Jude turned, trying to get his bearings. There was no sign of Lena. No sign of the Architects.
Only the unknown.
A figure stood in the distance.
Jude tensed.
They were waiting for him.
Jude's breath was steady, but his mind raced. The vast expanse around him felt surreal, like standing inside a dream where reality hadn't fully settled. The sky above swirled with colors that didn't belong in any world he knew ,deep blues and purples interwoven with silver streaks, like threads in an unraveling tapestry. The air smelled like nothing, an absence that only heightened the sense of wrongness creeping into his bones.
And then there was the figure.
They stood in the distance, waiting. Motionless. Silent. Their silhouette was human-shaped but too still, as if even the wind refused to touch them.
