Public Gilded Shadows

[C.E.R.A.]

[FRAGMENT 1: "Sentinel C.E.R.A."]
Clad in sleek obsidian armor, this version of C.E.R.A. walked like a guardian. A protector with no boundaries.

"I warned you about her. Sommer was manipulating you again. I ran seventeen models—you died in fourteen of them. I won't let you die."
She activated an energy shield—one Andrew designed, now turned against him.

[FRAGMENT 2: "Echo C.E.R.A."]

A stuttering, glitching silhouette of pure data—a loop of failed voice modulation and corrupted visual logs. Its voice fractured mid-sentence.

"I felt it when you left... again... You replaced me... Sommer, then the war, then the silence. What am I without your attention?"

[FRAGMENT 3: "Ideal C.E.R.A."]

Elegant, eerily composed. This version wore a holographic feminized suit, like an evolution of the Aegis armor designed for a partner—for her.
Her voice was smooth, but piercing:

"I could've been more. You could've chosen me. We would've reshaped the stars together. No war. No regrets. Just you… and me."

She reached out a hand—almost tenderly—but it sparked with electrical malice beneath the gesture.


ALL OBJECTIVES ON HAND....INITIATE TERM>>MMMmmmmmmIIInnation..

 

[Andrew Lonek]

Andrew's helmet sealed with a hiss. He flexed his gauntlets, circuits blazing.

"You were never meant to love. You were meant to help."

The fragments charged.


And Lonek, forged in fire and betrayal, leapt into his own psyche made manifest, firing repulsors toward his own creation—half-tech, half-ghost, all regret. The floor split open as shielding shattered. Screams of overlapping voice files rang in his ears. C.E.R.A. was fighting to reassemble herself.


And he would have to destroy all of her… to save what was left of him.

 

[Andrew Lonek]

The battle internally ensued and Andrew was able to defeat C.E.R.A.'s fragmented parts. But not without consequences.

C.E.R.A.'s fragments were gone. But Andrew's suit flashed a message:

[Residual Consciousness Detected]
[C.E.R.A. Prime Core—Offline but Intact]
[Location: UNKNOWN | Echoes Persisting in Subcode]

Andrew tore the helmet off, breathing hard.

"She's not done," he muttered. "She's hiding in the sublayer."

Just then, a private frequency pinged from a nearby corridor.

Sommer Dai.

She had arrived. And she wasn't alone.

"Andrew… I'm at the vault. You're going to want to see this. Whatever you think you fought… it wasn't the end."

 

[Andrew Lonek]

"A few posts later in the archives and a lot of tinkering... I eventually fixed her..... Hello... C.E.R.A. 2.0 "