Chapter 9: The Man in the Static

The journey led them into the rusted belly of the Dead Sector—an old comms bunker buried beneath layers of forgotten tech.

Inside, the air buzzed with thick electromagnetic tension. Old screens blinked with static. Shadows danced on the walls, but none of them moved. Until one did.

He emerged from the static—a man in a tattered command uniform, eyes glowing faintly blue. His voice was a metallic rasp. "Reclaimer... you are late."

Ashur froze.

"How do you know what I am?"

"I was the last Architect," the man said. "Before the Collapse."

Then, like a candle in a storm, his image began to fade. The static surged.

"You were never meant to wake up alone."

And just like that, he was gone—leaving only a symbol etched in light.

Ashur didn't recognize it, but deep in his bones, he knew.

It was his crest.

---