The hum followed Connor long after he left the Upper Hall. It wasn't loud—more like a vibration under the skin, faint but constant. No one else seemed to hear it.
Deog waited for him outside the lifts, arms crossed. "So? What did he say?"
Connor hesitated. "That the tower remembers me."
Deog blinked. "That's… not creepy at all."
They walked in silence through the Archive's atrium, light spilling from conduits overhead. Recruits were whispering again, rumors moving faster than truth ever could. Connor could feel their stares.
"Hey," Deog said, lowering his voice. "You didn't tell him about the voice, did you?"
"I didn't have to," Connor replied. "He already knew."
Deog frowned. "You think he's watching you?"
Connor shook his head. "I think the tower is."
◇◇◇
Training resumed the next morning as if nothing had happened. Unit B gathered in the lower field—an open space lined with resonance pillars that pulsed faintly with stored energy. Their instructor, the same pale-eyed man from before, waited in silence.
"Today's exercise," he said, "is synchronization under pressure."
The floor lit up with concentric rings of Aether, each humming to a different rhythm. "You will match your frequency to the pillar's pulse. Fail, and the current will reject you."
Marek grinned. "Reject how?"
The instructor smiled faintly. "You'll find out."
The exercise began.
Lira's pillar flared immediately—her control sharp, clean. Marek's flamed too brightly, nearly destabilizing. Deog, standing between them, held steady, calm as his device emitted a matching tone.
Connor focused on his pillar. The hum from the tower merged with the sound of his own heartbeat. For a moment, it aligned—perfect resonance.
Then everything stopped.
The air froze. The pillar dimmed. The world went silent.
You're listening again.
Connor's pulse spiked. The voice was back, clearer now—deeper. You felt my heart when it stirred. Do you understand what you touched?
He stepped back. "Leave me alone."
The light flickered, reacting to his words.
You cannot silence memory. You are part of it now.
"Connor!" The instructor's shout broke the trance. Connor blinked—his pillar had shattered, its fragments floating midair like frozen glass. Aether crackled through the floor.
Deog was already at his side. "Hey! You okay?"
Connor swallowed hard. "It spoke again."
The instructor's expression darkened. "You'll report this to the Arbiter. Now."
◇◇◇
That night, Connor sat by the dorm window, watching the city glow beneath the Archive. The hum in the walls was quieter now, almost… thoughtful.
Deog leaned against the opposite wall, arms folded. "You should tell me what it's saying."
"I don't even understand it," Connor murmured.
"You will," Deog said softly. "You always do."
Outside, lightning rippled across the distant horizon—silent, pale, and endless.