The next morning arrived shrouded in silver mist.
They moved in silence, the group crossing the ash-hardened terrain westward toward the Core's last known coordinates. Every kilometer brought a shift in the land's personality—roots that pulsed underfoot, stones that hummed like tuning forks, clouds above that crackled in silence. The Rift was thicker here, alive in a way it hadn't been before.
And beneath it all, Arix felt something else—a subtle pulse that didn't belong to the shard, nor to the Core. It was deeper. Older. Familiar.
> [Anomalous Echo Signal Detected – Origin: Legacy Thread / Artifact Designation: "Thorne"]
The signal vanished as quickly as it came, like a breath caught in wind.
He said nothing, but his hand hovered near the pouch that once carried the hammer's cloth wrap.
A presence stirred. It wasn't just leaking into their world—it was bleeding through it.
The land bore scars like exposed nerves.
Kael remained alert, flanking the group, his visor feeding real-time environmental readouts to Arix's shard. Calyx kept pace beside Arix, her limp more measured now, the brace reinforced with Kael's repurposed armor segments. Selis rode in the cradle Kael had retrofitted with power-assist legs, her body still healing, but her eyes alert.
> [Distance to Primary Core: 12.2 km]
[Environmental Distortion Field Rising – Stability: 47%]
The further they went, the more reality began to fray.
Flashes of light that had no source danced along the edges of their vision. Shapes shimmered between trees where there were no trees. Echoes spoke in voices that didn't belong to any of them.
"Seen this before," Selis murmured. "This deep in, the Rift starts remembering wrong."
Calyx scanned the shifting sky. "So we're walking into its dreams."
"No," Arix said quietly. "We're walking into its memory."
They passed the remains of another Obsidian outpost, this one overtaken by spire-growth—massive columns of crystalline bone sprouting like weeds from collapsed structures. Bodies were embedded in the roots, some armored, some not. Their faces locked in agony.
It wasn't just death. It was recording.
> [Resonance Detected – Echo Field Density: High]
[Core Singularity Signature: Increasing]
They moved faster after that.
Around midday, they descended into what remained of a cratered basin. Kael led point with Arix while Calyx guarded the rear. Selis monitored frequencies and translated the ambient Rift signals into patterns the shard could parse.
A low-frequency hum rippled through the canyon.
"I've got motion," Kael whispered. "Not natural. Echo-imbued."
Arix raised his hand, halting them. "Let it pass."
Through the mist came a procession—figures half-formed, composed of fragmented data and Rift-light. Their faces blurred. Their limbs glitched as they moved in stiff, reverent motions. They didn't attack. They didn't even look.
They were projections. Rituals replaying endlessly.
Calyx's voice was a whisper. "What are they doing?"
"Honoring something," Arix replied. "Or warning it."
When the procession passed, they resumed moving.
They made camp inside the hollowed ruins of a command station at dusk. The metal walls moaned with wind. The ceiling had collapsed, but the interior was dry, shielded. Kael set up a short-range jammer while Selis powered down the cradle to conserve energy.
Calyx sat with Arix as he traced the lines on his forearm—faint patterns, newly awakened by the full key integration. The glyphs glowed softly now, shifting in time with his heartbeat.
"You're changing," she said.
"So is everything else."
> [System Alert – Core Interface Approaching: Prepare for Integration Test]
He looked up at her.
"Are you scared?"
"Terrified," she said. "But I'm still here."
Arix looked down at the fire, then to her hand. He reached out, resting his palm against hers.
"You don't have to follow me in."
"I know."
"But you're going to."
"Of course."
The fire cracked. Outside, the wind changed tone—like it was echoing voices they hadn't spoken aloud.
Then a low tremor shook the ground.
Kael stood up instantly. "What was that?"
Selis tapped her data pad. "Seismic activity—local. Something stirred nearby."
Arix stood slowly, eyes locked on the shard in his chest.
"It knows we're here."
And beneath the surface, something immense shifted in acknowledgment.
> [Distance to Primary Core: 9.3 km] [Status: Aware]
They slept in shifts that night—restless, haunted by dreamless sleep that left them more exhausted than when they'd closed their eyes. Each woke with fragments of something—whispers of conversations they'd never had, names they didn't recognize, futures that hadn't happened.
When dawn came, the mist was gone.
Only a violet haze remained.
They broke camp in silence and moved forward.
Toward the Core.
Toward whatever truth waited there.
And whatever version of Arix had already walked those halls before.