Chapter 10 - Chapter 10: The Veiled Resonance

Einstein Voss's breath hitched, the old water treatment plant's air thick with the acrid sting of void-essence and rust. His palm's cut throbbed, aetheric plasma flickering under his skin, a fading pulse from the battle with Echo-119. The resonant anomaly's silent song lingered in his bones, a vibration that wasn't sound but intent, twisting his thoughts, stirring fragments of a woman—Mara, maybe—whose name slipped like water through his fingers. Who are you? he thought, his toolbag heavy in his grip, the wrench inside a tether to a life that felt farther away with every step. Earth-Alpha's gray dawn seeped through cracked concrete, but the mystery of Echo Prime and the missing Concord member loomed, a shadow he couldn't shake.Zara Kade stood by a rusted tank, her Containment Prism casting a dim glow, its light unsteady after sealing Echo-119. Her leather jacket hung in tatters, her short black hair slick with sweat, and her eyes were sharp, scanning the chamber's pipes and flickering aetheric runes. "We're not done," she said, voice raw, like she'd been shouting into a void. "That rift—it's still active."Talen Vey crouched near a pool of aetheric ichor, his tablet humming, its fractal patterns swirling like a nightmare. His cracked glasses slipped, his wild hair a mess, but his fingers danced, chasing signals. "The Noetic Shroud's spiking again," he said, voice sharp, like the Eidolon Cascade was a code he could crack. "Echo-119's resonance weaving left a trail—something's piggybacking, linking to the Archetypal Crucible."Kaelith drifted above, her form a shimmer of mist and void, her eyes swallowing light. "The resonance hums," she whispered, her voice a cold thread in Einstein's mind. "The Nullpoint wakes, and the weaver calls."Einstein's cut flared, Izarael's voice slicing through, sharp and elusive: The resonance hides. Seek the veiled, or all hums. He clenched his fist, the plasma sparking, and shook his head. "Another damn puzzle," he muttered, his voice hoarse. "What's the veiled? Mara? Something worse?"Zara's gaze flicked to him, tired but resolute. "We don't wait to find out," she said, checking her prism. "New anomaly, city edge—abandoned observatory. It's… pulling us."Talen's tablet beeped, a red blip pulsing on a map of Earth-Alpha. "Echo-137," he said, standing, his eyes wild behind his glasses. "Not NEP, not resonant, but… causal. It's rewriting cause and effect, creating loops. People nearby—they're trapped, reliving moments that never happened.""Causal?" Einstein asked, his stomach twisting. Like the choir, but it's changing what was. The memory of Mara flickered—a woman in Concord gear, her voice saying, "Don't trust the song," then gone. Why can't I hold her?Kaelith's form shimmered, her voice a warning: "The Void Dreamer trembles. The veil seeks the spark."Zara grabbed a crate, pulling out mnestic patches—glowing discs to counter Echo effects. "Stick this on," she said, tossing one to Einstein. "Echo-137's messing with causality. These'll keep you from getting stuck."Einstein slapped the patch on his neck, the cold jolt sharpening his senses, but it didn't ease the dread. His last mnestic dose still burned, his mind too raw, every scar from Echo-101 and Echo-119 a weight in his chest. I'm breaking, he thought, following Zara to the van, Talen muttering about Eidolon signatures, Kaelith dissolving into mist ahead.The drive was grim, Earth-Alpha's streets fading into barren hills and skeletal trees. The observatory loomed, a dome of cracked concrete and rusted steel, its telescope a broken finger against the sky. The air was thick with void-essence, a black ooze seeping from the ground, and Einstein's cut pulsed, the plasma guiding them inside. The mystery hit like a cold blade—the observatory was alive, its walls humming with aetheric plasma, a causal loop that bent time and truth.The main chamber was a ruin, the telescope shattered, its gears etched with glowing aetheric runes. At the center hung Echo-137, a pulsating orb of aetheric plasma, not NEP but a causal anomaly, its light warping reality. Threads of void-essence coiled around it, forming a lattice that pulsed, not with sound but with consequence. Figures stood nearby—scientists, maybe eight, their eyes blank, their hands moving in repetitive motions, caught in loops: writing equations, dropping pens, starting again. Their mouths moved, whispering, "It wasn't here," over and over.Its voice wasn't words but a shift: The cause rewrites. Join the loop, or be its end. Einstein's mind flickered—a memory, not his: Mara, her voice saying, "The Cascade lies, but it remembers." Mara, where are you? he thought, the name slipping again.Zara raised her prism, light forming a cage, but Echo-137 pulsed, the cage twisting into loops. "It's causal weaving!" she shouted, dodging a thread of aetheric ichor that burned the floor. "It's locking us in time!"Talen's tablet sparked, his voice frantic. "It's hax magic—causal weaving, rewriting what leads to what! It's linked to Echo Prime, building a path to the Noetic Shroud!"Kaelith materialized, her mist coiling around Echo-137. "Dreams loop," she hissed, her form fraying as she pulled the orb inward. Einstein's plasma surged, and he wove, threads snapping into a barrier, but the cost was brutal—his vision blurred, his chest burned, and blood dripped from his ears. I'm not enough, he thought, holding the weave, the orb pulsing like a storm.The chamber shook, aetheric wraiths emerging from the walls, their forms flickering like broken film, their silent screams a wail: The loop binds. Einstein's cut flared, and he saw flashes—himself trapped, Zara gone, Talen laughing in a void. It's rewriting cause, he realized, Echo-137's causal weaving trapping them in false pasts."Voss, conjuring!" Zara yelled, firing her prism. "Pull the void!"Einstein reached for the void-essence, the cold rush stealing his breath, his past—a first date, a broken bike, gone. I'm fading, he thought, but he pulled, the orb shrinking. Kaelith's mist tightened, Talen shouting coordinates, and Zara's prism flared, sealing Echo-137 in a cage. The scientists collapsed, their eyes dim, alive but lost.But the chamber hummed, a new rift pulsing—a glimpse of Earth-Aether, plasma storms raging, a figure watching, her face blurred. Izarael's voice echoed: The loop hides. Find the veiled, or all loops. Einstein's cut glowed, the mystery deepening. Mara, what's your truth? The Eidolon Cascade pulsed, and he was its spark, caught in a loop that could unravel everything