The Rift wasn't just a tear in reality — it was a scar in memory.
Kairav stood motionless at the edge of the drop-pod, eyes locked on the endless purple horizon beyond the armored glass. Beneath him, the unstable region of Rift-Zone 12 churned with a chaotic glow, surging and flickering like a dying star. The static from below wasn't natural — it sang in strange pulses. Rhythmic. Like a heartbeat.
And Kairav had learned to listen.
He tapped the side of his visor, linking into the mission grid.
"All units, this is Echo Command. Rift-pulse patterns match Delta-9 waveforms. All readings suggest synchronized loop instability. Proceed with extreme caution."
Aarav's voice came through next, clipped and low. "Kairav, Mira and I are on perimeter sweep. Reyan's taking forward recon. Meet at the central fault-line in 20."
"Copy that," Kairav replied. "I'll plug into the anomaly sequence directly."
He didn't wait for affirmation. He was already descending.
[Earlier That Morning]
The team had gathered in the main war room, a low-lit dome covered in projectors and flowing Rift data. The usual calm buzz of mission prep was shattered by a sudden holographic stutter. The central display flickered — then flared red.
"New Rift anomaly detected," Mira announced. "Zone 12. Temporal repeat spikes and neurofeedback loops reported across three sectors."
Kairav was already reading two steps ahead.
"The pattern… matches Delta-9's frequency drift," he muttered. "But the origin signal is reversed — like a mirror echo. Not just similar. It's responding to us."
Aarav raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean responding?"
Kairav spun a projection. "Every Rift event in this sector mimics a prior anomaly. It's like the Rift is testing variations… adapting. Like it remembers how we handled the last incursion and is adjusting."
Mira's gaze darkened. "This isn't a storm. It's an opponent."
Reyan, arms crossed at the back of the room, gave a dry chuckle. "Finally feels like a proper game."
Kairav didn't laugh. "It's not a game if the board fights back."
[Present - Rift Zone 12]
The air shimmered with heat distortion as Kairav approached the faultline. Scanners on his wrist blinked erratically — time here wasn't flowing normally. The landscape around him twisted at the edges — rocks unfixed from the ground, clouds dragging in reverse. Even his own footsteps echoed twice.
He dropped to a knee, extending a device into the fractured soil.
Ping.
The pulse repeated.
Then he heard it.
"We see you, Tactician."
It wasn't over the comms. It was inside him.
Kairav froze. His fingers twitched over the decryption keys. "Run diagnostics," he whispered.
The scanner didn't respond.
Instead, the Rift pulsed again — a surge of energy rising from below, and with it, images.
Flashes of Delta-9.
Of Aarav's collapse.
Of Reyan's face, bloodied and triumphant.
Of Mira, alone in the dark, whispering to a phantom that might have been her father.
And one more — an image Kairav hadn't seen before.
Himself, standing in a room that didn't exist yet, placing something into the Rift.
A choice.
A betrayal.
A spark of panic crept into his chest. "Not real," he told himself. "Not yet."
But the Rift had seen it.
Meanwhile, Reyan and Siara Myles had breached the northern faultline.
"Do you hear that?" she asked quietly, crouched beside him. Her violet-tinged visor reflected Reyan's expression: focused, but unsettled.
He nodded. "It's the same pattern Kairav mentioned. But it's getting faster."
"I picked up fragments of audio in the pulses," she added. "Not just noise. It's language."
Reyan glanced at her. "You're sure?"
"Positive. Same dialect fragments from Rift ruins in Sector-5B. But this… this is speaking directly. To someone."
Reyan tapped his comm. "Kairav, update?"
Nothing.
Siara looked at him. "He's too close to the source."
"Or inside it," Reyan muttered.
They moved.
[Moments Later – Faultline Core]
Reyan found Kairav kneeling, eyes wide, staring into a fissure of light. The young tactician didn't even turn as they approached.
Reyan gripped his shoulder. "Kairav! Snap out of it."
The boy blinked. "It's not just a Rift anomaly."
"What is it?"
Kairav turned slowly, voice steady now — but distant. "It's a memory engine. A reflection loop. The Rift is learning not just what we do… but who we are. It's recording every choice we make. Every fear."
Siara stepped closer. "It knows our patterns."
Reyan's jaw tightened. "Then we change them."
They detonated the suppression beacon. The fissure screamed.
And in the howl, the Rift blinked.
For the first time… it hesitated.
[Later – Command Debrief]
The team stood before Mira in the debriefing chamber.
"Mission partially successful," she reported. "Data gathered. Beacon placed. Rift contained… temporarily."
She turned to Kairav. "You interacted with it."
Kairav nodded. "It interacted with me. The Rift isn't just reacting. It's choosing. And it knows us better than we think."
Mira gave a curt nod. "Then we become less predictable."
Reyan and Siara exchanged a glance.
Aarav sat in the back, quiet, watching.
Something had shifted again — and everyone felt it.
[End of Chapter 7 ]