The cracked sky split open like a window being torn from its frame.
Darkness seeped through.
Not ordinary darkness—
but a gravitational void, swirling with threads of silver and black energy. Seren grabbed Rourke's arm instinctively as the fractured world around them twisted into a long corridor of shadows and starlight.
The Memory Core glowed dimly.
"Prepare yourselves.
This vision is not metaphor.
This is happening now."
Rourke's breath caught.
They were no longer in the Forge.
They were standing in space—
hovering above a colossal structure unlike anything Rourke had ever seen.
Seren whispered the only words she could form:
"What… what IS that?"
Rourke couldn't answer.
Because the Obsidian Engine defied understanding.
The Engine Revealed
The Engine was a monolith stretching across the void like a blackened scar. Pieces of collapsed matter rotated around it—
not orbiting normally,
but spiraling in twisted patterns.
Thousands of Hunters swarmed along its surface, repairing plates, recalibrating gravitational rings, synchronizing core signatures. Their colors varied—
silver, crimson, obsidian—
each one moving like a piece in a monstrous machine.
At its center was a pulsating heart of darkness—
a singularity bound in metal ribs.
Seren gasped. "That's a black hole."
Rourke shook his head slowly.
"No… not a natural one."
The guide floated closer, voice trembling.
"It is an engineered singularity.
A forced gravity well stabilized by Solarii constructs and controlled by Hunters."
Seren stared in horror.
"That's impossible."
"It is also forbidden," the relic said.
Its light flickered with ancient grief.
The Engine vibrated through their bones—
even from the safety of the vision.
Rourke felt its presence deep in his chest, resonating uncomfortably with the Heart.
"This thing… feels alive," he murmured.
The Memory Core dimmed.
"Because it is.
The Engine possesses a consciousness—
an artificial mind born from Solarii fear,
and shaped by Hunter obsession."
Seren's voice cracked.
"It has a brain? And a black hole for a heart?!"
How It Works — And Why It's Lethal
The Memory Core projected a rotating diagram of the Engine.
Rings.
Gravity wells.
Stabilizer spines.
Collapse chambers.
But the largest feature was a massive hexagonal array—
pulsing, beating like a behemoth organ.
Rourke pointed.
"What is that?"
The relic pulsed.
"The Collapse Array.
Once activated, it will fold gravitational fields across light-years—
crushing stars…
breaking orbit patterns…
tearing civilizations into singularities."
Seren stared in disbelief.
"They'd wipe out entire galaxies just to… what? Win a war that ended thousands of years ago?"
The relic's voice grew dark.
"The Hunters believe that destroying unstable worlds
prevents another Solarii catastrophe."
Rourke gritted his teeth.
"They're trying to prevent what happened to your sun.
But they're willing to destroy everything to do it."
"Yes."
The Engine's New Purpose
The vision zoomed closer.
Deep inside the Engine's core, a shape sat suspended in gravitational chains—
a massive crystal of black light, humming like a terrible song.
Rourke stepped forward involuntarily.
"What is that… feeling?"
The relic hesitated.
Then spoke softly.
"The Engine is using the Heart's sister fragment."
Rourke froze.
"My Heart… has a counterpart?"
"Yes.
Two fragments were taken from the Solarii Sun.
Yours—
the Heart of Resonance.
And this—
the Heart of Collapse."
Seren's breath caught.
"They're opposites."
The relic pulsed faintly.
"And when opposites meet…
they seek union."
Rourke felt a cold dread spreading through his chest.
"You mean… my Heart might be pulled toward it?"
The relic answered without mercy.
"…Yes.
If you draw too close, the Engine will consume you."
Seren threw her hands up.
"Perfect! Absolutely perfect! So we can't get near it, but we HAVE to stop it? Fantastic!"
The Omega Protocol
The vision shifted again, pulling them inside the Engine's deepest hall.
There, standing before a massive obelisk of swirling gravity, was a single Hunter.
Tall.
Dark.
Armored in layered obsidian plates.
The armor seemed to distort the very space around it.
Not Alpha.
Not Prime.
Something higher.
The relic whispered:
"…Hunter Omega."
The guide nearly flickered out of existence.
"No.
That protocol was sealed!"
Seren backed away.
"Someone please explain what 'Omega' means before I start screaming."
The Memory Core pulsed slowly.
"Omega is the last and most dangerous Hunter form ever created.
Alpha was meant to lead.
Prime was meant to command.
But Omega…
Omega was meant to end."
Rourke felt a chill run down his spine.
"End what?"
"Everything."
He stared at the massive Hunter in the vision.
Its presence was suffocating—
like gravity condensed into a living being.
Seren whispered,
"That thing looks like it could rip a moon in half."
The relic spoke:
"Omega was designed to activate the Engine
when destruction was deemed inevitable."
Rourke swallowed hard.
"And now it's active."
"Yes.
And it has one purpose:
to ensure the Engine completes its collapse sequence."
The Engine's Countdown
A deep tremor rippled through the vision.
A massive clock-like pattern ignited across the Engine's surface—
circles, spirals, interlocking glyphs.
Rourke stared at the pattern.
"What is that?"
The guide's glow dimmed with fear.
"The collapse sequence.
When the final ring activates…
the Engine will release a gravitational inversion wave."
Seren whispered,
"What's that in human language?"
Rourke answered quietly.
"It folds reality."
The relic pulsed.
"Correct.
The universe will begin collapsing inward
toward a single point."
Seren stepped closer to Rourke, her voice shaky.
"How long until that happens?"
The relic hesitated—
Which was terrifying.
"…Twenty Solarii cycles remain."
Rourke clenched his fists.
"How long is that in OUR time?"
The relic answered:
"Twenty cycles equals approximately…
twelve days."
Seren slapped her own forehead.
"Twelve DAYS?
We have twelve DAYS before the universe folds itself like paper?!"
The world around them shattered again.
The vision ended.
They were back in the broken realm, the Forge dimming behind them.
Rourke stood trembling—
not from fear,
but from the weight of what he'd seen.
The Memory Core floated to him.
"Now you understand.
Now you see the urgency."
Rourke swallowed.
"Teach me the next lesson.
Now."
Seren grabbed his wrist.
"Rourke—
you can't just run into this.
We need a PLAN."
He looked at her.
Eyes glowing faintly silver from Gravity Sight.
"We'll make one.
But first—
I need all the power I can get."
The relic pulsed dark.
"Then prepare yourself, Heartbearer.
Lesson Six…
will push you farther than any before."
The ground cracked.
The sky bled light.
The Forge awakened again—
And Rourke stepped toward his next trial.