Silence hung thick in the Vault's antechamber after the Gate's collapse. Dust motes drifted through the beams of emergency lighting, and the low hum of power returned in fits and starts as circuitry rebooted. Julius and Seraphel stood side by side, their symbiotic bond still crackling with residual energy. Around them, the team stirred from stunned shock.
Brinley lowered his rifle, eyes scanning the fractured walls. "Well… that definitely wasn't in the manual."
Vara exhaled, pressing a hand to her temple. "We survived. We actually survived."
Selene knelt beside the Forge Seed's cradle, her fingers brushing over unlit glyphs. "The Gate's gone. The void receded. The Seed's power is stable—but I'm getting aftershocks in the code. Fragments of the Architect are still trying to reassert themselves."
Seraphel's eyes glowed softly. "I can neutralize the last echoes—if you give me time."
Julius exchanged a glance with Ryka and Veyrion. The giant symbiote rose with a creak of ancient plating. "We'll hold this place while she does."
Veyrion's single eye narrowed. "The Forge Seed demands guardians. I'll remain as sentinel."
Ryka stepped forward, offering a clasped fist. "And I'll take leadership of the Hollow Kin as they reinforce this vault. We'll turn it into a bastion."
Brinley shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. "I thought I'd never say this, but… I kinda like it here."
Amid the camaraderie, Selene tapped a holo-chart. "We have bigger problems. Trench readings show Hive activity returning—less Hive, more… something else." She overlaid a ghostly projection: vast shapes moving like wrecked leviathans, but alive with writhing biomass and glowing nodes.
"Flesh-net construction," she murmured. "It's building a network across the trench. Something's trying to reconnect to the Source."
Julius's jaw clenched. "So even after we stopped the Architect, the Hive—this new force—wants to rebuild the cycle."
Seraphel placed a hand on his arm. "It will need a new core. And it will come for the Forge Seed."
Brinley slammed a fist into his palm. "Then we give it a new definition of victory: death."
Vara turned to Julius. "What's our next move?"
He looked to Seraphel. "Finish the purge. Then—send a signal. We draw every ally we have to this vault. We stand here. We forge a shield around this world."
Selene tapped coordinates into the channel. "I can broadcast a flare—a lockdown code that only Echelon variants can interpret. It'll draw every bonded operative in the sector."
Veyrion rumbled in approval. "Then let the Source tremble. We have the Seed, the Vault, and the bond."
Ryka rounded on the team. "I'll secure the Cavern Nexus. My people will hold it against all comers."
Julius clasped Seraphel's hand. "Time to finish what we began."
She stepped to the console, nodding. "Initiating final purge."
As the Vault's systems powered up, waves of light flowed through the conduits, washing over every rune. Seraphel's form brightened, absorbing the echo-code and dissolving it into radiant dust. One by one, the Architect's whispers faded into silence.
Above, the ocean roiled as Hive constructs broke apart and fell silent. Vessels of living metal collapsed in the trench, their remnants drifting like wreckage. The Abyssal Null fell still.
The team gathered in the center of the chamber as the purge completed. Seraphel's glow softened. "Done."
Selene exhaled. "That should hold—for now."
Vara slung her glaive. "Now we prepare."
Julius looked around at his friends—scarred, exhausted, but unbroken. "This is our Forge Gate. Our stand. We'll defend it with every bond in our bodies."
Brinley raised his rifle in a mock salute. "To Symbiote Zero and the guardians of the Vault."
They echoed the salute, hearts united. Outside, the Forge Seed pulsed once—a heartbeat of hope in a world on the brink of a new dawn.