The last sentry fell with a sizzling thud, its mechanical limbs twitching weakly before finally going still.
Kai wiped sweat and grime from his forehead, his chest heaving.
The tunnel behind them was littered with twisted drone remains and the smell of scorched metal.
"We need to move," Eira said sharply, already pushing ahead.
Her voice was tight — not from exhaustion, but something deeper. Fear. Urgency.
Kai caught up to her.
"What is it?"
Eira hesitated just long enough for him to notice.
"The Core isn't just waking up," she said in a whisper. "It's… calling."
The tunnel sloped downward now, the walls around them humming with strange energy.
Symbols glowed faintly under their feet — ancient scripts neither fully human nor fully machine.
It made the hairs on Kai's neck stand up.
The deeper they went, the stronger the pull became.
Even Kai could feel it — like an invisible thread tugging at his mind.
Riven cursed under his breath.
"I don't like this. Not one bit."
Lune twirled a knife between her fingers, her smile a little too sharp.
"Scared of a little ghost story, old man?"
Riven growled. "You should be too, girl."
They emerged into a vast chamber at the tunnel's end.
Kai's breath caught.
The Core Spire's heart wasn't a machine — not entirely.
Suspended in the center of the cavern was a massive crystalline sphere, pulsing slowly like a living heart.
Around it, tendrils of silver and black metal snaked into the walls and floor, feeding it energy — or maybe feeding off it.
The sphere itself shimmered, flashes of faces, memories, and landscapes dancing inside its surface.
It was beautiful. Terrifying. Alive.
Eira stepped forward, her face unreadable.
"This is it," she said softly.
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
From the shadows around the sphere, figures began to emerge.
Not drones.
Not Titans.
But something worse.
Wraiths.
Half-machine, half-energy, they drifted toward them, their forms glitching and flickering — twisted echoes of long-dead Vanguard soldiers.
Kai's stomach twisted in horror.
"Are those...?" he whispered.
Eira nodded once.
"Ghosts of Project: VANGUARD. Locked here. Trapped."
The Wraiths' hollow voices filled the chamber, whispering forgotten names and broken memories.
They weren't attacking — yet.
But the threat was clear.
Riven gritted his teeth. "Tell me you have a plan."
"I can interface with the Core," Eira said, her voice strained. "I can shut it down. Purge the corruption."
"But?" Kai prompted.
Eira met his gaze, pain flashing in her eyes.
"But if I connect to it, I might not come back."
The words hit harder than any weapon.
"No," Kai said immediately. "There has to be another way."
She smiled — a real, soft smile — and touched his arm.
"You gave me back my purpose, Kai," she said quietly. "Now let me give you back your future."
Before he could stop her, Eira stepped into the sphere's glow.
The Wraiths screamed — a sound of agony and rage — and the entire Spire shook as the final battle for control began.