At the foundation of Avril's northern base, the Stellaris convened in solemn purpose. The chamber was lined with holographic displays, streams of data cascading in blue light across polished steel. Yet despite the technology, the air was heavy with unease. The culprits behind the creation of the Zeta androids remained faceless, and every lead seemed to dissolve into smoke.
Kaylin lay on a couch at the room's edge, staring into nothing, his thoughts wandering far from the investigation. Shadows clung to his face as he turned inward, plagued by the memory of golden radiance lost to time.
Lyrien approached, her steps soft but her eyes sharp. "You must stop tormenting yourself," she said, her voice calm but firm. "She's gone only to recover a fragment. Nothing more...okay?"
Kaylin exhaled deeply, as if the breath itself bore centuries of regret. "I should have gone with her instead. That Ivo... who knows what he's plotting. An Omicron never moves without poison hidden beneath their sleeve."
He sat forward, elbows on knees, gaze hardened. "That family has gifted this nation nothing but violence. Once we were united, defiant before the outer world. Now, fractured by their ambition, we are no better than the enemies we scorned."
Lyrien studied him a moment, the weight in his voice pressing on her chest. She turned away without reply, her silence saying more than words.
The doors opened. Thane entered, his broad frame filling the room, followed by Lila, light on her feet, carrying the scent of herbs and fire. They had just eaten, their faces still flush with warmth, but the grim aura quickly extinguished it.
Lyrien broke the silence. "You're right, Kaylin. The Omicrons leave nothing but ruin. But Ivo... he is not like the others. He doesn't show any interest in machines."
Thane snorted, his tone laced with disbelief. "The man barely leaves his mansion. Doesn't trade. Doesn't speak. Napario is larger than Avril City, yet its citizens know him as though he were smoke in the streets. If secrecy isn't suspicion, then what is?"
The room chilled. Kaylin's voice cut the quiet. "He is still an Omicron. If not his family's grand design, then something worse. Devils invent their own games when they tire of playing others'."
Lila, who had listened silently, finally spoke, her tone measured. "We cannot be sure. Perhaps he is nothing. Perhaps he is everything. But we must not rest in speculation. We must find the truth."
The four exchanged a glance and nodded. The decision was unspoken but firm.
Through skies painted in twilight, the Skybolt cut across the wind. Edo piloted at the front, his hands steady on the controls, while Alya sat behind him, her gaze distant, her hands resting over the faint scars etched across her palms.
The hum of the craft was steady, comforting, yet beneath it pulsed unspoken tension. Edo broke it first.
"So," he asked without looking back, "do you know how that fragment works?"
Alya shook her head, producing the Voidheart from a pouch. Its surface shimmered with silent menace. "Not a clue. Kenneth wielded one of these once. If he were here, he'd have shown me. But he's not. None of them are."
Her voice softened. I wish they were."
Edo's breath hitched, sorrow passing like a storm behind his eyes. "Way to dig up the ghosts, kid."
Alya hesitated, then asked quietly, "I never met her... your wife. They said she was the bravest. Tell me about her."
His hands tightened on the controls. He turned, just briefly, enough for her to see the shadow of memory cut into his face.
"She was the light in human shape," he said at last, his voice cracked by grief. "The storm of golden radiance. Shs carried Helixia's burdens abd still walked upright." His tone hardened suddenly. "No! No more. That story ended. Don't ask me to unearth it."
Alya's lips pressed shut. She turned her face toward the window, the wind biting her cheeks, eyes stinging. She understood. Silence stretched between them.
Then—light.
Far in the south, a blinding flare split the sky. It burned not like sun or fire, but like judgment breaking through clouds.
On the ground, Kaylin, Lyrien, Thane, and Lila saw it too. The horizon flared as though the world itself had cracked.
"I'll check it out," Lila said without hesitation. She ascended, her body orbited by shimmering spheres of elemental energy. With a surge of speed, she cut across the sky toward the blaze.
Edo banked the Skybolt sharply. Alya braced herself. "We're going," he said, voice iron.
The city below stirred. People poured into streets, gazes fixed on the phenomenon, whispers of omen and ruin carried in the wind.
The Skybolt surged closer. A drone screamed past them, nearly tearing their craft apart. Alya gasped, "What was thaf?"
Edo's brow furrowed. "Something fast. Too fast."
They landed where the light had burned: a wasteland of twisted vines, half-buried ruins, and the corpse of what had once been a research facility. The air smelled of scorched iron and smoke.
Lila was already there, standing among the wreckage, her orbs dimmed as she investigated.
"Lila!" Edo called.
She turned, relief flickering. "You came."
Alya descended beside her. "What happened?"
"Not certain," Lila replied. "But something tore this place apart. Not battle, Annihilation."
Alya drifted through the rubble, boots crunching over shattered glass. Her eyes caught metallic fragments, familiar yet broken. Zeta android limbs, twisted beyond repair.
"Edo!" she shouted. He joined her, crouching low.
"Zetas," she whispered.
Edo's face hardened. "So this is where they were made. It would seem."
She nodded grimly. "And now... burned."
Elsewhere, Lila crouched. Her hand brushed against something half-buried in ash. A blade fractured, golden light long extinguished. Her breath caught.
"Edo," she said softly. She turned, the broken weapon trembling in her grasp. "Is this... Epsilon's?"
The name struck him like thunder. His eyes widened, pale with disbelief. He rushed to her, snatched the blade, and held it as though it were bone of his own.
"No," he whispered. "Not this. Not her."
Before he could say more, Alya stiffened. She had heard voices... others drawn by the flare, approaching fast.
Then Edo's watch blared. Thane's voice burst through, breathless with shock.
"Edo! You won't believe it. It's her. Epsilon. She's here... and alive"
The words froze the night.
"She keeps repeating one name.," Thane continued, his voice unsteady. "Vildar."