The deeper they descended into the Dominion ruins, the more Kael Veyrn felt the weight of invisible eyes on him—watching, judging, waiting. The path ahead was lit only by the intermittent flicker of ancient Aether-powered lanterns clinging to cracked walls. Time itself seemed to warp in this place. Each step echoed not just through the broken halls, but through Kael's mind, where distant voices stirred like smoke curling through unseen cracks.
"You feel that?" Rai Kuroda muttered, his tone sharp but controlled. His dreadlocks shifted slightly with each movement, crackling faintly with contained electric charge. "The air changed again."
Kael nodded. "The Void Nexus is pulsing… something is reacting to it." His hand hovered over the obsidian hilt of his Aetherial blade, though it had not yet taken shape. "We're getting close to something important. I can feel it in my bones."
Iria Nox stepped lightly beside him, her crimson scarf gently flowing like a banner of blood in the gloom. "There's more than just Aether here. The walls… they're etched with runes I can't translate." She tapped a sigil glowing faintly. "It predates even the Ethereal Shift."
They reached a circular chamber where the ground had caved in, exposing levels buried for centuries. A swirling current of dormant energy drifted up like mist, weaving illusions along the stone—fractured images of war, of chained Aetherborn, of experiments gone awry.
Kael's silver eyes narrowed. "This place… it remembers."
The moment he stepped forward, the floor reacted.
A blinding pulse flared across the room, and the air became thick with pressure. Kael barely had time to raise a defensive veil of Void Aether before the room exploded with radiant light.
When the dust cleared, they were no longer alone.
Dozens of armored figures stood motionless—ghosts wrapped in semi-transparent Dominion armor, their faces blank and empty. Not truly alive. Not truly dead. The spirits of fallen Dominion soldiers, reanimated through residual Aetherial resonance.
One of them stepped forward.
"You carry the signature of Subject 000—The Voidborn," it said, its voice cold and static, like broken glass grinding through a voice modulator. "You do not belong here."
Rai scoffed. "We've been hearing that a lot lately."
Kael took a breath. "I'm not here to destroy anything. I'm here to understand it. The Void chose me. I didn't choose it."
The ghostly figure hesitated. "Understanding… is irrelevant. Judgment has been passed."
Without further warning, the spectral soldiers charged.
Kael's blades shimmered into existence—twin sabers forged from coalesced voidlight. He met the first strike with ease, the blade phasing partially through the ghostly attacker, severing it without resistance. It dissipated into wisps of light.
Iria blurred, teleporting mid-step, her sword slashing cleanly through another specter. "They're reactive, not coordinated. We can beat them."
Rai grinned as his cybernetic arm surged with power. He launched a wave of lightning across the chamber, stunning multiple entities at once. "Let's clear them out!"
But something was wrong.
The longer they fought, the more the spirits adapted. They moved faster, struck harder, responded in formation. It was as if the ruins themselves were learning.
Kael's breath grew ragged. His body was screaming for him to release the full power of the Void Nexus, but he resisted. Not yet.
Then, one of the ghost soldiers broke formation and addressed him directly, its tone less hostile—almost... reverent.
"You are the Returner. The Sealbearer. The Aetherium remembers your blood."
Kael froze. "What did you say?"
The figure's eyes flared a brighter blue. "You were born not from the Aetherium… but through it. A construct of balance—Void and Light. You are not an accident."
Another vision surged through Kael's mind.
He stood alone in a void of shifting stars. A colossal entity, neither man nor beast, composed entirely of fractal light and dark tendrils, loomed over him. Its voice echoed like thunder submerged in water.
"Kael Veyrn. Nexus Incarnate. Balance was broken the moment you were born."
He snapped back just in time to dodge a blow from a reformed soldier. He struck back instinctively, slicing the spirit in two. The chamber pulsed again, and this time, the spirits froze.
"Analysis complete," a disembodied voice declared from the walls themselves. "Access granted."
The spirits vanished, and a hidden wall slid open, revealing a wide staircase descending into an abyss glowing with violet energy.
Kael didn't move.
"What did that mean?" Iria asked cautiously, wiping spectral residue from her blade.
Kael exhaled. "It means I'm tied to all of this… in ways I still don't understand."
Rai clapped him on the back. "Well, now's a good time to figure it out. Because I'm guessing whatever's down there isn't gonna be friendly."
They descended the staircase, the energy growing denser with each step. At the base, they found a chamber unlike any they'd seen before—clean, preserved, alive.
An enormous cylindrical structure stood in the center, pulsating with synchronized waves of Void and Aetherial energy.
"Is that a generator?" Iria asked.
Kael's eyes widened. "No… it's a prison."
Inside the cylinder floated a humanoid figure suspended in energy. Genderless, silver-skinned, with veins of black and blue running through its body. Its eyes were closed, but its presence radiated raw power.
"The Prototype," Kael whispered. "The first successful Aetherborn hybrid."
Suddenly, the chamber's systems activated. Screens flickered on, showing old Dominion data logs, schematics, and one recurring label:
Project Origin: Nexus Seed
An old recording played. A female voice—calm, clinical.
"This is Overseer Delane, logging Day 834. The hybrid entity has remained dormant. Its interaction with the Void Nexus remains unstable. We have placed all further trials on indefinite hold. Subject 000 was a partial success—but its emergence disrupted all balance. If reawakened, the system will collapse."
Kael stepped closer to the pod. The figure inside stirred.
Then, its eyes opened—glowing, void-black with a burning white core.
"You… are me," it said, its voice echoing directly in Kael's mind.
Kael staggered backward. "No. I'm not you. I'm—"
"You are what I was meant to become," the entity replied. "But you were forged in freedom. I… was forged in chains."
The chamber began to shudder as containment systems groaned. Iria stepped forward, hand on hilt. "Kael, we need to go. Now."
Kael didn't move. "I need answers. Why me? Why the Void?"
The figure in the pod placed its hand against the glass.
"Because only you can choose."
Then the alarms went off.
Multiple Dominion signal beacons activated across the ruins. Reinforcements were coming—not spirits or ghosts, but real soldiers, drawn to the reawakening.
"We triggered a failsafe," Rai growled. "We've got to move!"
Kael hesitated for a final moment, then turned. "We come back. I'm not done here."
As they fled the chamber, the pod dimmed, but the hybrid inside smiled softly.
"At last… the cycle begins anew."