The spire pulsed.
A low thrum vibrated through the stone beneath their boots—steady, like a heartbeat. But it wasn't theirs. The chamber felt aware, listening. Watching.
The walls emitted a subtle hum, just below the threshold of hearing, and the air carried a dry, electric scent. It was like standing inside a machine that hadn't fully died, still clinging to the memory of its function.
Selis stood closest, her fingers hovering just inches from the glowing threads wrapped around the spire's base. Data streamed across her pad, shifting symbols too complex to decipher in real-time. She didn't blink.
"It's asking questions," she said. "Not just broadcasting. It's responding to me. To us."
Arix stepped forward, the golden veins on the wall pulsing brighter as he moved. The shard in his chest buzzed with quiet urgency. It was responding, not just to his presence—but to something deeper. Recognition. Blood and code. Legacy.
"What does it want?" Calyx asked, voice taut.
Selis glanced at Arix, then back to her screen. "Memory. Intent. It wants to know why we killed the Prime. Why he"—she nodded toward Arix—"was reborn."
Kael's hand rested on his sidearm. "And what happens if it doesn't like our answer?"
The spire flared.
Light spilled through the chamber, casting fractured reflections across the walls. For a moment, all of them could see it—not just light, but imagery. Flickers of faces, battlefields, dying stars, forgotten cities consumed by digital flame. Each fragment lasted no more than a breath, but each left behind a whisper, a weight.
> "Witness deviates. Witness survives." "Prime ended. Directive unfulfilled." "Why?"
The voice was not mechanical. It was layered—dozens, maybe hundreds of voices folded into one. Male and female, old and young. None of them real. None of them alive. A chorus of the dead systems.
"It's made from minds," Selis whispered. "Copied fragments. Probably taken from before the fall of the first systems. Maybe older."
Calyx moved closer to Arix, hand resting on her rifle.
"What if it wants you to prove your intent?" she asked.
"I don't think I can," Arix murmured. "But I can show it."
He reached into his coat and pulled out the shard. It throbbed against his palm, heat building as if in anticipation. He stepped toward the spire.
The air thickened. The chamber seemed to contract, drawn toward the connection about to happen. All sound dulled. Time slowed.
---
As soon as the shard touched the spire, the room screamed.
Not a sound—but pressure. The weight of memory crashing inward. Arix's knees buckled as a wave of images assaulted his mind. A child, wide-eyed and running through streets of mirrored glass. A tower crumbling beneath a red sky. Hands—his hands—covered in blood, gripping a weapon forged from grief.
He staggered back, but something held him in place—an invisible tether drawn from the shard to his core.
The team watched in stunned silence as golden light poured from the shard, snaking up the spire's threads like veins reconnecting. The entire room pulsed with it, like they stood inside a beating heart.
Selis dropped to one knee. "It's syncing."
"With what?" Kael asked.
"With him," she whispered. "And everything he's ever been."
The light changed. Became slower. Warmer.
Arix exhaled, falling back onto his heels. His eyes were distant, but wet with emotion.
"It asked me who I was," he said.
"And what did you tell it?" Calyx asked softly.
"I didn't," Arix said. "I showed it Thorne."
He paused, searching for words.
"I showed it sacrifice. Loyalty. I showed it the one person who believed I could be more than just what the system made me."
The spire flickered. A ripple passed across its crystalline surface.
> "Reclaimer accepted. Echo imprint detected." "Legacy authorized. Awaiting directive."
Selis looked up sharply. "It's giving us access."
"To what?" Kael asked again, more urgently.
Selis stood slowly. "A vault. Not like the others. This one's different. Deeper. More dangerous. It's… curated. Not just by code, but by memory."
She turned to Arix.
"It wants to know what comes next."
---
The chamber dimmed again, light fading into the floor. The spire shrank back, recessing into the stone like it had never been there. In its place, a stairwell opened—wide, circular, spiraling down into darkness. Cool air wafted up from the opening, faintly metallic.
Calyx stared into it.
"No cameras. No signals. Whatever's down there… it's cut off."
Kael adjusted his weapon. "That's usually a good sign something wants to stay hidden."
Selis touched the wall beside the threshold, watching it ripple beneath her fingers. "It's ancient tech. I don't think it's hostile... yet."
Arix stepped toward the edge.
"We don't have a choice. Whatever the system's building out there, this is part of it. It's asking us to decide how it ends."
He turned back toward them, eyes steady.
"If we wait, we lose the chance to shape it. If we go now, we shape what comes next."
And without another word, he stepped into the dark.