The broken replica core sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by silence.
Kael stared at it like it might say something.
Juno cleaned her blade nearby, quiet as always.
Ryke was off in the back corner, taping over a cracked section of his armor. Mira stood over the console, trying to decrypt the corrupted data they'd pulled from the rogue Frame.
No one had spoken in almost ten minutes.
Then Mira finally said it.
"This guy wasn't just trying to build something. He was getting instructions."
Kael looked up.
"From who?"
She tilted the screen toward him. Strings of half-erased code pulsed across it—familiar, but warped.
"It's Obelisk," she said. "But not the same pattern we've been tracking."
Kael stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Her voice dropped.
"A message."
Kael touched the screen.
And instantly—
He wasn't in the shelter anymore.
The world around him shifted. No walls. No sky.
Just a wide space made of floating shapes, glitch lines, and red light. Like standing inside a corrupted memory.
"Hello, Kael."
The voice echoed—not loud, not deep. Just… calm.
Too calm.
He turned.
No one there.
"You've touched the system too deeply. It sees you now."
"Your sync has passed the threshold."
Kael clenched his fists. "What are you?"
"I am what's left of the map. The path. The lock."
"And now… you are one of the keys."
His chest burned. The Frame core at his side pulsed hot. His armor flared—but didn't activate. This wasn't a place for combat.
This was a message.
"You will face others like the one today," the voice continued. "Some sync with hope. Others with hunger. Both will lead to ruin."
Kael gritted his teeth.
"Why show me this?"
"Because you still have a choice."
The light surged.
"Follow the branches…"
"Or burn with them."
Kael gasped as he was pulled back into reality.
He stumbled a step. Mira caught his shoulder.
"You good?" she asked.
He nodded, slowly.
But his hands were shaking.
Juno looked up from her blade.
"What did it say?"
Kael didn't answer right away.
He looked at the core on the table.
Then at them.
"We're not just synced. We're connected to something old."
"And it's watching what we do next."