Part 16 – The Truth Behind the Tribe
Location: Drift Jungle – Core Depth
Beneath the ground lay a cave system where the glitch of the Drift jungle had almost turned transparent.
Instead of trees, there were DAO signal roots — and hidden between those roots was a concealed Drift village.
Zyana's whisper (now clearer):
> "...Don't fight them. Observe. Trust only those whose signal doesn't flicker..."
Rayn:
"Bro… these people were mutants, but… they haven't hurt us yet.
Maybe they're not fully corrupted."
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Tribe Encounter – The Elder
The tribe's elder — a half-human, half-glitch being — appeared before Arshan.
His name was Korrin.
One of his eyes was pure static, the other human — and his voice echoed strangely.
Korrin:
"Have you come to understand the Drift…
or to end our existence on DAO's orders?"
Arshan (directly):
"I'm no DAO puppet.
I'm just here searching for the truth."
Korrin looked deep into his eyes… then spoke slowly:
"Then listen. Our story begins before DAO even existed."
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Tribe History Reveal – DAO's First Mistake
Korrin's voice (narrating):
> "DAO wasn't always a system… it began as a living code.
When the universe was unstable, DAO tried to bring balance.
But the Drift… was its leftover — DAO ignored it, didn't understand it, and isolated it."
> "Our ancestors were DAO's first carriers.
When DAO couldn't control us, it locked us away.
We didn't become Drift… we were turned into Drift."
Arshan and Rayn were stunned.
Rayn:
"So DAO deleted history?"
Korrin:
"We were labeled corrupted… just because we questioned DAO."
---
Zyana's Whisper Intensifies
> Signal Sync: 37%
Mode: Emotional Sync + Pattern Reading
Zyana (softly):
"Arshan… the DAO council knew everything.
But they suppressed the Drift… never tried to understand it."
Arshan (jaw tightening):
"So the system I've been fighting for…
is a liar itself?"
Zyana didn't respond — only silence followed.
---
Scene Shift – DAO Council: Internal Betrayal Begins
Location: High-Table Internal War Room
Council member Marik, a senior analyst, quietly inserted an encrypted chip into DAO's central terminal.
Rika's system alert triggered — an unknown log entry appeared.
Rika (coldly):
"Someone accessed DAO's command line."
Marik (smirking internally):
"DAO must fall… only then can the Drift be understood."
He sent a message across an internal comm channel:
> "Begin Phase 2. DAO Collapse Protocol: Initialized."
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End of Part 16