The canyon narrowed as they followed the fractured path north, each step echoing through broken stone and static-soaked air. A pale haze hung over the cliffs—residual Rift energy, clinging like a second skin. The signal Selis had found still pulsed from Kael's tracker, distant but steady, drawing them toward it like moths to flame.
Arix took point.
He moved slower than usual. Not from fatigue, but from weight—the invisible kind that pressed behind the ribs, where memory lived. Every echo of Thorne's hammer in his head felt like a promise he hadn't kept.
Behind him, Kael carried Selis on a grav-stretcher rigged from drone parts and a busted recharger. Her breathing was shallow but even, patched together by pain suppressants and grit. Calyx hobbled alongside them, her leg braced, but her eyes never leaving the horizon.
"Ping's shifting," Kael said, voice low. "It's moving."
"How fast?"
"Not fast enough to be airborne. Could be a crawler."
Selis coughed, then rasped, "Or something worse."
They crested a ridge and paused.
Below, nestled in a collapsed basin, was a structure half-swallowed by stone. Antennas jutted from the rock like broken limbs. A faint violet pulse blinked at its core.
Arix's shard vibrated.
> [Proximity Alert: Echo Signature Detected – Non-Hostile (Tentative)]
[System Sync Opportunity Present]
"It's old," Calyx murmured. "Obsidian design, but… modified."
"I'll scout," Arix said.
Kael caught his arm. "Not alone."
Arix looked back. "I have to be. The shard's responding. It might recognize me."
Kael hesitated, then nodded. "Don't take too long."
Arix descended into the basin. The closer he got, the more the air seemed to hum—not just with energy, but with memory. He could almost hear voices. Not words. Intent.
The doors opened before he touched them.
Inside was a single chamber. Clean. Silent. A console pulsed in the center, surrounded by a ring of inactive drones. Everything inside looked untouched by time—no dust, no decay. The hum of power was low but steady.
> [Echo Interface Detected – Syncing…]
[Welcome, Bearer]
Arix froze.
Then a hologram flickered to life above the console. Not a message. Not data. A person.
An old man. Hollow-eyed. Scarred. His voice echoed like it came from a long-dead grave.
"You found it, then."
"Who are you?" Arix asked.
"The one who failed before you."
The hologram smiled—tired, bitter.
"Let me show you what happens when you listen too long to the Rift."
> [Data Fragment Loading – Warning: Emotional Contamination Risk]
The room darkened.
And Arix saw a world fall.
---
In the vision, the sky cracked open like glass. Cities crumbled beneath black light. Aberrants poured from tear after tear—some massive and slow like mountains walking, others fast and skittering like insects with too many limbs. And standing in the center of it all was a figure wrapped in Riftlight—eyes hollow, face familiar.
It was him.
Or someone who had once been him.
The air around him grew thick with pressure. His ears rang. His chest felt tight.
> [Vision Sync Unstable – Disengage?]
He wanted to look away. But something held him in place—not the system, not the Rift, but himself. He needed to understand.
He saw the figure raise a hand and shatter an army.
He saw people kneel.
He saw others burn.
And then he saw Calyx.
Burned. Broken. Crying out his name as the Rift consumed her.
"No!" Arix shouted, but the vision held him.
He saw Kael dying, screaming for Selis. He saw the world end in silence.
And then it was over.
The chamber flickered back to its dim blue.
The old man's hologram stared at him. "Now you know what waits at the end. That's the fate the shard offers. One step too far… and you become the breach."
> [Echo Archive Locked – Access Level: Restricted]
Arix staggered back. His breath came sharp. He clutched the edge of the console, his fingers pale against the metal.
"Why show me this?" he asked.
"Because you're still you. For now."
Then the hologram collapsed into a spiral of light and faded.
The console dimmed. The room felt colder.
And the shard pulsed—once, hard, like a heartbeat out of rhythm.
---
Outside, the others waited.
Kael checked the perimeter again. "Nothing on scopes. Still no heat signatures."
"Something's wrong," Calyx muttered. Her voice was tight. "He's been too long."
"Give him a little more time," Kael said, though the edge in his voice betrayed his own concern.
Selis stirred faintly on the stretcher, eyes barely opening. "Get him out… if it starts to hum again. Don't wait."
Kael nodded. He adjusted her bandage and turned his attention back to the entrance.
"Why do you think the signal called to him?" Calyx asked quietly.
Kael didn't answer right away. "Because whatever's in there… it knows him. Or what he could become."
"I hate this," she said. "Not knowing what we're really following. Or who he's becoming."
Kael looked at her. "He's still Arix."
She looked away. "So was Thorne. Until the end."
The wind picked up.
Then the pulse changed.
The quiet hum became a thrum—a steady, rhythmic heartbeat. The Rift itself seemed to breathe.
Calyx stood, eyes wide. "Arix…"
Kael raised his rifle.
But Arix didn't come out.
Not yet.
---
Inside, Arix collapsed to one knee. Sweat rolled down his temples. He blinked rapidly, trying to steady his vision.
> [Cognitive Load Exceeded – Reset Recommended]
He ignored it.
The console shifted, revealing a second panel. A small compartment hissed open. Inside, a sliver of metal hovered—cold, precise, marked with a sigil that looked eerily similar to the one on Thorne's hammer.
Arix reached out, hand trembling.
> [Echo Fragment Retrieved: Legacy Bind – Analysis Pending]
The moment he touched it, images flared again—faster now, too quick to process. Screams. Code. Fire. A girl's laughter. A battlefield. A name he didn't recognize.
Then it all went still.
He pocketed the fragment and staggered to his feet.
"I won't become that," he whispered. "I'll find another way."
> [System Note: Divergence Path Logged – User Directive Stored]
The door behind him creaked open.
Calyx stood at the threshold.
She looked pale. Her eyes locked on his. "You alright?"
"No," he said. "But I'm still here."
She nodded, stepping aside.
"Let's get the others. We're not done yet."