Chapter 5: The Whispering Circuit
Year 10002 | Xintian Station, Subsection 9
The room smelled like dust and old wires, a scent that clung to the very fabric of forgotten technology. Junhao stepped inside slowly, his eyes adjusting to the dim orange glow. Screens flickered across the walls, showing strange symbols and half-working maps of the station—ghosts of data trapped in endless loops.
Old tech lay scattered everywhere: fragments of machines, dusty datapads, and tangled wires like vines choking the floor. Each one hummed faintly with the memory of a forgotten age.
The old man studied Junhao in silence. His face was a roadmap of deep lines, etched by time and loss. One eye glowed beneath a mechanical lens, casting faint light across his cheek. He wasn't Sky Tier. Not a soldier. Something older, deeper—infused with the quiet weight of knowing too much.
"You've got it inside you, don't you?" the man asked, his voice raspy, like a gear just beginning to turn again.
Junhao hesitated. The warmth in his chest hadn't faded. "If you mean the Core… yeah. I didn't choose it. It chose me."
The old man nodded, like he'd known all along. "They always do."
Veyra stood off to the side, arms crossed. She didn't say much, but her posture said enough. She trusted this man. That meant something.
Junhao looked between them. "Who is he?"
The old man's small smile disappeared. His expression turned heavy. "Name's Rell. Used to be a Flamekeeper. Before they wiped us out."
Junhao blinked. The word hit hard, like a distant memory half-remembered. "I thought the Flamekeepers were just myths."
"That's what they wanted you to believe," Rell replied, easing down onto a metal bench that creaked under his weight. "But we were real. Guardians of the old Cores. Watchers of the stars. Until the wars came. Until the Oraphim returned."
A chill crawled down Junhao's spine. "They're watching me. I saw one—Nyxai. She's waiting."
Rell's mechanical eye flared brighter for a moment. "Then time's shorter than I hoped."
He rose again and tapped a dusty console. A hologram flickered to life—an ancient symbol glowing gold in the air. The same one Junhao had seen burned into his chest that day in the tunnels. The symbol that started everything.
"This Core you carry—it's not just power. It's memory. A vessel of the past. A weapon, yes, but also a whisper. If you let it, it will change you."
Junhao stepped closer. He didn't even realize it. "Change me into what?"
Rell met his eyes without blinking. "Something that can fight them. Something more."
Then came a sound—sharp and rising—a high-pitched whine that cut through the shelter like a blade. Veyra turned toward the door instantly, her fingers brushing the handle of a concealed weapon.
---
Sky Tier | Command Node Theta
Commander Chen Yelin stood before a screen full of red-marked profiles. One in particular pulsed like a warning flare: Li Junhao.
"What's the latest?" he asked.
"No exact trace yet, sir," a technician replied. "But there's movement in Subsection 9. Thermal spikes. Static interference. We think someone's hiding him."
Yelin's gaze hardened. "Send in a Silent Strike unit. No more delays. I want him secured, or neutralized."
He stared at the display. Junhao's face was no longer just a civilian. It was a variable—one that could shift the entire balance.
"If he really has the Core… we can't let the Oraphim get to him first."
---
Oraphim Ship | Observation Hall
Nyxai hovered amid pillars of starlight and crystal mist. Her body shimmered, drifting like silk in zero gravity.
A whisper echoed—soft, ancient, vibrating in frequencies no human could hear.
"The Core remembers," she whispered. "Its voice returns to the flame."
She stretched out her fingers, and particles of light danced across her skin like distant stars. A slow smile crept across her face—beautiful and terrible.
"Let the test begin," she said, the words colder than space itself.
---
Back in the Shelter
The noise grew louder now—boots against metal. Veyra snapped the locks on the reinforced hatch. "Sky Tier. Fast response. They're right outside."
Rell didn't pause. He opened a drawer and pulled out a strange device—part wristband, part relic. He handed it to Junhao.
"It's a training harness. Ancient tech. Might still work. It can sync with the Core, teach you how to focus its strength. But you'll need to learn fast."
Junhao took it. The weight of it felt familiar, like it belonged to him. He glanced toward the door. "How long do I have?"
Rell gave a thin, grim smile. "The storm's already here. Let the Core guide you."
As the harness clamped around his wrist, Junhao felt the warmth in his chest flare. A pulse—alive. The Core responded.
Suddenly, a vision—brief and blinding—flashed through his mind. A warrior in armor of flame. Hands glowing with power. A legacy not his… but waiting for him.
When the image faded, Junhao spoke softly, but with strength.
"I'll fight. I'm done running."
Veyra gave a nod, faint but proud. "About time."
Outside, the doors trembled. Voices barked orders. The enemy was here.
And inside his chest, the Core whispered again—for the first time, not in warning, but in welcome.
End of Chapter 5