Grand Bloom and Hidden Agendas

📌 Disclaimer:

This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, events, and locations are purely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons or entities is purely coincidental.

1. The Bloom Above the Clouds

Far above the earthly sanctum of the Lotus Veil, on a platform that pierced the highest layers of the stratosphere, the Chamber of Petals Eternal hovered silently. This was where decisions that shaped the fate of nations and Ranker-kind were made.

[Access Level: Supreme Confidential]

[Location: Classified – "Bloom Core"]

[Participants: Grand Bloom Council – All 5 Present]

The chamber itself resembled the center of a colossal lotus, each petal hosting a seat. No throne. Only presence.

Each Grand Bloom wore a distinct color:

Crimson Bloom – War & Strategy

Silver Bloom – Intelligence & Secrets

Emerald Bloom – Healing & Mental Discipline

Indigo Bloom – Interdimensional Research

Black Bloom – Balance & Enforcement

Guru Ishani stood before them.

She bowed. "The Mumbai incident was a success. Raunak Virk neutralized the core anomaly. The unknown entity — now labeled Entity-X — escaped."

Crimson Bloom's voice boomed. "Escaped? Then it was not a success."

Silver Bloom folded her hands. "Yet the system recorded an interaction with an aberrant type unseen since the World Fracture Era."

Emerald Bloom nodded. "He's not just another initiate. His psionic profile evolved in record time. He already resonates with Tier-II echoes."

Black Bloom leaned forward slightly. "Then he must be tested. Deeply."

Indigo Bloom's eye pulsed with a psychic rune. "He is not alone. Entity-X appeared interested only when he arrived. We need to know why."

2. Secrets of Raunak Virk

Back at the sanctum, Raunak sat in silence inside the Memory Tank, a device used to replay key missions in raw psychic format. A glowing stream of moments replayed above him — the illusion realm, Entity-X's words, his team's shared link.

[Memory Sync – Complete]

[New Flag: Psi-Compatibility Score Exceeds Threshold]

[Potential Designation: ??? – Requires Clearance]

Suddenly, the chamber shifted.

A cloaked figure entered without triggering the security system.

"You're awake," said a voice Raunak didn't recognize — smooth, genderless, strangely kind.

He stood up immediately. "Who are you?"

"You may call me Caretaker," they said. "I'm not here to test you. I'm here to show you something."

They raised a hand. A psychic map unfolded.

It displayed not Earth… but a fractured mirror of Earth, half-glitching and burning with red lines.

"This… is the Echo World," the Caretaker said. "A psionic twin of our dimension. Normally sealed. But something—or someone—has begun to merge it with ours."

Raunak stared. "Entity-X?"

"Yes," the Caretaker said. "And you… have a resonance with both sides."

Raunak felt a jolt run through his chest — as though his psionic core responded to that truth.

[You have glimpsed forbidden knowledge]

[Passive Trait Unlocked: Echo-Affinity (Dormant)]

[New Subclass Eligible: Dual-Phased – Requires Exposure to Echo World]

3. Shadows in the System

Meanwhile, Silver Bloom received an encrypted transmission.

From a name that hadn't appeared in over seven years:

Sender ID: Specter013

Message: "The boy's psi-core is layered. Mirror-linked. Just like Subject 7 from the Korea breach. Watch him. And check Sector Zeta. They're moving again."

Silver Bloom exhaled slowly. "Zeta… I thought we sealed that place."

They hadn't.

And now, something in Zeta was stirring.

4. New Assignment – Operation "Smoke Signal"

Raunak's rest was short-lived.

A mission brief appeared on his console, blinking red.

[Operation: Smoke Signal]

[Location: Himachal Pradesh – Abandoned ISRO Observatory]

[Objective: Investigate mass psionic distortion above 11,000 ft]

[Status: Remote AI Units Lost | Airspace Disturbed | Psychic Weather: Volatile]

[Team Required: Elite or Exceptionally Adaptable]

Raunak's name was already assigned.

So were Yumi, Tara, and… a new Ranker.

[Name: Seo Jin-Tae]

[Rank: Petal-Class | Origin: Korean East Veil]

[Specialization: Shadow Constructs & Voidwalking]

[Notable Trait: Survived 3 minutes in Echo Bleedstorm]

Raunak narrowed his eyes.

Another survivor of the Echo?

And then… he saw the codename stamped at the bottom of the file:

"Operation Class: ENTITY-X Adjacent"

5. Next Threat Awakens

Far beneath Sector Zeta, deep in a cryo-sealed chamber once thought forgotten by all organizations — Rankers, governments, and even the Veil factions — a heartbeat echoed.

Slow.

Wrong.

Alien.

Thmp... thmp... THMP...

The seal cracked.

A red eye opened in the dark.

[Unknown Entity: "Threadweaver" – Status: Awakened]

[Goal: Contact Entity-X]

[Priority: Interference with Lotus Veil operations]

End of Chapter 8