[OPENING SCENE — SKYVAULT OUTER RING, NIGHT PATROL]
The stars above SkyVault glimmer cold and sharp. Patrol drones drift across the Outer Ring. On a high-speed platform skimming the skyline, Veya and Irion stand side by side in near silence, overlooking the edge of the floating city.
Veya:
"So… still brooding, huh?"
Irion:
"I'm not brooding."
Veya:
"Oh, my bad. You're 'silently contemplating the void.' Totally different."
Irion (smirks faintly):
"You'd be good at sarcasm combat."
Veya:
"I'm an all-rounder."
The tension breaks into light chuckles. But then a faint tremor in the air — like static shivering through glass — interrupts. Their comms crackle.
Echo-7 (voice over channel):
"Something's wrong. I'm picking up non-authorized signal loops below the Core District. They're… repeating memories?"
Kael (over comms):
"Eyes open. It might not be a breach. It might be a ghost."
[SCENE — CORE DISTRICT — ABANDONED MEMORY LIBRARY]
Yuna, Tari, and Jax enter the sealed library, a spiraling structure of glass towers and digital archives — old psychic scans from the SkyVault development era are stored here.
Inside, the air is dense with fog. The walls flicker with moments that no one remembers having.
Jax:
"This place is creepier than a haunted karaoke bar."
Tari (reading digital sigils):
"These aren't just stored memories. They're… infected."
Yuna (softly):
"She's testing the roots. Mother Null is looking for emotional anchors."
Suddenly, a burst of corrupted memory forms — a projection of the team's worst moments — manifesting as glitch-shadow versions of themselves.
Yuna (whispers):
"She's watching."
Combat begins — ghost-Vanguard illusions replicate their exact moves. It becomes a mirrored battle of wits and instincts.
Tari:
"Jax, fake them out. Think something wrong."
Jax (grinning):
"Wrong is my middle name!"
He imagines himself tap-dancing with baguettes — the illusion stutters. Echo-7 sends a distortion signal, freezing the shadows.
Echo-7:
"Unorthodox comedy loop. Effective. Recording."
[SCENE — VAN HQ WAR ROOM]
Kael reviews new satellite intel with General Vortan. A red pulse is seen expanding under the oldest parts of the city. Echo fragments match early Nullborn patterns — but the frequency is different.
Kael:
"She's changing tactics."
Vortan:
"She's not a virus. She's a strategist."
They zoom in on a deep underground rift-lab sealed off years ago. The signal pulses beneath it — something's trying to crawl back up.
Kael:
"Prepare deployment. All of us."
[SCENE — DEPLOYMENT ZONE: SECTOR H-9, ABANDONED RIFT CHAMBER]
The team arrives with heavy support. Aurix is back in full gear, dual pistols drawn. They split into strike squads.
Kael, Tari, Echo-7 head toward the pulse center.
Yuna, Irion, Veya, Jax clear corridors with digital sensors and psychic mapping.
They find crystallized remnants of old scientists fused to the walls — but the crystals are breathing.
Irion:
"This isn't preservation… it's purgatory."
Veya (angrily):
"She's keeping them alive in their worst moment. That's twisted."
A sudden ambush — drones made of broken lab tech and Null energy storm the team. They fight through in brutal close quarters.
Jax:
"Yo! Somebody tell Chef Malro I want his dumplings in my will!"
Yuna:
"Focus!"
Veya (dodging):
"I mean, it is a valid concern—"
[SCENE — PULSE CORE VAULT]
The teams reunite near the core vault, where a giant cocoon of fractured memories pulses like a heart. Echo-7 scans it.
Echo-7:
"Origin unknown. Source ID: NOON-1. Timeline… before SkyVault."
Tari (eyes wide):
"It's her. The original host."
A distorted image of Eravelle Noon (pre-Mother Null) appears — sobbing, looping her final memory. It's a goodbye to someone she couldn't save.
Yuna (softly):
"She's in there… the pain is still screaming."
Kael:
"Then let's end it."
They activate a memory-light cleansing beacon. The cocoon cracks. Ghost hands reach out — not to attack, but to hold. For the first time… forgiveness is requested.
Irion (steps forward):
"We see you. But we don't need you anymore."
With that, the pulse collapses inward. Light pours through the rift chamber.
[SCENE — NIGHTFALL ROOFTOP, AFTER THE MISSION]
The team sits on the edge of the building, bruised but whole. Veya steals Jax's drink. Tari polishes her scope. Aurix and Kael exchange a nod.
Irion (quietly):
"I think she's still out there. But maybe… quieter now."
Yuna:
"She'll wait. But so will we."
Echo-7:
"I have archived today's 'Victory Mood.' Would you like ambient jazz, comedy loop, or soft existential dread?"
Jax:
"Definitely the jazz."
Music plays. The city rests. The echoes… sleep.