Shattered Illusions

The coordinates were buried deep within Kreel's burned journal. A location that hadn't been mentioned before, not even in their most classified files.

A facility hidden beneath the city.

Seraph tapped the map. "It's underground. No official records, no Nexus branding. But the energy readings here—" she pointed to the scanner, "—show something we've never seen before."

Liam frowned. "That doesn't look like standard Echo resonance."

"It's not," Seraph confirmed. "It's… fractured. Like something's disrupting the flow."

Mia studied the readings. "Could be a containment field. Or…" She hesitated. "Or someone is experimenting with Echoes in a way we don't understand."

Noah shook his head. "You're saying there could be another layer to all of this?"

Mia closed her eyes briefly. The thought chilled her.

"If Elias is behind this," she said, "he wouldn't just be working on the same things Kreel was." She looked up at them. "He'd be trying to rewrite the rules of Echoes themselves."

---

The Descent

The entrance to the underground facility was buried beneath an abandoned subway station. Dust and decay coated the rusted tracks, the scent of damp stone thick in the air.

Jonah led the way, flashlight sweeping across the old tunnels. "We're looking for a control panel. If this place was sealed off, there should still be a way in."

Mia traced her fingers along the wall, searching for residual Echo energy. A faint hum vibrated beneath her skin.

"There's something here," she whispered.

Liam knelt beside her, pressing his hand to the cold metal. "Feels like a lock mechanism. But it's not mechanical—it's coded."

Seraph pulled out her interface. "I can crack it."

As she worked, Mia's thoughts swirled. If Elias had truly been alive all this time, why had he never reached out? Why had he stayed in the shadows, watching as they fought battles he once cared about?

A soft click echoed through the tunnel.

Seraph smirked. "We're in."

The doors groaned open, revealing a dark corridor lined with flickering lights. The air was sterile, heavy with the scent of machinery and something else—something unnatural.

Mia stepped forward. "Let's find out what Elias has been hiding."

---

The Hall of Echoes

The corridor led to a vast chamber, filled with massive glass tanks. Each one pulsed with a strange, shifting energy. Shadows flickered inside them—humanoid figures, but not quite human.

Noah took a step back. "What the hell is this?"

Mia moved closer to the nearest tank. The figure inside was barely visible, its form flickering between solid and transparent. Its face twisted in silent agony.

Echo experiments.

Liam clenched his fists. "This isn't just research. He's—"

A voice cut through the silence.

"You finally made it."

They spun around.

At the far end of the room, standing beside a control panel, was Elias Voss.

Mia's breath caught. He was older than she remembered, his once-dark hair streaked with silver. But his eyes—those piercing, intelligent eyes—hadn't changed.

"You should have stayed away, Mia," Elias said, his voice almost regretful. "Now you've come too far."

Mia stepped forward. "Why?"

Elias tilted his head. "Why what?"

"Why are you doing this?"

His expression darkened. "Because I had no choice."

The lights above them flickered. The tanks around them pulsed brighter. The figures inside began to stir.

Something was waking up.

And the truth was about to be revealed.

The chamber trembled. A low hum resonated through the walls as the tanks flickered erratically. The figures inside stirred, their movements sluggish at first—then sudden and violent.

Mia's pulse quickened. "Elias, shut it down. Now."

Elias Voss didn't move. His gaze remained calm, almost sorrowful. "You still don't understand, do you?"

Noah's grip tightened around his weapon. "Understand what? That you've been running experiments on people?"

Elias sighed. "They're not people anymore. Not in the way you think."

Liam took a step forward. "Then what are they?"

A metallic clank echoed as the locks on the tanks disengaged.

Elias didn't answer.

Because the answer was already in front of them.

The first glass panel shattered.

A figure stepped out.

At first glance, it looked human. A man—his features unnervingly smooth, his skin flickering between solid and translucent. His eyes, however, were completely void. No color, no pupils. Just empty blackness.

Then the second tank shattered. And the third.

Mia's breath hitched.

These weren't just experiments.

They were Echo Constructs—fragments of lost souls, forcibly pulled back from the Hollow Veil and reshaped into something unnatural.

And now, they were awake.

The first construct moved fast. Too fast.

Before anyone could react, it lunged at Noah. He barely dodged, rolling out of the way as the creature's hand struck the floor, leaving a deep dent in the reinforced metal.

Jonah fired his gun. The bullet phased through the construct's body as if it wasn't fully solid.

Seraph cursed. "They're unstable!"

The second construct turned toward Mia.

She felt it before it moved—the raw pull of its Echo energy. It wasn't just flickering between physical and non-physical. It was hungry.

It reached for her.

Mia raised her hand instinctively, channeling her own Echo abilities to push it back.

The moment her energy clashed with the construct's, she felt it.

A memory that wasn't hers.

Pain. Darkness. A voice whispering in an unfamiliar language.

The construct shuddered violently, its body convulsing as if it were being torn apart. Then, just as suddenly, it collapsed into nothingness—dissolving into wisps of Echo energy before fading completely.

Mia stumbled back, breathing heavily.

"They're unstable," she gasped. "They can't hold their form for long."

But Elias didn't look surprised.

He looked… disappointed.

Liam turned on Elias. "Tell us what the hell you're doing here."

Elias adjusted his coat, seemingly unfazed. "What you just saw was the failure of an imperfect process."

Seraph clenched her fists. "You mean pulling Echoes out of the Veil and forcing them into physical bodies?"

Elias nodded. "A necessary step in understanding the full potential of the Harmonic Nexus."

Mia narrowed her eyes. "This isn't research. This is a violation of everything Echoes stand for."

Elias exhaled slowly. "And yet, the Nexus is still incomplete, isn't it?" He looked directly at her. "You've felt it, haven't you? The missing link? The truth behind why Echoes exist?"

Mia hesitated.

Because, deep down, she knew he was right.

Every time she used her abilities, she felt a lingering sensation—like something unfinished. As if there was a greater force behind Echoes that no one had fully understood.

But this?

This wasn't the way to find the answer.

Elias turned away from them, pressing a sequence of buttons on the control panel.

"Unfortunately," he said, "I can't let you leave yet."

A low rumble vibrated beneath their feet.

Something else was waking up.