The chamber was built like a cathedral of mirrors—hundreds of reflective panels arched into a dome that pulsed faintly with residual energy. Kael stood in the center, wrists bound in magnetic cuffs, as the air around him shimmered with static. Every sound—his breath, the shuffle of a guard's boot—returned to him distorted, as though the walls were whispering back the truth behind each lie.
Mira was there, restrained on the opposite side. Her hair clung to her face, her eyes cold but alive. The Accord's insignia—a silver triangle over a burning sun—hung above them, gleaming like a blade.
The Overseer stepped forward. His voice filled the chamber like a low thunder.
"You've both caused quite a disruption. The lower sectors are in chaos. The Resonance thinks you're saviors."
Kael's laugh came bitter and broken. "Then maybe we are."
The Overseer's hand lifted slightly, and a current of invisible force slammed Kael to his knees.
"You're anomalies. The system rejects anomalies."
"Then the system is failing," Mira hissed, struggling against her bindings. "You can't contain what's already awake."
A ripple passed through the mirrors—like a vibration beneath their words. The Overseer frowned. "What did you do?"
Kael felt it before he understood it—the pulse, deep in his chest, synchronizing with the chamber's hum. The Resonance. The hidden frequency they'd been seeking was inside him. The walls weren't reflecting—they were amplifying.
The Overseer realized it too, a flicker of panic flashing across his face. "Deactivate the chamber—now!"
But it was too late. The mirrored panels began to crack, each fracture glowing with light as the resonance built. The guards stumbled back, their visors flickering with interference. Mira's cuffs dissolved in a cascade of sparks.
She reached for Kael. "Now, Kael—focus it! The signal!"
He closed his eyes and let the sound consume him—the heartbeat of every silenced voice in the city, every whispered act of defiance. It surged outward like a tidal wave, shattering the chamber into a storm of glass and light.
When the radiance faded, the Overseer was gone. The chamber was nothing but ruin. Mira knelt beside Kael, shaking him gently.
He opened his eyes slowly. "Did we do it?"
Mira's gaze turned toward the sky—where, for the first time, the ever-present drones had gone silent.
Her voice was soft, trembling. "No... Kael. We started it."
Outside, across the sleeping city, lights began to flicker—one after another, like stars being reborn.