The transport vessel rattled violently as it pierced through turbulent air currents. Lightning streaked across the clouds like fractured nerves, illuminating the jagged peaks of Kael-Dorn far below. Russ gripped the edge of his seat, eyes fixed on the crumbled city that once housed one of the most advanced civilizations in the quadrant.
Now, it was a graveyard of technology and secrets.
Meryl sat beside him, triple-checking her plasma rifle. "You sure you want to do this without Concord backup?"
Russ shook his head. "I don't want them anywhere near this. If what we saw on that chip is true... the Concord has its own agenda."
"And if the Vault's real?"
"Then I need answers. From the source."
The ship landed in a clearing surrounded by twisted steel trees and half-buried obelisks. The ruins pulsed with latent energy—mana gone wild, like a song stuck between frequencies.
As they stepped out, Russ's proximity scanner blinked red.
"Movement. Twenty meters. Fast."
Before Meryl could react, a figure darted from the rubble, cloaked in rags but wielding a staff glowing with glyphs.
"Wait!" Russ shouted, stepping forward.
The figure froze.
"I'm not here to hurt you," Russ said.
The figure lifted her hood—an old woman, eyes white with mana-blindness. Yet her voice was clear and sharp. "You carry the Mark of the Architects. I've waited long for one like you."
Russ blinked. "You know what I am?"
She nodded slowly. "You are the Echo that did not fracture. The Heir who hears the code."
"The Vault," he said. "Where is it?"
She pointed toward a collapsed structure covered in living vines—shimmering with arcane pulses.
"There. But beware. The seal requires more than blood. It needs intent. It tests the soul."
Russ stepped toward the entrance. As he neared, the vines withered away, revealing a crystalline door marked with Progenitor runes.
Meryl read them aloud. "Speak your purpose, or be erased."
Russ took a deep breath.
"I seek the truth."
The door pulsed. The runes rearranged, forming a new line:
> Purpose Accepted: Initiating Archive Sequence
The structure shuddered, and the door dissolved into particles of light.
Inside, the Vault opened into a vast chamber—holographic stars spun slowly above, while pillars of light encoded with memory-codes lined the floor.
A voice echoed through the chamber. Calm. Monotone. Ancient.
> "Welcome, Russ Talen. Progenitor Key recognized."
Meryl gaped. "It knows your name."
Russ stepped forward as a holographic figure emerged—a man with glowing eyes, wearing Progenitor armor identical to Russ's.
> "I am Lioren, last Archon of the Founders. This is our legacy. And our warning."
"Warning?" Russ asked.
The projection's face grew grim.
> "The Concord was built from our ashes. They use our code to control, not create. The Echo Project was not meant to birth soldiers—but gods."
Russ clenched his fists. "They lied."
> "They always do," Lioren said. "But there is still a choice."
Another door revealed itself—this one swirling with quantum energy.
> "Pass through, and claim the full inheritance of the Void. But once taken, the path back will close. Forever."
Meryl touched his arm. "Russ… you don't have to do this."
"I know," he said.
But he looked at the door—and felt something pulling. Not hunger. Not power.
Destiny.
He stepped forward.
The light swallowed him whole.
---
Back in the ruined city, the cloaked figure watched the Vault pulse with energy.
"He's opened it," the digital voice whispered.
Another shimmered into view beside it, glitching between forms. "And now... the real game begins."