The air still shimmered with heat from the explosion as the group trudged across the fungal plains. Towering mycelium trees loomed overhead, their spores drifting lazily in the wake of the Hive Nexus's destruction. The atmosphere was eerily quiet, save for the soft crackle of charred undergrowth beneath their boots.
Selene walked beside Julius, her scanner out and flickering with unstable readings.
"No signs of pursuit," she muttered, "but the blast disturbed the entire underground system. Energy signatures are fluctuating."
Brinley glanced back toward the wreckage. "Let's hope we buried whatever was left of Vorr and that abomination."
Julius didn't speak. His mind was still tangled in the sensation he'd felt when the Hive had tried to breach Echelon. It wasn't just code—it was like a memory, like something watching through his own eyes.
Vara kept her silence too, but she hadn't been the same since the Nexus. Her usual stoicism had frayed at the edges, her eyes constantly scanning the horizon as if expecting something—or someone—to find them.
"We need shelter," she finally said. "Somewhere defensible while we plan our next move."
They found it a few kilometers east: a ruined outpost, ancient and half-swallowed by the earth. Vines wrapped around its shattered antennae, and old banners—long faded—hung from rusted supports.
Julius approached a console by the entryway. It sparked feebly under his touch. "Military-grade. Pre-Fall tech. Still has power."
Selene stepped beside him, working her tools. "Give me ten minutes."
While she worked, Julius turned to Vara. "You heard something back there. Something more than just the Hive."
Vara hesitated. "Yes. Something… older. Vorr was consumed, overwritten by a will deeper than the Hive's protocols. It called itself the Architect."
Selene looked up. "Like the Hive's creator?"
"No. More like… an inheritor," Vara replied. "An ancient intelligence buried beneath the Hive's code, waiting for the right vessel."
"And it chose Vorr," Brinley muttered.
Julius stared at the ruined horizon. "And it failed. We stopped it."
Vara's voice was soft. "No. We delayed it."
A sudden chime echoed from the console. Selene's brow furrowed. "We just picked up a signal."
"What kind of signal?" Julius asked.
"Encrypted. Deep-layer band. Military format—but it's not ours."
A second later, a voice crackled through the static.
"Echo Unit—if you're hearing this, you are not alone. We have survivors. Repeat, survivors. Coordinated resistance is forming. Rendezvous coordinates attached. Hurry. They're learning faster now."
Silence fell. Brinley was the first to break it. "Holy hell. There's others?"
Selene displayed the coordinates. "It's real. North continent. Looks like a former orbital uplink station."
Julius felt a strange surge in his chest. Hope. It had been a while.
"Let's move," he said. "The Hive's changing. So are we. But if there's a resistance—then it's time we joined the fight."
Behind them, the console sparked again, and in a line of static, a phrase scrawled itself across the screen:
I SEE YOU, SYMBIOTE ZERO.
Julius turned. But the screen was dark.