Chapter 13: The Echo Protocol
Kael floated.
He couldn't see. Couldn't speak. Couldn't even scream. The world was gone—just pressure and heat and silence. Somewhere far above, the trench swallowed light. Far below, something ancient stirred again. His body was still. Broken. Rebuilding.
Codex Status: Emergency Recovery Mode – 12% Operational Integrity.
Vitals Stabilized. Host status: Comatose.
Genome Fragment (JIRUUN): Successfully Integrated.
A hollow breath echoed inside his skull. But it wasn't Kael's.
"You're lucky he let you live."
XENOVORAX.
Kael couldn't answer. But somewhere inside the stasis, he felt. Rage. Shame. Resolve.
"You tasted something divine. Now you'll never forget it."
Time passed—uncountable, syrup-thick hours in total darkness. But his mind... it didn't sleep.
He dreamed.
Not of home. Not of Rhane. Not even of his own face.
He dreamed of others.
Scene Shift – Russia, Ural Mountains
Snow hammered a forgotten bunker buried beneath frost-bitten rock. Within, steel doors creaked and alarms chirped. A pod hissed open. Inside, a boy—barely sixteen—opened pale blue eyes. Veins like roots pulsed across his chest, glowing faintly.
Codex Host: VAREN. Status: Awakened.
Echo Class: Type Berserker.
He blinked. Then smiled.
Then roared—shattering the frost above him.
Scene Shift – Mexico, Temple of the Sun
Beneath the ruins of Teotihuacan, a lab carved from obsidian shook. Glyphs on the walls flickered to life. A sarcophagus opened with a hiss. A woman stepped out, dark-eyed, tattooed, breathing smoke.
Codex Host: IXCHEL. Status: Reconnected.
Echo Class: Type Seer.
She looked upward. "Another one has screamed."
She walked barefoot into the ruins. The earth trembled with her.
Scene Shift – London, Sewers
In the filth beneath the city, rats fled as something old breathed again. A man in chains, skin gray and scarred, opened his mouth—and whispered, "He lives."
His eyes glowed gold.
Codex Host: SAMAEL. Status: Instability Level: HIGH.
Echo Class: Null-Type.
He laughed. The walls cracked. And something behind the veil answered.
Scene Shift – Unknown Location
A sleek facility, glass and chrome. Screens lined a dark room. On them, Kael's battle with JIRUUN replayed in grainy resolution—then paused.
A figure in white robes stood before the screens, back turned. Beside them, an assistant whispered nervously, "The Philippine subject has made contact."
The figure spoke without turning.
"Kael Sorrén. Codename: Womb's Bastard."
The assistant gulped. "What should we do?"
The figure turned.
Her eyes were black.
"Let him rise. The others will come. They must. The Ark Protocol has begun."
Back to Kael – Codex Recovery Complete
A deep breath tore through Kael's lungs as he surged upward.
He broke through the membrane of seawater and collapsed onto metal. Shivering. Breathing. Alive.
Codex Status: 81%. Echo Stage 3—Stabilized.
New Trait Acquired: Regenerative Override (Low Tier).
JIRUUN Fragment: Dormant. Reactivation: Pending.
Kael pushed himself to his knees.
His reflection in the water was not human. Not entirely. His eyes flickered with gold. His veins glowed faintly. Gills fluttered on his neck before retracting. He looked like a creature caught between two bloodlines.
He smiled.
"I'm still here."
"You are not finished," XENOVORAX said. "You have not begun."
Kael staggered to his feet. The world around him had changed. The sky above was split with dark clouds. The trench had gone still—as if it feared him now.
He raised his hand.
A pulse radiated from his chest. Echoes—real ones—returned.
The Codex lit up. Signals. Other hosts. Other awakenings.
He wasn't alone.
Elsewhere…
A room of executives screamed as warning beacons pinged across the globe. Echo signatures. DNA fusions. Ancient systems rebooting.
A child in a coma opened her eyes and whispered, "Mommy." But her voice echoed in three languages.
In the ruins of the Mariana trench, a vault cracked. Inside, something stirred.
Back to Kael
He turned his gaze inland.
The sea was behind him. The Codex inside him. And the world ahead—unclaimed.
He did not know who he would become.
But he knew this:
He would never be controlled again.
"Let them come," he said.
"I'll bury every last one."
(End of Volume 0)