Location: Vel Talem – Kael's Apartment
The morning light had no warmth.
Kael stood by the window, still shirtless, sweat tracing down his back. That dream—or whatever it was—had left a weight in his chest. Not fear. Recognition.
> "Something's wrong with my core," he murmured, raising a hand. His palm sparked—blue lightning mixed with faint black veins of gravity. But something else was threading in. Something he couldn't name.
He checked his communicator. Messages from Reina, Ryze, even Blaire—ignored. He needed to be alone.
He headed to Dr. Saren's lab. She was one of the few people who'd studied his energy flow after his Voidborn awakening.
Location: Vel Talem Academy – Lower Research Wing
Dr. Saren adjusted her glasses as Kael sat across from her, his arm connected to diagnostic threads.
"It's subtle," she said, frowning. "But your gravity current isn't flowing cleanly anymore. There's... interference. Like something brushing against it from outside."
"From outside me?"
She hesitated. Then nodded.
"Kael, if I didn't know better, I'd say there's another gravitational signature mirroring yours."
Kael's eyes narrowed. His heart thudded again, like it recognized the idea.
"A reflection," he muttered. "Or a shadow."
Dr. Saren stepped back. "I'd be very careful who you talk to about this. If it's what I think... it could mean the Voidborn condition isn't unique. It might be contagious. Or worse—replicable."
Kael didn't answer. He was already on his feet, walking out.
Location: Outside – Nightfall
Kael wandered the city outskirts, avoiding the noise, the people, the endless layers of his own thoughts. Something called to him. Not a voice—more like a pulse.
He followed it.
Into the ruins of an abandoned Void Nexus—a collapsed, long-forgotten rift that once leaked raw void energy. Inside, the walls pulsed faintly. Faint gravity echoes. And… footsteps.
He wasn't alone.
"Who's there?" Kael called out, hand crackling with lightning.
No response. Just the sound of something brushing against stone.
He moved forward.
A figure darted past—too fast to track.
Then another.
He spun around—ready to fight—but the space around him shuddered like a ripple through gravity itself. For a moment, the air bent—then snapped back.
Kael dropped to one knee, clutching his chest.
"This feeling... it's like... someone's using my power."
Then, faintly, in the echoing chamber, he heard a whisper.
"You opened the door... now you're not the only one."
Cut To – Elsewhere
The black cocoon began to crack.
From within, violet eyes opened.
And they were smiling.