Opening – Ghosts in the Mind
The memory shard recovered from the battlefield pulses faintly—a fragment from Vael'Ruun's own data weave, encrypted in layers of pre-Rebellion Isu logic.
Kaelen and Seren descend into an isolated cryptovault beneath the Awakened base, where raw memory architecture can be safely explored. Here, thought is simulated, dissected, dangerous.
Seren:"Last time we dove into one of these, you nearly didn't come back."
Kaelen:"Last time, I didn't have you with me."
They initiate a joint link, merging mental fields—walking into the shard's reconstructed reality.
The Memory Trap
Inside: a simulated Isu corridor, corrupted and looping.
Distorted echoes of Zarxes' voice overlay Vael'Ruun's notes, twisting them.
They follow the echoes, unraveling the memory logic virus Zarxes embedded in his soldiers—a recursive trigger that activates if certain emotional thresholds are reached: shame, fear, love.
Kaelen:"He booby-trapped emotions themselves. That's why some freed Hounds relapse or vanish."
They reach the memory's core.
There, a distorted version of Vael'Ruun is crucified across a lattice of red light—not him, but a synthetic echo. A warning.
Synthetic Vael'Ruun:"He didn't just steal our obedience. He stole our choices."
Uncovering the Seed Protocol
The data reveals something chilling:
Zarxes' system injected a self-repairing corruption thread into every loyal Hound. Even after liberation, the memory reasserts itself in fragments—as dreams, voices, impulses. Over time, it can rebuild the cage.
The rewrite pulse interrupted the process—but didn't destroy it.
Seren:"We bought time. Not freedom."
Kaelen:"Then we need to destroy the root."
But the protocol wasn't authored by Zarxes alone. The memory reveals a second signature—a sleeper Isu scientist, codenamed THESSARA, once allied with Vael'Ruun… later betrayed him.
Seren (reading metadata):"She vanished before the Rebellion fell. Off-grid."
Kaelen:"Or off-world."
A Trail in the Mindscape
As they exit the shard, Kaelen collapses briefly—struck by an involuntary memory spike.
A vision: Thessara speaking to Zarxes, offering him a schematic of the seed protocol. Her words are sharp, defiant.
Thessara:"If you cannot control minds, rot them from within."
Zarxes:"You sound like Vael'Ruun."
Thessara:"I was better. I finished what he started."
Kaelen wakes, shaken.
Kaelen:"We've been fighting the wrong ghost."
Closing – The Warning
Back in reality, Kaelen and Seren compile their findings. They request an emergency audience with the Awakened Council—but one of the freed Hounds attacks a medic, eyes glowing faintly red.
The corruption is awakening faster.
The war is shifting once more—from open battle to a war of identity and infection.
Kaelen (to Seren):"If Thessara is alive… she's the key. Or the end of all of us."