The vault's deeper chamber pulsed with violet Aether, its bone-and-steel walls vibrating under the Wastelands' fractured sky. Kael knelt on the cracked floor, the Warden's star-shard scorching his bloodied hand, its hum a fire that merged with his chest shard's weakening pulse. Blood soaked his shirt, shoulder, chest, and arm wounds oozing, pain a relentless scream, but his shard's faint thrum kept his eyes on the doppelgänger. The figure was human, its face a mirror of Kael's—same sharp jaw, same tired eyes—but its violet gaze burned with alien certainty, Aether coiling around its frame. Rhea lay still against a steel beam, blood pooling from her thigh, shoulder, and chest, her shock-knife dead, her breathing shallow. Mira crouched beside her, hands pressing a scavenged med-patch to Rhea's chest, cyber-lenses dim but focused. Toren guarded the ramp, shard-rifle aimed at the chamber's entrance, his scarred frame bleeding from his shoulder and chest. Sylas stood by Kael, black armor splintered, their star-shard flickering, violet eyes locked on the doppelgänger. The air was heavy with ash and the sharp sting of Aether, the vault's primal hum clawing at their minds.
The doppelgänger's voice echoed in Kael's head, calm but possessive: *Spark-bearer, I am you.* His shard sparked a vision: a pre-Fall lab, a man with Kael's face screaming as Aether bound his soul, the woman's voice whispering, *You were the first spark.* He gasped, blood dripping, the star-shard's weight dragging his arm. "You're not me," he growled, voice raw. "What the hell are you?"
The doppelgänger's violet eyes narrowed, its voice low, almost mournful. "I am Kael Varn, pre-Fall. My soul forged the cycle's seed, your shard. You're my echo, reborn to finish what I began."
Rhea coughed weakly, blood on her lips, her voice a rasp. "Great. Two Varns. One's bad enough."
Mira's hands shook, pressing the med-patch harder, her voice urgent. "Kael, your shard's Aether is syncing with the doppelgänger's. It's tied to the vault's heart, a soul-matrix. If you don't stop it, it'll merge with you."
Kael's chest burned, the star-shard's hum faltering. "Merge? So I lose myself to this thing?"
Sylas's star-shard flickered, their voice sharp. "Not if you break the vault's heart, Varn. Your shard's the key, but it'll cost you. The soul-matrix wants you whole."
Toren's rifle snapped up, his voice tense. "Protocol's heavies, ramp's top. Lira's got a damn tank."
The vault shook, drone buzzes and mechanical clanks echoing from above, Aether scanners slicing through the haze. The doppelgänger's hum was deafening, a primal pulse that rattled Kael's bones, and its voice spoke again: *Join me, or the vault consumes all.* Its Aether form surged, violet tendrils coiling, cracking the chamber's floor.
Sylas's star-shard flared, their voice urgent. "Varn, the heart's deeper, past this chamber. Get to it, or the doppelgänger takes you."
The doppelgänger raised a hand, Aether shaping a blade, its violet eyes steady. "You were born to bind the vault, Kael. I failed. You won't." It slashed, violet energy searing the air. Kael dove, the blade grazing his shoulder, burning flesh, and fired his pistol, the Aether-shot sparking against its form, useless.
Rhea stirred, grabbing a fallen enforcer's Aether-knife, its hum faint. "Kael, go!" she rasped, slashing a tendril, blood spraying as another grazed her arm. She slumped, her eyes dimming, the knife slipping.
Mira shouted, "Kael, Rhea's pulse is dropping! The vault's heart is amplifying the doppelgänger! Use the star-shard!" Her scanner sparked, its readings chaotic, as she pressed another med-patch to Rhea's chest.
Toren fired, his rifle's blasts clipping the doppelgänger's Aether, sparking but not slowing it. Lira's tank rumbled down the ramp, its Aether-cannon charging, her voice barking. "Varn, surrender!" Toren dove, the cannon's blast grazing his leg, blood spraying, but he kept firing, his grin gone.
Sylas fought to Kael, their star-shard slashing the doppelgänger's tendrils, their voice strained. "Varn, the heart's through that passage!" They pointed to a bone-and-steel arch glowing with violet runes, deeper in the chamber. Their armor sparked, a tendril grazing their chest, blood seeping.
Kael sprinted for the passage, pain blinding, the star-shard searing his hand. His shard screamed, a vision hitting: *a pre-Fall Kael, soul bound, the vault sealing, the woman's voice: You are the spark.* He staggered, blood pooling, and pushed through the arch, the team covering him. The heart loomed, a massive Aether crystal pulsing with violet light, its surface etched with runes that mirrored Kael's shard.
The doppelgänger followed, its Aether-blade slashing, grazing Kael's back, searing flesh. "You cannot break me," it said, its voice Kael's but colder. "I am your truth."
Kael roared, slamming the star-shard into the crystal, its energy merging with his shard's kinetic surge, cracking the surface. The vault roared, violet light flooding, and the doppelgänger staggered, its Aether form flickering. Lira's tank fired, the blast shaking the chamber, steel beams cracking.
Mira dragged Rhea to cover, her voice breaking. "Kael, the heart's destabilizing! One more hit!" Her scanner sparked out, useless, as she shielded Rhea from falling debris.
Sylas fought the doppelgänger, their star-shard clashing with its blade, violet sparks blinding. "Varn, finish it!" they yelled, their armor splintering, blood dripping from their chest.
Kael's vision overwhelmed him: *the pre-Fall Kael, soul shattering, the woman's voice: The spark chooses.* His body trembled, his shard's hum fading, but he channeled everything, slamming his fist into the crystal, the star-shard's energy surging. The crystal shattered, Aether exploding, and the doppelgänger roared, its form collapsing into violet mist, its voice fading: "The spark… lives…"
The vault shook, bone walls crumbling, the primal hum faltering. Kael collapsed, blood soaking the floor, his shard's pulse weak, his vision swimming. Rhea lay still, Mira's hands pressing her chest, tears mixing with blood. "She's not breathing!" Mira cried, her voice raw.
Toren limped over, leg and chest bleeding, his rifle slung. "Lira's tank's stuck, but more are coming. We're out of time."
Sylas knelt beside Kael, their star-shard dim, violet eyes steady. "You broke the heart, Varn. But the vault's deeper chambers are stirring. Your shard's waking something else."
Kael's shard pulsed, a vision lingering: *a final chamber, a pulse of raw Aether, the woman's voice: The spark is whole.* He tried to stand, pain blinding, but his body failed. "What now?" he gasped, meeting Sylas's eyes.
Mira's voice trembled, pointing to a new glow beyond the shattered heart. "The origin. The vault's first forge, where your soul was bound."
The vault split wider, violet light flooding from a final chamber, its hum shaking Kael's core. A pulse erupted, not Aether but pure will, and a voice, not the doppelgänger's, but hers—the woman's, clear and commanding: *Kael, claim the forge, or lose yourself forever.*