The stars above the warfield glowed cold and distant, untouched by the chaos below.
The remaining half of the Ghost Fleet drifted in low orbit, their once-perfect formation now splintered. The air inside Maya's ship hummed with quiet rebellion — even the Archive's pulse had changed, its rhythm no longer hers alone.
Rei leaned against the console, pale but recovering. "The Carriers are dividing," he said softly. "Half have gone silent. The others are calling for an assembly."
Maya looked up. "Assembly?"
Vector crossed his arms, grim. "A war council. They're choosing sides."
The comm crackled, and a dozen fragmented voices bled through the static — echoes of other Carriers.Each spoke in turn, their tones layered with pride, anger, and fear.
"Asha Varin wants control.""Maya Kade would burn the Archive before surrender.""The Architects are returning — we need unity.""There is no unity."
The sound faded into silence.
Rei exhaled slowly. "They're not arguing about if there'll be a war, Maya. They're arguing about who leads it."
Maya turned away from the console, gripping the edge of the railing. "This was never meant to be a war. The Archive was supposed to preserve — to protect."
Vector's voice hardened. "Maybe it was. But people don't use power to protect. They use it to win."
A low vibration rippled through the hull — the familiar hum of another ship docking. Vector's gun was up instantly, but the signal was Carrier-class.
The hatch opened with a hiss.
A woman stepped through — tall, with eyes of molten gold, her veins glowing faint amber instead of blue. Another Carrier.
"Maya Kade," she said calmly. "You've made enemies faster than the Architects ever could."
Maya tensed. "And you are?"
"Lyra Tane, Third Line." Her gaze flicked toward the viewport, where the fractured fleets floated like divided kingdoms. "I came to warn you. Asha isn't waiting for the Architects to strike first — she's going to become them."
Rei frowned. "What does that mean?"
Lyra's expression darkened. "She's building something — a vessel that connects directly to the Archive's core. Whoever bonds with it… won't just command the fleet. They'll be the Archive."
Maya's breath caught. "That's suicide."
Lyra shook her head. "No. It's transcendence. And the others are starting to believe her."
Vector swore under his breath. "So it's a cult now."
Lyra turned toward Maya. "No — it's a choice. You either stop her, or you lose every ship, every Carrier, and the only thing left of Kiran."
Maya's jaw tightened. "Then we find her."
Lyra's golden eyes softened for a moment. "You'll need help. And not everyone who's with her believes in her cause."
She stepped closer, lowering her voice. "There's one more you should know about. He calls himself The Archivist."
Rei's face went pale. "That's a title, not a name."
Lyra nodded slowly. "Exactly. Because he's no longer a man."
The ship shook again, but this time it wasn't from outside. The Archive pulsed in Maya's veins, cold and heavy, and a whisper crawled through her thoughts — a voice she didn't recognize.
"Maya Kade. You look like her."
She froze. "Who—"
"Lysa Kade. Echo-prime. The first to fall. The first to build me."
The glow beneath her skin flared violently. Vector grabbed her shoulder, shouting her name — but she didn't hear him. The voice drowned everything.
"You can't stop what was never meant to end."
And then — silence.
🔥 Next: Chapter 49 – The Archivist. The legend awakens — and Maya will come face-to-face with what the Archive truly is.