Chapter 12 — The Echo's Approach
The return flight to Central Vanguard Headquarters was somber and heavy. No one spoke—not even Jiro, who normally filled tense silences with nervous jokes. The squad sat strapped in, armor scuffed, eyes distant, still processing what they had encountered.
Aiden stared at the floor of the transport, fingers curled tightly around the edge of his seat. His mind replayed the creature's final words over and over.
The Echo is coming.
Not a warning. Not a threat.
A declaration.
Something about its tone chilled him. Not fear. Not urgency.
Certainty.
The craft jolted slightly as they passed through a turbulent air pocket. Maya's hand shot out to steady herself, and she glanced at Aiden. He didn't look back. His thoughts were too loud.
Would the Echo be another creature? Another Seeker? Something worse?
And why was it coming for him?
He closed his eyes, feeling the faint, steady thrum of the Void in his chest. It had quieted after the creature vanished, but not settled. There was a tension in it—a coiling pressure, a hesitant vibration—like a muscle bracing before impact.
"Aiden," Hale said suddenly, his voice cutting through the silence. "When that thing spoke to you… did you understand what it wanted?"
Aiden opened his eyes. "No. But it knew about my Void Core. And it said something was taken."
"Taken?" Jiro asked, brow furrowing. "Taken by who? You? Something else? And what does 'fractured core' even mean?"
Aiden shook his head. "I don't know."
Maya leaned forward, gaze sharp. "What about the woman from Ashfall? You didn't say much about her back at HQ. Could she be connected?"
He hesitated. Then nodded.
"She used Void," Aiden said quietly. "Not exactly like mine, but close. And she warned me… she said others were coming."
Hale's jaw tightened. "This just keeps getting better."
Aiden felt the weight of those words. Everything was escalating faster than he could comprehend. The monsters weren't random anymore. They weren't just invading—they were searching, probing, following some trail that led directly to him.
He didn't choose this. He never asked for any ability. But that didn't change the fact that the System had tied him to something beyond Earth, beyond humanity, beyond even the Rifts.
The engines changed pitch as the transport descended. HQ's landing zone came into view—floodlights sweeping across reinforced walls, drone sentries hovering in orderly formations, repair crews working in frantic haste. The world was preparing for something, even without knowing what it was.
When the transport touched down, the doors slid open. Cold air rushed inside.
Hale stood. "Everyone off. Debrief in fifteen."
The squad filed out, exhaustion etched in their movements. Maya and Jiro waited for Aiden, but he lingered a few moments longer. The metal floor still vibrated faintly with the memory of those last words.
The Echo is coming.
He stepped off the aircraft.
HQ bustled with tension. Researchers pushed carts of equipment. Communications officers barked updates into their earpieces. Engineers hauled crates of stabilizers and anti-Rift deflectors toward the lower labs.
People were preparing for war.
Aiden followed Maya and Jiro through the main corridor toward the briefing hall. Every person they passed looked at him—some subtly, others openly. Their expressions varied: awe, fear, curiosity, uncertainty.
He wasn't just a soldier anymore.
He was a variable.
Aiden rubbed his thumb against his palm, grounding himself.
As they entered the debriefing room, Dr. Reeves was already waiting with a tablet in hand. Her hair was a tangled mess, dark rings beneath her eyes suggesting she hadn't slept. She looked up sharply as the group entered.
"Good. You're here." She gestured toward the display screen behind her. "We've analyzed the readings from the Northern Rift Zone."
The screen lit up with swirling violet and black patterns—energy signatures captured moments before the creature's appearance.
"Whatever you encountered," Reeves said, "it's unlike anything we've documented before. Its composition wasn't physical, not entirely. It appears to be a dual-structured entity—part biological, part conceptual."
Jiro blinked. "Conceptual? Like… an idea?"
"More like a manifestation of an idea," Reeves corrected. "A creature shaped by a higher-tier cosmic force."
Maya frowned. "And it was looking for Aiden."
Reeves nodded slowly. "All data points to that."
Aiden felt a cold knot form in his stomach.
Hale stepped forward. "What about the rest of the advance team? Any sign of surviv—"
Reeves shook her head before he finished. "No. But we did detect something else."
She tapped her tablet.
The screen zoomed out to show a global map—one now pulsing with dozens of subtle violet points.
"Void resonance spikes," Reeves said. "And not from Aiden."
Alarm surged through the room.
Jiro whispered, "There are others?"
Reeves zoomed further. The violet pulses were erratic, unstable, scattered across remote locations—mountains, oceans, deserts. Some flickered out. Others surged brighter.
"Whatever this 'Echo' is," Reeves continued, "it's not coming alone."
The room fell silent.
Aiden stepped closer to the screen, heart pounding. "What are these pulses? Are they creatures? People? More Void users?"
Reeves hesitated. "We can't confirm. But one thing is clear: they're converging."
"Converging where?" Hale demanded.
Reeves looked at Aiden.
He froze.
"…On me."
The confirmation settled like a stone in his gut. He tried to breathe, but the air felt thin.
Maya stepped beside him. "Why? What makes you different?"
Aiden didn't know. He couldn't explain the Void Core, the resonance, the way it reacted to those creatures as if recognizing them—or being recognized by them.
"I didn't choose any of this," Aiden said quietly.
Hale crossed his arms. "Intent doesn't matter. Impact does."
Aiden stiffened.
Hale continued, "If something ancient, powerful, and coordinated is seeking you, then you may very well be the key to stopping what's coming."
Aiden met his gaze. "Or the reason it's coming."
Hale didn't deny it.
The debriefing continued in tense silence. Reeves explained potential countermeasures, Rift stabilizer surge patterns, theories about the conceptual nature of Void anomalies. Aiden barely heard any of it. His mind was drowning in what-ifs.
When the meeting concluded, the room emptied quickly. Only Aiden remained behind, staring blankly at the pulsing map.
He felt Maya's presence before she spoke.
"You're thinking too much."
He didn't turn. "I'm thinking the right amount for someone whose existence is attracting monsters."
Maya stepped to his side. "You're not causing this."
"You don't know that."
She sighed. "Aiden… listen. Whether you like it or not, the Void chose you. Maybe for a reason, maybe at random. But right now? You're the only one who can stand against any of this."
He looked down at his hands.
They didn't feel like his hands anymore.
Maya rested a hand on his shoulder. "You're not alone in this."
He didn't respond.
After she left, Aiden returned to his quarters, though sleep still refused to come. His mind was restless, filled with spiraling thoughts and half-formed questions. He sat on the edge of his bed and stared at his palms again.
He whispered to himself, "What am I?"
The Void surged faintly in response, like a heartbeat aligning with his question.
Then—
A shimmer rippled across the room.
A faint violet distortion—like the air momentarily forgetting its shape—appeared near the far wall. It wasn't a Rift. It didn't have the tearing, chaotic force of one. This was controlled, deliberate.
Aiden stood slowly.
The distortion formed a silhouette. A faint, feminine outline.
His breath caught.
The woman from Ashfall.
Her voice whispered—not aloud, but in his mind, soft and urgent.
The Echo has crossed the veil.
Aiden's pulse hammered. "What is it? Who are you?"
Her form flickered like unstable light.
There is no time. Listen carefully—
The air behind her distorted.
A violent crack split the space—a small tear, but sharp and pulsing with hungry energy.
Aiden stepped back instinctively.
The woman snapped her head toward the breach.
They found you.
Aiden's voice trembled. "Who—"
Run.
The crack widened.
A long, skeletal limb began to crawl out.
Aiden's heart froze.
Not a monster.
Not a soldier.
Not a Seeker.
Something worse.
The Echo had arrived.
And it was coming for him.