Dr. Koval stood over Kiran, her words chilling him to the bone. "The 'seed' is the manifestation of the Eldritch's raw essence, implanted during moments of extreme dimensional instability. Yours was during the Foundation's initial collapse, a time when the Veil thinned unpredictably," she explained, her voice like a calm teacher. "Your unique temporal abilities, your very being, are a byproduct of its integration. You are a bridge, Code X. A living conduit."
She showed him images on the glass screen—not just symbols from the Eclipse Codex, but complex diagrams of human DNA twisting with strange, otherworldly energy patterns. "The Eldritch are not evil, Kiran. They are simply... another form of life. Pure energy, pure consciousness. They seek to merge, to evolve with this dimension, to transcend the limitations of their own. The Great Eclipse is the cosmic alignment, the perfect moment for this 'Harvest.' We, Neo-Eclipse, merely guide the process, ensuring the correct vessels are prepared." She sounded utterly convinced, a fanatic driven by a dark, ancient truth.
Kiran listened, his mind racing. He was filled with a mix of revulsion and a strange curiosity. The dream, the disaster, the seed – it all began to make a twisted kind of sense. He had always felt different, disconnected. Now he knew why. He was a cosmic experiment. He felt the internal hum of the seed strengthening, a quiet pulse beneath his ribs. It gave him strength, a new awareness of the energy around him, but it also felt like a parasite, slowly changing him. He clenched his fists against the restraints. This power, this terrifying connection, was his prison. But he also knew it was his only way out. He had to understand it, control it, before it controlled him. He had to find a way to escape, to warn Elena, and to get back the physical Eclipse Codex book.