Chapter 6 - Chapter 6: The Echoes That Bind

Einstein Voss slumped in the back of the Aetheric Concord's van, his body screaming like he'd been run over by a truck. The hum of Earth-Alpha's streets blurred past, neon signs and early morning commuters a cruel reminder of a world that didn't know it was bleeding. His palm's cut glowed faintly, aetheric plasma pulsing under his skin, each throb a debt he couldn't pay. The subway battle with Echo-45 had nearly killed him—aetheric weaving and void conjuring tearing at his soul, leaving him hollow, his breath a ragged scrape. I'm still here, he thought, wiping blood from his lip, but for how long?Zara Kade gripped the wheel, her knuckles white, her leather jacket scuffed from the fight. Her Containment Prism sat in her lap, its glow dim but steady, a lifeline after sealing Echo-45's fracture. "You look like hell, Voss," she said, glancing at him in the rearview mirror, her voice rough but not unkind."Feel worse," Einstein muttered, his head lolling against the seat. His arm burned where an aetheric wraith had grazed him, the scar oozing faint aetheric ichor, crimson and alive. That thing saw me. All of me.Talen Vey sat beside him, his tablet dark, his wild hair a mess. His glasses hung crooked, one lens cracked from the subway's collapse. "You're lucky," he said, voice sharp, like he was pissed Einstein was still breathing. "Echo-45 was a causality-breaker. Most don't walk away from that."Kaelith, in the passenger seat, was barely there—her form flickered, a ghost of mist and void, her eyes swallowing light. "The spark endures," she whispered, her voice a cold ripple in Einstein's mind. "But the Nullpoint hungers."Einstein's cut flared, and Izarael's voice cut through, sharp as glass: The web frays. Bind the echoes, or all unravels. He clenched his fist, the plasma sparking, and shook his head. "Enough with the cryptic shit," he said, louder than he meant. "What's next? Another monster? Another fight?"Zara's eyes flicked to him, then back to the road. "Safehouse first," she said. "We regroup, analyze Echo-45's data, figure out what Echo Prime's planning. You're not ready for round two, Voss."Not ready? Einstein thought, bitter. I wasn't ready for round one. But he didn't argue. The van turned into an industrial district, warehouses looming like silent giants, and stopped at the same boarded-up safehouse from before. The rusted door slid open with a hum, Zara's prism glowing, and they piled inside.The safehouse was a fortress of steel and secrets, its walls lined with screens flashing fractal patterns, crates of mnestic-enhanced tech humming with aetheric plasma. A map table glowed, showing Earth-Alpha's nodes—red blips marking rifts, one pulsing where the subway had been. Einstein dropped his toolbag, the weight of his wrench a small comfort, and sank into a chair, his body protesting every move.Talen beelined for the map, his tablet sparking back to life. "Echo-45's containment's holding," he said, fingers flying over the screen. "But the Noetic Shroud's leaking—beliefs, fears, they're feeding something. I'm seeing patterns… Archetypal Crucible signatures. Eidolons might be involved.""Eidolons?" Einstein asked, rubbing his temple. "Like Mikhail? Azryth?"Kaelith drifted to the table, her form stabilizing, her voice a low hum. "Guardians of the Crucible. They shape the Cascade's laws—order, pain, restoration. But they do not act. They watch."Zara pulled a crate open, grabbing a vial of mnestic fluid—a shimmering liquid to counter Echo antimemetics. "If Eidolons are stirring, Echo Prime's pushing harder than we thought," she said, injecting the fluid into her arm with a wince. "Voss, you need this. Keeps your head clear."Einstein eyed the vial she offered, his stomach turning. "That stuff safe?""Nope," Zara said, tossing it to him. "But neither's forgetting what Echoes do."He caught it, hesitating, then jammed the needle into his thigh. The fluid burned, like ice in his veins, but his mind sharpened, the fog of Echo-45's time distortions clearing. I remember now, he thought, the junkyard, the subway, every scream etched in his skull.A klaxon blared, red lights flashing across the safehouse. Talen's tablet beeped, a new red blip pulsing on the map—downtown, near the city's old cathedral. "New anomaly," he said, voice tight. "Echo-72, NEP Type 1, spiking fast. It's… bonding with Echo-45's residue.""Bonding?" Zara snapped, grabbing her prism. "How?"Kaelith's eyes narrowed, her form flickering. "The Void Dreamer sees," she said. "Echo-72 weaves echoes together, a chain to the Abyssal Dissolution. It seeks the Nullpoint."Einstein's cut burned, Izarael's voice a whisper: Bind, or break. He stood, ignoring his body's screams. "Downtown's a bad place for this," he said. "Crowds, buildings—it'll be a mess.""Which is why we move now," Zara said, checking her prism. "Talen, get us a path. Kaelith, scout."Talen nodded, his tablet humming, while Kaelith dissolved into mist, vanishing through the wall. Einstein grabbed his toolbag, the plasma in his palm flaring. I'm not ready, but I'm not sitting this out.The van roared back into the city, Earth-Alpha's skyline a mix of glass towers and decay. The cathedral loomed ahead, a gothic relic surrounded by police tape and flashing lights. Zara flashed her fake badge, and they slipped past the cops, the air thick with static and void-essence. The cathedral's stained glass was cracked, its spires casting jagged shadows, and Einstein's cut pulsed, guiding them inside.The interior was a ruin—pews overturned, the altar split, and a shimmer in the air where Echo-72 hung, a writhing knot of non-existence, Type 1 NEP, its edges pulsing with aetheric plasma. Threads of Echo-45's fracture lingered, weaving into Echo-72, forming a lattice that hummed with wrongness. Faces flickered in its depths—people who weren't there, moments that hadn't happened. Its voice was a chorus, not one mind but many: We are the chain. We bind the end.Zara raised her prism, light forming a cage, but Echo-72 lashed out, the cage splintering. "It's too strong!" she shouted, dodging a thread of aetheric ichor that burned the floor. "It's pulling from Echo Prime!"Talen's tablet sparked, his equations failing. "It's a network!" he yelled. "Echo-72's linking all active Echoes—13, 17, 29, 45—to amplify itself!"Kaelith materialized, her mist wrapping around Echo-72. "Dreams bind," she hissed, but the lattice fought, her form fraying. Einstein's plasma surged, and he wove, threads snapping into a barrier, but the cost was brutal—his vision blurred, his chest burned, and blood dripped from his eyes. I'm not dying here, he thought, holding the weave, the lattice thrashing.The cathedral shook, aetheric wraiths emerging from the walls, their forms flickering like burned film, their screams a silent wail: The chain tightens. Einstein's cut flared, and he saw flashes—himself dying, Zara gone, Talen laughing in a void. Hax magic, he realized, Echo-72 rewriting reality's script."Voss, conjuring!" Zara yelled, firing her prism. "Pull the void!"Einstein reached for the void-essence, the cold rush making his bones ache, his memories slipping—his old dog, his first kiss, gone. I'm fading, he thought, but he pulled, the lattice shrinking. Kaelith's mist tightened, Talen shouting coordinates, and Zara's prism flared, sealing Echo-72 in a cage. The cathedral stabilized, but aetheric ichor pooled, and a new shimmer formed—a glimpse of Earth-Noir, a city of teeth and eyes."We're not done," Zara said, panting. "Echo Prime's building something."Einstein collapsed, the plasma fading, Izarael's voice a faint echo: The chain binds. Weave, or all falls. The Eidolon Cascade was alive, and he was its spark, caught in a war where every world hung in the balance