The silence was thicker now, but not tense... like the vault itself was catching its breath. Energy signatures had normalized. Elara remained still in Jian's arms, breathing softly, as the others lingered nearby in exhaustion or wary vigilance.
Eva sat against the wall now, head back, eyes open but quiet. Damien knelt beside Mael, who had begun to stir.
"Mael. Mael." Damien gave his shoulder a gentle shake.
A low groan escaped Mael's throat, and after a long moment, his eyes cracked open.. unfocused, glazed with fatigue and faint pain. He winced, lifting a trembling hand to his temple.
"Where..." he rasped. His voice barely carried. "...did we land?"
Damien let out a relieved exhale. "Still here. You're okay."
Mael gave a weak nod and slowly sat up, wincing with each motion.
"Feels like I got dragged through a recursive collapse," he muttered, pressing his palm harder to his forehead. "Was I… successful?"
Damien looked over to where Jian still sat, holding Elara. Her breathing had stabilized. The strange, unstable aura that once rippled around her was gone.
"You saved her," Damien said quietly.
Mael blinked, the weight of it starting to return. His face changed..not relief, exactly. Something heavier. Regret… maybe awe.
"I didn't think she'd make it through the fusion," Mael whispered. "Not with
Damien frowned. "Voox… she was stronger than we expected."
Mael nodded slowly. "She wasn't just trying to overwrite Elara. She was trying to become her. Or… reform through her."
As Damien spoke, his eyes kept drifting toward Eva, who now stood further back in the room. Every time he glanced her way, she was already looking at him. Not accusing, not angry...just watching.
Then..just once..her gaze changed. A subtle shift, something unreadable passed over her face. A look that made Damien's breath hitch. His eyes widened.
And then he turned quickly..almost too quickly..to look back down at Mael, still weak on the floor. There was something sharp behind Damien's eyes now. Something close to fear.
He masked it almost instantly, voice calm again.
Eva spoke from across the room, her voice firm but hushed.
"You said she didn't want a host."
"She didn't," Mael said. "She wanted a mirror. A vessel to reflect and refine her...something pure enough to survive the recursion backlash. Something to give her shape without corrupting her again."
Jian looked up at that, his voice hoarse but steady. "Then why did she fight Elara so hard?"
Mael met his gaze. "Because Elara remembered who she was. She wasn't just a frame. She had will. She resisted."
"And that ruined Voox's plan?" Eva asked.
"No," Mael said softly. "That completed it."
Everyone stared.
"Elara didn't destroy Voox. She merged with her. But not the way Raven intended. Not domination. Synthesis." Mael's eyes went distant for a moment. "They reached a third state. A recursion echo neither of them planned."
Jian tightened his hold on Elara, his voice barely audible. "Then… who is she now?"
Mael looked at her sleeping form.
"I don't know. But she's still Elara. And... she's more than that too."
Eva stepped forward, staring at the girl in Jian's arms. "Then what happens next?"
Damien's voice was low. "That depends on who wakes up."
A soft flicker of light shimmered from Elara's chest...not violent this time, not unstable. Just a pulse. Like a heartbeat echoing in code. Everyone turned toward her as her fingers twitched gently. Her eyes remained closed, but her breathing deepened.
Mael whispered, "The recursion cycle is resetting."
Eva narrowed her eyes. "You mean restarting?"
"No," he replied. "Rewriting."
From the vault walls, a faint shimmer spread..like old data structures peeling away, revealing something new underneath. Glyphs none of them recognized began appearing, burned faintly into the surface. Symbols that weren't Sky Ley. Weren't Coox.
Damien stood slowly. "…It's beginning."
Jian looked down at Elara, her head nestled into his shoulder. Her voice.. clear, calm, and entirely her own.. whispered without opening her eyes:
"She showed me everything."
Jian froze. "Elara?"
Her lashes fluttered, and this time, when her eyes opened, they were no longer only blue.They shimmered ..violet and silver, layered, beautiful and otherworldly.
"I remember," she said softly.
Everyone waited.
Eva stepped closer, voice cautious. "Remember what?"
Elara sat up slowly in Jian's arms, her strength returned. She looked at all of them… and smiled gently.
"Who she was. Who I was. And who we're going to be now."
Mael whispered, stunned: "She's stable."
But Damien was already watching the glyphs on the wall.
"No," he said. "She's becoming."
RECURSION CORE: SIDE CHAMBER – MOMENTS LATER
The flickering glyphs continued to pulse faintly in the walls, casting the room in soft, otherworldly glows. Elara remained seated beside Jian now, conscious and calm, watching the patterns in silence. Jian stayed close, not speaking, not questioning. Just… staying.
Eva stood a few paces away, eyes still on Elara.. though every few moments, they drifted back to Damien. Damien noticed. Every time. >But he never returned the gaze. Not fully. Instead, he crouched and helped Mael to his feet.
"Come on," Damien said quietly. "You should wash up. Get that blood off your face."
Mael gave a grunt of acknowledgment. He leaned on Damien's shoulder, and together they moved down the dim corridor toward the nearby washroom, their footsteps echoing.
As they moved, Damien's hand trembled against Mael's side. Mael noticed. He didn't say anythinh.But he noticed..
RECURSION CORE – BATHROOM
The bathroom was quiet. Low blue light buzzed from a cracked overhead panel. The sink basin was old, possibly salvaged tech..a mixture of steel and synth-fiber. Mael stepped forward and turned on the water. It gurgled, then flowed, cold and clear.
He splashed it over his face with a sigh
.feeling the grit, the dried sweat, the recursion static wash away. When he turned around, Damien was still standing there.
Silent. Rigid. Eyes fixed ahead, but they weren't seeing the room. They were somewhere else entirely.
"...Something is wrong with you," Mael said, wiping his face with the hem of his sleeve.
Damien blinked and looked up sharply, pulled out of his haze.
"…Eva."
Mael frowned. "Eva? What about her?"
Damien swallowed hard. His voice was quiet..too quiet.
"I don't know… Something felt off. Like..."
He shook his head, trying to clear it, but it wasn't working.
"That look she gave me. It… it went straight through me. Like a pulse. It sent something down my spine.. like ice."
Mael narrowed his eyes, stepping closer. "Are you… afraid of her?"
Damien didn't answer immediately. His jaw tightened. His eyes dropped.
"…May…be."
That single word hung in the air like a glitch in the silence. Mael's brows pulled together, confused.
"She's just..what? She's in a small body. She's not even enhanced, is she? She can't do anything to you."
Damien's eyes dropped further. His hands were clenched now. Knuckles white.
"…That's what scares me."
Mael's breath caught.
There was something in Damien's voice..not fear of harm. Something deeper. Older. Like something had reached inside him and twisted. Mael placed a hand on his shoulder, grounding him.
"Hey," he said softly. "Relax. We still need you Whatever this is… we'll sort it."
Damien nodded, but barely. Mael's expression turned grim.
"We need to find Raven. Now. After this… after everything? Whatever he's doing next is not just dangerous. It's chaos. It's void-level threat chaos."
Damien finally looked up, his eyes dark and swirling with thoughts.
"…What if Eva's not just a side effect of what Voox did?"
Mael stiffened.
"…What if she's a seed ?"
Mael's breath hitched, but before he could speak again, Damien's voice came.. quieter now. Almost a whisper.
"…No."
Mael tilted his head. "What?"
Damien looked up at him, eyes haunted. His voice was firm this time. Cold.
"That look."
He exhaled slowly, like forcing poison from his lungs.
"…It looked like...Voox ."
The room felt smaller instantly. Mael stepped back, blinking.
"What are you talking about?"
Damien's fists were clenched again, not from fear this time, but memory.
"That exact look. The first time I saw Voox during the collapse in Core-7… she gave me that look before the entire floor fractured beneath us. I remember because… back then, I thought I imagined it."
Mael's throat went dry.
"You think Eva is…what, possessed? Controlled?"
Damien shook his head. "I don't know. But it wasn't just a look. It was… something behind it. Like there was a mind staring through her.. one that doesn't belong to that body."
He rubbed his face with his sleeve, still trembling.
"Voox is gone. Dispersed. We all saw it. But something came through when Raven cracked that recursion gate open. Something that made it past containment. Maybe…"
He stopped. Mael finished the sentence for him.
"…Maybe it's still here."
What Damien and Mael didn't know...couldn't know...was that on the other side of the thin metal wall, just beside the narrow doorframe,
Eva was standing there..Still..Silent.Her head tilted slightly, ear barely touching the cool alloy. Listening. Her eyes didn't blink. Not once. And when Damien whispered Voox's name... her pupils dilated.
In The BATHROOM
Mael turned on the tap again, splashing water over his face, as if the icy sting could cleanse away what he'd just heard.
Damien stepped back from the mirror, gripping the sink edge tightly. He muttered under his breath,
"I shouldn't have said anything. Not yet."
Mael glanced at him through the steam.
"You had to. If it is her… we need to know. Before Raven makes things worse."
They both stood in silence for a moment longer. Listening to the water drip. Then they opened the door, stepping back into the corridor. The hallway was empty.
And Eva who had been there just moments ago...was gone.
RECURSION CORE – MAIN CHAMBER
Jian looked up.
"Eva?" He stood, scanning the room.
Elara stirred and mumbled something inaudible, then drifted again. Jian frowned and crossed the room, checking the corners, behind a few crates. No sign of the girl. He looked toward the hallway where Damien and Mael now reappeared.
"You guys seen Eva?"
Damien's stomach turned. He didn't answer. Mael looked around, tense.
"She was here a minute ago."
A strange stillness settled over the chamber. Damien's face paled slightly. His voice didn't come, but his thoughts did: Did she hear us?
Then...a soft shuffle of footsteps.Eva walked into the chamber from the far side. Quiet. Composed.
"Hey, Eva."
She paused. Her expression unreadable. Her voice calm, almost too calm.
"I went to the bathroom."
That was all she said. Everyone looked at her. Mael. Jian. Even Elara from her spot on the ground. But Damien... he stared hardest. And she looked back..only at him.
The moment lingered. Her eyes didn't blink. Damien's spine stiffened, and Mael..standing beside him.. felt it. He turned just in time to see Damien's expression falter. That same fear in his eyes.
Eva's gaze slid past Mael like he wasn't there. Then she turned and calmly walked toward Jian and Elara, her footsteps quiet, measured.
She didn't say another word. And Damien couldn't look away. Eva had already taken a seat near the edge of the chamber, saying nothing.
Damien stood frozen, eyes locked on her back, breathing shallow. Mael watched him carefully.Then he spoke..firm, almost abrupt.
"We need to go," he said. "Now. Before Damien does anything else. He's already moving."
Damien blinked and turned slightly.
"What do you mean.."
"I mean Raven," Mael cut in, his voice low but sharp. "He's not waiting around. If we don't catch up, we'll lose the thread completely."
Jian stood quickly. "But Elara..she still hasn't recovered."
Before he could finish, Elara pushed herself up on one elbow. Her face was pale, but her eyes were steady.
"I'm okay, Jian," she said quietly. "I have… enough energy. I can go with you."
He hesitated, glancing at her trembling fingers. Elara gave a small smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"I'll tell you if I can't keep up."
Mael nodded and turned to gather his things.
"We don't have a choice. Whatever Raven's chasing, or opening..it's tied to what just happened."
He didn't say "Eva." He didn't have to. Damien's fists clenched again. Eva still hadn't looked back. Not once. But Damien could feel it.. a pressure at the back of his mind. Like he was being watched anyway.
RECURSION CORE – OUTER CORRIDOR
The hum of the chamber door sliding open echoed faintly behind them as the group stepped into the corridor. The light above flickered..a leftover tremor from Raven's earlier interference with the system core.
Jian supported Elara as she walked slowly, each step steadier than the last. Her breathing was calm but deliberate.
Damien followed a few steps behind them, glancing over his shoulder. Eva was at the back of the group. Silent. Walking with perfect posture. Almost too perfect.
Mael stayed at the front, his pace purposeful, eyes locked forward. His voice came without turning around.
"There's a maintenance tunnel up ahead. We take it, we can bypass the collapsed section Raven went through and cut him off at the upper recursion field."
Damien's voice was distant. "You think he knows we're following?"
Mael nodded slightly. "He's counting on it."
Elara glanced at Jian. "He always did love the drama."
Jian gave a faint smile, more habit than emotion. "Some things don't change."
Behind them, Eva finally spoke. Her voice was quiet. Soft.
"Do you think… Raven is trying to bring her back?"
Everyone paused. Even the corridor seemed to still for a moment.
Mael turned, slowly. "Who?"
Eva looked up at him. Her eyes were darker now.
"…Voox."
A chill passed through Damien so quickly he almost stumbled. Elara looked at Eva, eyes narrowing, but said nothing. Jian swallowed hard, his voice hushed.
"Let's keep moving."
They did.But from then on, no one walked beside Eva.
To be continue ...