Four days.
That's all the time they had before Observer Delta arrived.
The countdown echoed in Marcus's system interface like a war drum—steady, cold, and irreversible. He stood at the edge of the Vault, gazing over the horizon as the skies shimmered with fractured auroras. The Architect Mirror's dissolution had warped the local atmosphere. Strange lights danced across the clouds. The world was reacting.
So was he.
[New Subsystem Online: Echo Pulse][Description: Enables mapping of unseen bio-mechanical fields across planetary distance]
Marcus focused, and the world lit up. Threads of crimson and white webbed through the earth—energy lines, network paths, and dormant Architect signals reawakening like old arteries learning to pump again.
Lucien approached, gaze wary. "You're seeing it, aren't you?"
"All of it," Marcus said. "And more. The planet isn't just infected—it's linked. Like a nervous system. And something's pulling its strings."
Behind them, Ember was running drills with the scavenged Beacon tech they'd repurposed. She stopped only to glance up at the sky. "That Observer thing—can we even fight it?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
He felt it—like a migraine beneath the skin of reality. Observer Delta wasn't just powerful; it was fundamental. A failsafe written into the Architect framework. Its very presence warped logic, dulled instinct, and erased choice.
[Threat Level: Supreme-Class Entity Confirmed][Probability of Direct Confrontation Survival: 2.6%][Probability With System Divergence Unlock: 38.9%]
"Then we unlock it," Marcus said quietly. "Whatever this 'Divergence Unlock' is—it's our only shot."
The Vault AI flickered to life behind them. A voice that hadn't spoken in centuries now whispered through ancient static.
"Divergence… was sealed long ago.""Buried in three fragments across the Ruined Grid.""To become singular… Marcus Chen… must reclaim his humanity's forgotten self."
Ember blinked. "Fragments? Like keys?"
"More like… memories," Marcus said, gaze darkening.
Lucien crossed his arms. "Then we find them. All three."
Marcus nodded. "We split up. Ember—head to Gridpoint Aether, in the old Beacon citadel ruins. Lucien, you go south—to the Black Sea Node. I'll head west… to where it all started."
Ember looked puzzled. "Where?"
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
"New Eden."
The name sent a chill across the group. New Eden—once a prototype utopia built by human hands, now a cratered relic overtaken by evolved horrors and buried truths.
As the team prepared to move, the sky groaned. Far above, a single star blinked out—not from distance, but from deletion.
The countdown dropped.
[Time to Arrival: 3 Days, 17 Hours]
And Observer Delta kept coming.