The silence didn't last long.
Minutes after the transmission cut, one ship from the new formation broke away — sleek and black, its hull carved with spiraling white glyphs that shimmered like bone. It moved with deliberate grace, stopping just outside the Ghost Fleet's perimeter.
"Incoming hail," Rei said, voice trembling between awe and fear.
Vector's grip tightened on his weapon. "Mute it."
Maya shook her head. "No. Put it through."
The moment the channel opened, the voice filled the bridge — smooth, young, and edged like a knife.
"You shouldn't have woken them, Maya Kade."
Her pulse stuttered. The voice was familiar in its confidence, but alien in its calm. "Who are you?"
"Someone who should have inherited what you stole."
Rei turned sharply, whispering, "Another Kade?"
The voice laughed — low, humorless.
"Not Kade. Not anymore. I am Asha Varin, carrier of the Second Line. The Architects may have failed to claim you, but you've unleashed something worse. You've awakened the Carriers. All of us."
Vector stepped forward, glare cutting through the flickering light. "You want to talk, then talk. But if you're looking for a fight—"
"A fight?" Asha's tone softened into something almost amused. "No, Vector. Not yet. But understand this — every Carrier now feels you. Feels her. The Archive burns through all of us. And if she keeps feeding it, she won't just destroy the Architects… she'll destroy us."
The comm crackled, then flickered into visual.
Asha appeared — a woman no older than Maya, eyes like silver glass, veins faintly glowing with glyph-light. But where Maya's light pulsed erratic and painful, Asha's shimmered steady, elegant. Controlled.
"You think you're Echo's heir," she said softly. "But you're not its future. You're its weapon. And when you break, Maya Kade… we'll be the ones who decide what rises from your ashes."
The image vanished. The fleet drifted apart, their ships slipping back into the dark one by one.
Rei exhaled shakily. "She's wrong. You can control it. You can."
Vector said nothing.
Maya stared at the empty space where the rival fleet had been, the echo of Asha's words sinking like ice into her bones.
"We'll be the ones who decide what rises from your ashes."
The Archive hummed faintly, almost in approval.
And deep inside its static, Kiran's voice whispered one word — so soft she almost thought she imagined it.
"Careful…"
🔥 Next chapter: Echo's Shadow. Maya's powers begin to shift, and the Archive starts showing her what the other Carriers truly are — and what they want from her.