53.5: “A Signal Buried in Silence”

Location: Eterna's Underground City – Sector Three, Forbidden Archive Room

In a damp chamber lit by faint, flickering orange lights, the rhythmic tick of an analog data needle echoed like an anxious heartbeat.

A man in a long coat stood at the center of the room, surrounded by walls lined with forbidden tech archives—blueprints of outlawed designs, records of illegal experiments, and transactional data from nearly every major faction.

Before him, a semi-circular screen glowed softly.Only one name was displayed:DEREN ARKWRIGHTClassification: Independent Variable. Risk Level: Unpredictable.

The man didn't speak. He simply slid his finger across the screen.More logs appeared:

Unauthorized access to Colosia's internal systems.

Reactivation of outdated Core modules.

Manual override of hybrid cooling protocol.

[Audio Log:] "I don't even like this design."

He let out a small smile."So you've finally stepped into the light... no longer a ghost story whispered in the underworld, but a fact. A fact that can't be erased."

Behind him, the archive room door opened with a low hiss.Another figure entered."Surveillance at Nova Academy remains stable. But pressure from the Eterna faction is rising. The name 'Eidolon' has resurfaced."

"Let them talk," the man replied calmly. "We don't need to fight.We only need to... steer."

He tapped the screen once.

[Command: Distribute new-gen Core modules to three blacksite nodes.][Note: Embed Arkwright-pattern resonance signatures.]

"Let their systems detect a signal they can't decipher.And when confusion spreads…He'll come looking for answers himself."