The runes pulsed like a heartbeat waiting to be answered.
Cael stood at the edge of the chamber, the lingering energy of the Echo Core still buzzing beneath his skin. The new corridor stretched forward—low, narrow, lined with interlocking tiles etched in geometric loops.
They were not decorative.
They were intentional. Load-bearing, structurally sound, mathematically perfect.
Built by someone who thought like him.
[ACTIVE ZONE TRANSITION INITIATED]Entering: Observation Hall – Designation Unknown
Threat Level: PassiveSystem Suggestion: Proceed with vigilance
He moved forward, slow and quiet. The lights didn't just follow—they anticipated him, igniting the path just seconds before each step. A synchrony. A rhythm. As if the system knew his pace, his gait, his hesitation.
After twelve paces, the tunnel opened into a rotunda.
Eight-sided. Perfectly symmetrical.
The floor was tiled with dark glass and inlaid with gold-thread circuits. Along the walls, seven inactive panels loomed—each blank, except for the one facing him. That one flickered to life with a dull hum.
It showed his face.
But older.
Not in years—in experience. The eyes were colder. The jaw tighter. It was him, but… further down the blueprint.
The system chimed, quiet and crisp.
[ECHO PROTOCOL: SUMMONING CHAMBER ACTIVE]Identity Confirmed: Architect-ClassEcho Response Required: Personal Manifestation
Please answer the query:
"What do you build first: safety, or connection?"
He blinked.
That wasn't a system message.
It was a philosophical design prompt.
Cael paced once around the chamber. The silence invited introspection. His mind raced through blueprints, battlefields, cities that lived and died by that very choice.
Safety meant isolation. Walls, gates, defenses.
Connection meant vulnerability—but also possibility.
He stopped in front of the panel. Cleared his throat.
"Safety," he said. "You can't connect if you're already dead."
The room didn't respond.
For a moment.
Then:
[Response Registered]Echo Alignment: 61%Pattern Divergence: Acceptable
Access Granted.
A panel behind him hissed open. Steam curled from the edges as the stone retracted into itself with architectural grace. Beyond it: a room unlike anything he'd seen yet.
It was not functional.
It was symbolic.
A hall of seven suspended cores, each fractured and dormant, floating in stasis fields. They hung like relics. Wounded minds kept breathing by force of design.
Each bore a label etched into the field:
Genesis
Unity
Warden
Althis
Edena
Zerofold
…and one blank.
The blank one hovered slightly closer. Its base pulsed softly with light.
Waiting.
[FRAGMENT RECOGNITION: MATCH FOUND]Your integrated core fragment resonates with this artifact.
Would you like to begin Corelink Phase I?
Cael's breath caught in his chest.
A second summons.
Not from the chamber.
From the system itself.
And this time… it wasn't watching him.
It was offering him a seat at the table.