The void pulsed softly beneath Rotham's feet, a subtle rhythm like a heartbeat from a forgotten world.
Before him, a translucent door shimmered—etched with symbols older than the Nexus itself. The Vault of the Unspoken.
"This is where the Seed's first bearers hid their truths," the Architect's voice echoed through the void, distant but steady."Secrets they deemed too dangerous for any cycle to remember."
Rotham placed his hand on the door. It resisted, cold and unyielding. But then, warmth spread from his palm, unlocking the seal.
The door dissolved, revealing a vast chamber filled with suspended memories—floating like stars trapped in crystal bubbles.
Each bubble held a fragment: a thought, a feeling, a decision long erased.
He reached out and touched one.
Visions flooded his mind—an ancient city, shimmering with impossible architecture, where the first Architects crafted the Seed.
But beneath the beauty was fear—a warning carved into the city's foundations.
"The Seed was never meant to be a gift," a whisper said inside his head."It was a cage. A way to control choice itself."
Another bubble showed a face—twisted and unreadable.
"The first betrayal. The architect who wished to break the cycle by fracturing the Seed's core."
Rotham staggered back, breath heavy.
"If the Seed was a cage… who holds the key?"
The chamber trembled.
From the shadows emerged a figure—cloaked in shifting light, neither friend nor foe.
"The key is in the unspoken," it said."And only those who dare to ask can claim it."