The Runners' compound in District Zeta was quiet—too quiet.
Idris didn't like it.
He stood on the rooftop, eyes scanning the skyline. The sky was painted a strange shade of copper, a side-effect of Chronodebt's collapse. The air tasted… warped.
Behind him, Milo walked up, holding a datapad. "We've got a problem."
"Just one?" Idris asked dryly.
Milo ignored the jab and handed over the pad. "Intercepted transmission. Someone breached Council Vault Nine. Time-locked, off-record, only accessible by upper-circle agents."
Idris's eyes narrowed. "Vault Nine was sealed after the Old Loop War."
"Not anymore. And guess who's signature triggered the breach?" Milo hesitated. "Seth Vire's."
Idris swore under his breath. Seth Vire was a myth. A boogeyman. The kind of name they whispered in the academy to make rookies paranoid. But if his name was turning up now?
Something ancient was stirring.
"Where's Juno?" Idris asked.
Milo glanced behind them. "Still reading."
"Tell her to gear up." Idris turned toward the edge of the roof. "If Vault Nine's open, we're not alone anymore. And I want to know who else remembers the Forgotten Runners."
Suddenly, the horizon flickered.
A single, massive black spire had appeared in the distance, jutting out of nowhere like a splinter in time itself. It wasn't there seconds ago. No ripple. No flash.
Just… appeared.
A glitch.
And from within that glitch… came a pulse.
A single echo.
Almost like a voice.
"Runner detected."
Idris clenched his jaw.
The next war wasn't just against time.
It was against the ones time itself had tried to erase.