---
[Scene: The Shattered Crescent, a rogue Zephyrite observatory nestled in the storm-belts above Rydan's Hollow. Stormglass screens flicker to life. Alerts ping in rhythmic panic.]
Archivist Tyrol (eyes wide):
"Something just sang in the deep aether again. Coordinates trace to... Surn Veyla."
Tech-Priest Yuna:
"No one's activated that shard in decades. And this signal… it's layered. Old. Bound-tier."
Tyrol (grim):
"Then it's begun. The Prime is reaching again."
---
[Scene Shift: Aboard the Solace Unbound, three days post-vault breach. Sylrae sits on the lower deck, tracing symbols into the condensation on a porthole window. Kaelen approaches.]
Kaelen:
"You've been quiet."
Sylrae:
"Wouldn't you be, after killing a version of yourself who remembered things you'd forgotten?"
Kaelen (half-smile):
"Can't say I've had the pleasure."
Sylrae (glancing at him):
"There's a pattern in their moves. Vaults, archives, echoes—they're not just gathering power. They're gathering stories."
Kaelen:
"To rewrite them?"
Sylrae:
"No. To replace them."
---
[Meanwhile, in a citadel of black glass drifting in the Void Strata—undetectable by ordinary sensors—the Bound Prime gathers.]
Faceless-Bound (merged voice):
"The Severed One has awakened."
Bound Prime (featureless figure watching distant stars):
"Her identity fractured, but not dissolved. The anchor still resists."
Faceless-Bound:
"Shall we initiate the Second Song?"
Bound Prime (turns slowly):
"No. We invite her. Let her see what we've become."
---
[Back aboard the Solace, the ship trembles. A soft sound reverberates—not machinery. A harmony. Familiar. Twisting.]
Thane (running to the bridge):
"Transmission incoming. No signal source. It's not tech. It's… in us."
Sylrae (clutching her head):
"It's not a message. It's a summons."
Kaelen (gritting his teeth):
"Then wherever they are—Bound Prime just opened the door."
---
End of Chapter Eleven