The fog had only thickened since their clash with the Storm's Chosen. Though the brief battle ended in an uneasy truce, the air between the two groups remained charged with suspicion. Kael, standing close to the crystalline artifact he had uncovered, felt the Core within him pulse in reaction to the figures surrounding him. The energy still lingered in the walls of the station—restless, as if the structure itself disapproved of the alliance.
Across from him stood Commander Veyra, tall and sharp-eyed, her features carved with experience and distrust. Her second-in-command, a man named Solin, mirrored her stance, hands always near his weapon though never quite drawing it. They had made camp together in the station's old command center, a broad, circular chamber with glassless windows that let in the howling wind.
"We stay here for the night," Veyra announced, not as a suggestion but a command. "Come dawn, we move deeper. The Echo Purists will have picked up on our location."
Kael's team didn't argue. They set up their gear in silence, each person securing a space along the curved edge of the room. Lira busied herself by checking her drone's calibration. Aren lingered near the ancient data core, flipping through fragmented files. Drex took watch by the door, his heavy frame a silent barrier.
Kael sat on the edge of the pedestal that had held the artifact. Its glow had dimmed but still pulsed faintly. He rested a hand on it and closed his eyes, trying to steady the rhythm of the Core inside him. But images kept pushing through: shattered memories that didn't belong to him. Images of experiments, screaming subjects, a glyph burning into flesh. Was this the past of Velhym Station? Or was the Core leaking deeper into him?
"You're losing focus," Veyra said, stepping up beside him. "That thing inside you is eating away at your mind."
Kael opened his eyes. "You've seen something like this before."
Veyra didn't answer immediately. She looked toward the artifact. "Our order was built around what we found here decades ago. Fragments of research. Notes on talent manipulation. The scientists here weren't just documenting talent—they were trying to rewrite it."
"Rewrite it how?"
"Combine it. Force evolution. Fuse incompatible types." She met his gaze. "The Core you carry is not natural. It's an experiment."
Kael stood slowly, unsettled. "That voice I heard—it said I was the key. That this place chose me."
"Then we're in worse danger than I thought."
---
Later that night, tension grew in the dim glow of campfires and energy lanterns. Two Storm's Chosen soldiers clashed with Drex over rations. Their voices grew louder until Aren had to step between them, a hand on Drex's shoulder, whispering something that made him back off.
Kael paced outside the chamber, unable to sleep. The cold bit through his jacket, but he barely noticed. A low vibration resonated in his chest, the Core responding to something in the ruins. Or someone.
He turned the corner and nearly ran into Solin.
"You wander too much," Solin said flatly. "That's dangerous."
Kael studied the man. "You don't trust me."
Solin's jaw tightened. "You hold a weapon you don't understand. One that can destroy cities. Would you trust you?"
A fair point. Kael nodded. "I just want to control it. Use it to stop what's coming."
"What's coming can't be stopped. Only delayed." Solin stepped aside. "Sleep while you can."
---
By morning, the station groaned. The seismic tremors had returned—subtle but unmistakable. As they gathered their gear, Kael caught Aren staring at a wall lined with old diagrams.
"What is it?" Kael asked.
Aren pointed. "These formulas... they're talent recipes. Not just natural ones. Artificial ones. There's a mention of something called the Prime Strain."
Kael's stomach dropped. "That's what the Core is based on."
Veyra stepped up. "You weren't supposed to see that."
Kael turned to her. "Why hide it? What is the Prime Strain?"
"A manufactured base talent—meant to overwrite whatever came before. A reset. Clean slate for humanity."
"And what happens to everyone else?"
"They cease to matter."
---
That day, as they prepared to descend deeper into Velhym Station's heart, the uneasy alliance wore thinner. The path ahead would take them through the Central Spire—a zone filled with untested tech and defense mechanisms.
Kael paused by the door. His Core pulsed with warning.
"We go together," Veyra said, her voice sharp. "But only until we reach the lower vaults. After that, your path and mine will diverge."
Kael didn't argue. But something deep in his chest whispered otherwise.
They would not be able to separate. Not anymore.