The chamber fell into a tense, pulsating silence.
Nam stood still, the weight of what they had just uncovered pressing heavily upon his chest. The void-energy orb at the center of the chamber glowed with a hue that seemed to change with every blink—purple, then black, then a color that didn't even exist in the human spectrum.
Lan's fingers hovered inches above her datapad, trying to scan the orb. Her device trembled violently and shut down, the screen flickering a final warning: "Data corruption: Entity beyond classification."
"This vault," Nam murmured, "isn't just hiding something. It's speaking."
Lan glanced at him. "To us?"
"No. To... something out there."
Suddenly, the Archive's voice filled the room again, distorted and layered like multiple timelines collapsing into one.
"Containment breached. Temporal convergence initiated. Prepare host form."
"Host form?" Lan whispered, eyes wide.
Before they could process it, the orb cracked open—not with sound, but with a wave of thought. A gust of psychic pressure exploded outward, knocking both of them to their knees.
Visions flooded their minds.
Nam saw endless fields of ruined planets, shattered stars spinning like broken wheels in space. He saw a galaxy devouring itself, and in the center, a throne made of void-stone, occupied by a being with no face, but infinite eyes.
Lan saw a child standing alone in a world of silence, reaching toward a sky that pulsed like a heartbeat. She saw the child speak a name, and the stars dimmed in fear.
Then—darkness.
They gasped, dragging in breath as the chamber slowly settled. The orb had dissolved, leaving behind a single crystal shard floating in the air.
Lan approached it carefully. "It's... humming."
Nam nodded. "Not just humming. Broadcasting."
He tapped into the shard's signal and isolated the frequency. It wasn't aimed at any system they knew. It was aimed at outside the galaxy.
"What is this thing trying to contact?" Lan asked.
Nam looked at her, then at the shard. "Something that's been waiting a long time. Something that might not be asleep anymore."
Just then, their station-wide comm crackled. A deep, unfamiliar voice boomed through the signal—not from Sector Zero, not from Earth Command.
"We heard your signal. The Vault is open. Prepare for alignment."
The transmission ended, leaving behind an unearthly hum that vibrated through their bones.
Lan whispered, "They're coming."
Nam turned back toward the entrance of the chamber, eyes narrowed.
"Then we need to be ready."