The council chamber in the Core Spire of Sanctum Aqualis had never felt colder. The glowing veins of power that lined the walls flickered like breathless whispers, and Jaden Cross stood in the center, the weight of memory and future crashing on his shoulders like tectonic plates.
The message from Tia Morowe echoed through the chamber's sonic field again:
"Something's coming. Something built to overwrite everything you've made."
Jaden exhaled, eyes closed, fists tight. Lyra stood beside him, arms folded across her synthetic frame, her features sculpted into tension.
"North," she said. "The Imperium is no longer dormant."
"They've reawakened?" Queen Nyela asked from her biolattice seat, worry creasing her brow.
"Worse," Lyra said. "They've begun to assemble."
Jalen Corv sat quietly, his body humming with ambient harmonic tones. "Amon moves. And he moves with purpose."
