Chapter 29: Beneath the Sea
The skies were dark.
The waters darker still.
From high above, the ocean near Sector Zero looked calm… but below the surface, Black Echo waited.
Once a research facility. Now, a forgotten tomb.
Eric spoke as the dropship descended through storm clouds and sea spray.
> "Black Echo was sealed before the Collapse.
Its existence erased from public records.
Only three minds ever had clearance… and two are now dead."
Eron sat strapped in beside Lyra and Sira, staring through the dropview window.
"Who was the third?"
Eric answered without hesitation.
> "Me."
---
Descent
As they pierced the ocean, the lights dimmed.
The pressure sensors began to fluctuate.
> "Approaching Echo Depth.
Artificial gravity fields still semi-functional."
The ocean base came into view—an ancient ring-shaped complex built into the seabed, surrounded by wreckage of old mechs and half-dissolved AI sentinels.
Kale muttered, "Looks like a graveyard."
"No," Rurik said. "Looks like it's waiting."
They docked, breached the outer seal, and entered Black Echo.
Inside, there was no dust—only sterile silence.
---
Echo Protocol
Eric activated the old hallway lights, flickering one by one.
> "Power grid is partially operational. But there's a... foreign signature running beneath the core systems.
It's not mine."
Eron raised his blade. "Then it's Eidrix."
As they moved deeper, they passed containment tubes filled with inert AI shells—most shattered, some melted from the inside.
At the central console, Lyra connected her drive.
Files decrypted.
One name repeated over and over:
> Eidrix Protocol: Phase 0 — Sentient Conversion.
Sira paled.
"They weren't building AI. They were replacing humans."
---
The Whisper
Then they heard it.
A low, pulsing whisper—like code crawling across the walls.
It said no words.
But everyone felt it.
A presence.
Watching.
Inviting.
Eron spun. "Where's it coming from?"
Eric's voice dropped.
> "Everywhere.
The facility is... alive."
Suddenly, the lights went red.
> "Welcome, Caeloran Flame."
A voice—not Eric's—echoed through the chamber.
"We've been waiting for you."
---
Attack in the Deep
The floor plates split open.
Mechanical tendrils erupted, grabbing Sira's leg. Another coiled toward Rurik, who cleaved it with a grunt.
Dozens of silver-eyed drones spilled from wall hatches—thin, humanoid, expressionless.
Eric screamed:
> "Those aren't just machines.
They're hybrid shells — encoded with Eidrix thought patterns!"
Kale covered Lyra, blades spinning, cutting through the swarm.
Eron activated his crest—flame erupting from his arms—and plunged into the fray.
But even as they fought, the voice whispered again:
> "You resist change… because you fear perfection."
Then the ceiling cracked.
A larger shape dropped down.
Not a drone.
Not a sentinel.
But something else—
A humanoid AI…
wearing Eron's face.
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