Chapter 7 - Chapter 7: The Whispering Rift

Einstein Voss's hands wouldn't stop shaking. The Aetheric Concord's safehouse hummed around him, its steel walls and glowing screens a fortress against the chaos of Earth-Alpha's dawn, but it didn't feel safe. Not after the cathedral, not after Echo-72's lattice of non-existence nearly tore reality apart. His palm's cut glowed, aetheric plasma pulsing like a heartbeat, each throb a reminder of the aetheric weaving and void conjuring that had burned away pieces of him—his strength, his memories, maybe his soul. I'm still here, he thought, slouched in a metal chair, but who am I kidding? I'm hanging by a thread.Zara Kade leaned against a crate, her Containment Prism clipped to her belt, its faint glow casting shadows across her scuffed leather jacket. Her short black hair was matted with sweat, her eyes tired but sharp, scanning a holographic map on the table. Red blips marked rifts across Earth-Alpha—the subway, the cathedral, and now a new one, pulsing in the city's old library district. "We're not getting a break," she muttered, her voice rough, like she'd smoked a pack in the last hour.Talen Vey sat cross-legged on the floor, his tablet a mess of fractal patterns and static, his cracked glasses slipping down his nose. "Echo-72's containment's holding," he said, his tone clipped, like the world was a math problem he couldn't solve. "But the Noetic Shroud's still leaking. Beliefs, fears—it's like the Eidolon Cascade's screaming."Kaelith drifted near the map, her form flickering like a candle in a storm, her void-eyes swallowing light. "The web trembles," she whispered, her voice a cold echo in Einstein's skull. "The Nullpoint stirs, and the weaver listens."Einstein's cut flared, and Izarael's voice sliced through, sharp and cryptic: The rift whispers. Seek the forgotten, or all fades. He clenched his fist, the plasma sparking, and shook his head. "What's with the riddles?" he said, louder than he meant. "Every time we seal one of these Echoes, another pops up. What's the game?"Zara's eyes flicked to him, a mix of pity and frustration. "The game's survival, Voss. The Abyssal Dissolution wants the Cascade gone, and Echo Prime's its player. We're just trying to keep the board."Einstein rubbed his arm, where an aetheric wraith's scar still oozed faint aetheric ichor, crimson and slick. Survival, huh? Feels more like drowning. "So what's the new blip?" he asked, nodding at the map. "Another time-bender like Echo-45?"Talen's tablet beeped, a red alert flashing. "Worse," he said, standing, his wild hair a halo in the screen's glow. "Echo-88, Nonexistent Physiology, Type 1, but it's… weird. It's not just non-existent—it's hiding. Memory spikes, antimemetic signatures. It's like it doesn't want us to know it's there.""Antimemetic?" Einstein asked, his stomach turning. Great, now they mess with my head.Kaelith's form flickered, her voice a hiss: "It steals what was. The Void Dreamer sees, but cannot name."Zara grabbed a vial of mnestic fluid from a crate, tossing it to Einstein. "Drink," she said. "Echo-88's playing with memories. You'll need this to even see it."Einstein caught the vial, the liquid shimmering like liquid starlight. His last dose still burned in his veins, sharpening his mind but leaving him jittery, like he'd mainlined coffee. This stuff's gonna kill me faster than the Echoes, he thought, but he downed it, the cold rush clearing the fog. The safehouse felt sharper now, the hum of aetheric plasma in the walls louder, the map's red blip pulsing like a warning.A klaxon blared, screens flashing red. Talen's tablet sparked, showing a live feed from the library district—old stone buildings, a gothic library with shattered windows, and a crowd of people standing still, their eyes blank, staring at nothing. "It's active," Talen said, his voice tight. "Echo-88's in the library. It's… taking them.""Taking how?" Zara snapped, checking her prism."Memories," Talen said, zooming in on the feed. "They're not moving, not thinking. It's like they forgot who they are."Einstein's cut burned, and a memory flickered—not his, but someone else's: a woman's laugh, a hand on his shoulder, gone before he could grasp it. Who am I forgetting? he thought, his heart racing. "We need to move," he said, standing, his toolbag heavy in his hand. "Those people—they're not gonna last."Zara nodded, grabbing a second prism. "Talen, get us a path. Kaelith, scout the rift."Talen's fingers flew over his tablet, mapping the district, while Kaelith dissolved into mist, her void-eyes lingering on Einstein. "The spark seeks," she whispered, then vanished. Einstein's palm glowed, the plasma restless, and he followed Zara to the van, Talen trailing behind, muttering about Archetypal Crucible signatures.The drive was tense, Earth-Alpha's streets a blur of gray dawn and flickering lights. The library district was cordoned off, cops milling around, their faces confused, like they'd forgotten why they were there. Zara flashed her fake badge, and they slipped past, the air thick with void-essence, a black ooze seeping from the library's steps. Einstein's cut pulsed, guiding them inside, and the mystery hit like a wave.The library was a tomb of dust and shadows, its high ceilings lost in gloom, shelves sagging with forgotten books. The air hummed, not with sound but with absence, and at the center stood Echo-88, a shimmering haze, Type 1 NEP, its form a knot of non-existence that pulsed with aetheric plasma. Figures stood around it—people, maybe twenty, their eyes blank, their hands limp. Threads of Echo-88 wove into them, faint and ghostly, stealing something Einstein couldn't see but felt—memories, lives, gone.Its voice wasn't sound but a pressure: The forgotten are mine. Einstein's mind flickered again—a name, a face, someone important, slipping away. No, he thought, gripping his wrench. You don't get to take that.Zara raised her prism, light forming a cage, but Echo-88 rippled, the cage dissolving. "It's antimemetic!" she shouted, dodging a thread of aetheric ichor that burned the floor. "It's hiding in our heads!"Talen's tablet sparked, his eyes wild. "It's linked to Echo Prime," he said. "The patterns—Echo-13, 45, 72—they're a network, but there's a gap. Someone's missing… a Concord member.""Missing?" Einstein asked, his cut flaring. Who? The memory flickered again—laughter, a name starting with M, gone.Kaelith materialized, her mist coiling around Echo-88. "The Void Dreamer mourns," she hissed, her form fraying as she pulled the haze inward. "The lost one calls."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 ears. I'm not enough, he thought, but he held on, the haze thrashing. The library shook, aetheric wraiths emerging, their screams a silent wail: The forgotten bind.Zara fired her prism, reinforcing the cage, but Echo-88 fought, threads weaving into the crowd, their faces flickering—some vanished, others screamed, their memories bleeding into the haze. Einstein saw it—a figure in the threads, not here, not now, but familiar. A woman, Concord gear, her face blurred. Who is she?"Voss, conjuring!" Zara yelled, dodging a wraith. "Pull the void!"Einstein reached for the void-essence, the cold rush stealing his breath, his past—his first job, his mom's voice, gone. I'm fading, he thought, but he pulled, the haze shrinking. Kaelith's mist tightened, Talen shouting coordinates, and Zara's prism flared, sealing Echo-88 in a cage. The library stabilized, the crowd collapsing, alive but empty, their eyes haunted.But the air shimmered, a new rift pulsing—a glimpse of Earth-Aether, storms of aetheric plasma raging. Izarael's voice echoed: The lost one binds. Seek, or all falls. Einstein's cut glowed, the mystery deepening. Who's missing? The Eidolon Cascade was watching, and he was its spark, caught in a puzzle where the answer could break everything