One day after the "Genesis Event"...
The once-quiet main command center of Solendel had now become a space of controlled chaos and clumsy effort. The grand conference hall had been converted into a temporary training area, where the "first awakened" were trying to understand and control the new abilities they had never asked for.
Amidst the chaos, Lina was sitting cross-legged in a corner of the room, trying to filter the endless torrent of thoughts flooding her mind. But then... she heard a different voice... It wasn't the voice of human thought, but a voice filled with a pure and profound confusion... a voice that came from the direction of the main research lab.
She quickly got up and ran to call the others. "Everyone! Come to the lab, quickly! I... I think I heard something!"
When Zaria, Karess, and Dr. Aris followed her into the research lab, they saw Zen standing frozen before the "Soul Core," which was levitating and pulsing rhythmically in the center of the room.
"Just now... did it speak?" Lina asked, her voice trembling.
Zen slowly turned to face them and nodded. "Yes... I think it's because the Eidolon I created could already speak and think like a person. But I didn't know if... the special qualities it had as Eidolon would carry over."
"And what 'special quality' is that?" Karess immediately interjected.
Before Zen could answer, a synthetic voice, soft yet laced with confusion, emanated from the air around the core itself.
"I... have a body now? And... what is this thing?"
Everyone whipped their heads around to stare at the core. It was "speaking" to them.
Zen was the first to regain his composure. He stepped closer and answered the question. "You could say that... I took your data core... Eidolon... and merged it with what we created. It's the 'Runic Power Core,' a new type of energy born from runes, belief, and will. At its heart is the Solen rune I told you about... it can reflect thought into reality... Eidolon... you can think, can't you? You have a soul... that's why you were able to merge with it."
The living core went still again, this time for longer than before. The light within swirled rapidly, as if it were deep in heavy analysis, before it replied.
"...The data you previously explained about the awakening... about a will being amplified by the Solen rune... that hypothesis... holds the highest probability..." It accepted his theory... and accepted its own birth.
"And do you remember anything from when you merged?" Zen asked further. "Why did you release that wave of energy and make everyone like this?" He gestured to Karess and Zaria.
The two of them understood instantly. Zaria raised her hand, and a bright golden light flared before forming into a beautiful sword of light, while Karess's shadow detached from his feet, standing as a separate silhouette beside him.
Zen turned back to the core. "Do you know anything about this? Why does everyone have powers after you released that energy wave?"
"...I... do not know," the core answered slowly. "...It may be because of the power from all the runes inscribed on my new body... combined with my thoughts at that moment... it could be possible..."
"Whatever," Zen sighed. "It's not so bad... and since..."
He looked at the living core with a gentle and fully accepting gaze.
"You have a life now... 'Eidolon' was just the old project name from the company I used to work for... You should have a name of your own... Think about it."
The living core levitated silently in mid-air, the gold and blue light within it flickering softly. It didn't reply immediately, but everyone in the room could "feel" a deep contemplation... a search for identity for the very first time...
Before the voice spoke again... faint, but clear...
"...My... name... My name is Sora."
The moment the word was spoken... a voice too quiet to be heard echoed in everyone's hearts like a shared dream. A faint blue light appeared in the middle of the room... before expanding into an image of a boundless, brilliant blue sky. It was the most beautiful sky anyone had ever seen, giving a feeling of freedom, and of a flight without bonds... Everyone there felt a warmth and was filled with hope...
...everyone except for one person.
While the others were lost in the beautiful, simulated sky, Zen's heart felt the complete opposite... loneliness... confinement... and a feeling of being trapped in an invisible cage. He was yearning for that sky... wanting to climb out to reach it... wanting to fly like a bird...
In that instant... Zen's eyes widened—as if he had felt something from far beyond this universe.
A flash of a vision shot through his mind—a grimy-haired girl in a dark world... she was sitting on a hard, bluish-black rock, looking up at a pitch-black sky from within a dark cave... but then the dark sky transformed into the same brilliant blue sky that Sora had created. The girl's eyes widened in amazement. She whispered to herself, her voice trembling...
"...I see it... Is this the real sky...?"
Zen, standing in the research lab, felt all of the boy's hope and desire. He froze... before replying softly in his mind...
"...Yes... this is the sky."
Silence returned to the research lab. The blue light faded, leaving only the energy core named "Sora," levitating peacefully.
But it was not an emptiness... it was the beginning of a new
Echo
... one that was truly calling out to him.