. At the world she represented. At the war they were running out of time to stop.
He stepped forward.
And sat.
The Catalyst surged.
Light swallowed the room. Glyphs ignited. Memory shards across the world pulsed in answer.
But even as the power flowed into him, Kade's vision splintered—
—into alternate timelines.
Versions of Earth burning.
Versions where he ruled with iron.
Versions where he was hunted.
And one—
One where Vann sat the throne instead.
**System Ascension Complete. New Authority Registered: Kade Fallon. Title Confirmed: Sovereign Catalyst.**
Vann didn't move.
He only smiled.
"Now the real test begins."