"YOU HAD ME AT HELLO"

Thursday – 1:45 P.M. | Eastern Verge, Off-the-grid-zone

The cruiser came to a screeching halt before a concrete slope buried beneath brush and debris. Faint signs of an entrance peeked from cracked asphalt and twisted steel beams.

Kael scanned the wall.

"There's an electromagnetic seal behind here… low-frequency pattern. Military-grade. And old."

Ava moved closer.

"Like… Cold War era old?"

Kael smirked.

"Like 'buried by people who thought the internet was a fad' old."

Rick didn't smile.

He stepped forward and placed his palm against the metal.

Nothing happened.

Then—click.

A narrow door hissed open.

1:59 P.M. | Inside Echo Facility – Level One

Dust fell like snow. The walls were lined with data terminals, yellowed maps, and rusted monitors. The air was stale, untouched by time. Emergency lights flickered to life.

Rick whispered, "This is the Echo."

Kael whistled.

"This place predates Hollow Bridge."

Ava traced her fingers along a steel-plated wall where faded words had been etched by hand:

> "HUMANITY ENDS WHERE CONTROL BEGINS."

Memory Drive Room – Echo Archive

They found it buried beneath a steel staircase — a glass cylinder holding several black drives suspended in gel. Each labeled by hand:

R. Fyer-0.1

Phoenix-X

Project: Rebirth

A. Fyer – Access Lock

Rick touched the last one.

"My mother left something here."

Kael linked his tablet to the archive and started decrypting files.

Suddenly, Ava's screen glitched — and a video began to play automatically.

Video Log – Alyra Fyer | "To my Son"

> "Rick… if you're seeing this, then I failed."

> "They wanted to turn you into something cold. A thing they could control. But you were born human, and that was always your power."

> "They fear you because your mind adapts. It bends but never breaks. You feel everything, but you choose what defines you."

> "In the Echo is the key to your code… and hers."

> "Protect Mara. Forgive her. Save who you can. But don't ever let them write the end of your story."

> "You're the author now."

Rick's throat tightened.

Ava placed a hand on his shoulder.

"She never stopped fighting for you."

2:22 P.M. | Terminal Uplink – Phase II Alert

Kael's screen erupted in red:

> PHASE TWO: TERMINAL LOCKDOWN COMMENCED

PROJECT ECHO COMPROMISED

CLEANSE INITIATED

"They found us," Kael said.

Sirens wailed through the chamber.

Walls began to shift.

Self-destruct protocol.

Escape Route – Hidden Elevator Shaft

Rick, Kael, and Ava dashed through collapsing corridors. Metal grated. Pipesburst. Flames licked the ceilings.

They found a sealed elevator.

"Manual override," Rick growled.

Kael yanked the panel, sparks flying. Ava hotwired the circuit. The door slid open just enough.

They dove in.

The elevator dropped in freefall.

Rick closed his eyes.

Behind him, Echo burned.

But in his pocket… were the memory drives.