Scene: Deep within Vault 9B – the trio reaches the central chamber, only to find themselves pulled into a shared hallucination-memory. Dialogue-driven.
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[Interior: Vault 9B Central Chamber. The space is cathedral-like—massive, circular, walls etched in glowing script. A central dais rises from the floor, and above it hovers a fractured orb of aetherium, spinning slowly.]
Thane: (voice trembling)
"I don't want to be here anymore."
Sylrae:
"Join the club."
Kaelen: (approaches the dais)
"That orb… it's not a power source."
Sylrae:
"It's a mind. Fragmented. You can feel it… watching."
[The moment Kaelen steps onto the dais, the vault pulses. A flash of white overtakes the room. Silence falls. Then—voices.]
[The vault fades. Suddenly, the three stand not in the vault—but on the bridge of a massive Skyborne battleship. Yet… none of them recognize it.]
Kaelen:
"This… isn't real."
Thane: (confused)
"But I know this place."
Sylrae:
"This was before the Fall. Before Skye burned."
[Officers move around them, unaware of their presence. Shadows with no faces, issuing commands in a language long-dead. The sky outside is on fire.]
Kaelen: (watching a ghostly figure stand at the command helm)
"That's me."
Sylrae: (frowning)
"No. It looks like you. But it's not."
[The ghost-Kaelen turns, and for a moment its face is his—but younger. Too young. Then its eyes shift—solid black.]
Ghost-Kaelen: (whispering directly to them, though no one else can hear)
"You thought you chose. But you were always walking a path already written. Every flare. Every forge. Every betrayal. We wrote them all."
Thane: (clutching his head)
"It's in my mind—I don't want it there!"
Sylrae: (snaps, drawing her sidearm)
"Enough!" (fires)
[The illusion shatters. They're back in the vault—but the orb is gone. And one word is burned into the floor at their feet, still smoking.]
THEY REMEMBER.
Kaelen: (quietly)
"It wasn't showing us the past."
Sylrae:
"Then what the hell was it?"
Kaelen:
"A warning. Or worse… a rehearsal."
[A sudden clatter—Thane has collapsed. His eyes rolled back, his mouth moving, but not in his own voice.]
Thane (possessed):
"Seven seals. One broke. Six remain. We will return. And this time, we will wear your faces."
[Static hums in the air. Lights flicker. The vault breathes.]
Kaelen: (kneels by Thane, eyes darkening)
"They're not bound anymore. They're learning. Adapting."
Sylrae:
"We need to go. Now."
[But outside, the mist has thickened. A presence gathers. And somewhere in the black, the humming begins again—this time louder.]
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End of Chapter Six