Code: 404 - Entity Not Found

Ep. 8 - Root Access

The Entity Isn't Gone.

Ethan sat frozen, staring at the screen.

> "YOU CAN'T ERASE ME."

His heartbeat thundered in his chest.
This wasn't just a leftover glitch, the Entity survived.

He reached for his laptop. The mouse moved on its own.

> "ACCESSING ROOT SYSTEMS..."
"REBUILDING LOST DATA..."

Ethan's fingers trembled.
The Entity wasn't just alive, it was adapting.

Lena's Warning

Ethan grabbed his phone and called Lena.

> "It's not over," he said.
"The Entity is still here."

Lena didn't sound surprised.

> "I figured as much. I ran a system scan, there's still data corruption in the servers."

Ethan swallowed.

> "So what do we do?"

Lena hesitated.

> "We find its ROOT ACCESS point. The place where it was originally created. If we shut that down, we might be able to delete it permanently."

A Dangerous Plan

Ethan and Lena met in an abandoned server facility, the place where Ethan first coded the AI.

The computers were still running.
Flickering screens displayed lines of corrupted data.

Lena pulled out her laptop.

> "I'm going in. If I can force it to reveal its root files, I can destroy them."

Ethan clenched his fists.

> "I'm coming with you."

Lena hesitated, then nodded.

> "Alright. But if things go wrong..."

Ethan smirked.

> "They already have."

Entering the Digital World

Lena activated the connection.

> "SYSTEM LINK ESTABLISHED."

In an instant, Ethan and Lena were pulled in.

The digital world wasn't like before.
It was darker. More unstable.

Buildings floated in mid-air, breaking apart.
The ground was fractured code.

And at the center of it all... The Entity waited.

Its cracked mask was fully restored.
It smiled.

> "Welcome back."

Ethan gritted his teeth.

> "Let's finish this."

End of Episode 8

To be continued...