Location: Subvault, Beneath Cradle Gorge
Time: [Aetherium Core: Glitching / Gravity Interference: Critical]
Ren took one step toward the vault door.
Just one.
And the Core inside his chest started malfunctioning.
Not flashing, not vibrating.
Screaming.
AETHERIUM CORE:
>E̶R̶R̶O̷R̸:̷ ̶T̵H̵I̷S̴ ̶S̵E̶C̴T̴O̷R̷ ̷W̶A̷S̴ ̷R̷E̸M̴O̴V̴E̶D̵ ̴F̴R̷O̵M̵ ̴T̷I̶M̴E̵ > D̸O̶ ̵N̸O̷T̶ ̶P̴R̷O̶C̸E̴E̷D̷> D̶O̶ ̴N̵O̴T̷ ̷P̶R̷O̸C̸E̷E̵D̸> DO NOT PROCEED
BLAZE (freaking out):
"Ren, your chest is lighting up like it's having a seizure!"
FROST (scanning):
"It's not just the Core. The space around us is breaking.
This city's not a location — it's a wound."
Then came the voice.
Low. Unfiltered. Unapologetic.
GRAVITY (booming, echoing from nowhere):
"STEP. BACK."
Everyone froze.
Even the walls listened.
GRAVITY:
"This is beyond what was meant for you.
This sector is sealed because it was never supposed to exist."
REN (gritting his teeth):
"Why?
Why keep hiding everything from me?!"
GRAVITY (slowly):
"Because this truth is not about you.
It's about what you are."
Suddenly, the Override Core — the tiny device that once disconnected from his chest — reappeared, flickering mid-air in front of him like it had been forced online.
OVERRIDE CORE (in perfect voice):
"Riftborn Signature Detected.
Unauthorized Sector Breach.
Backup Protocol: Unlocking One-Time Access."
It clicked.
It hummed.
And then it shattered — dissolving into particles that merged back into Ren's chest, beneath the Aetherium Core.
The glow changed.
Not blue. Not gold.
But a color Ren had no name for.
FROST (quietly):
"...Did it just override the override?"
The Riftborn Truth (Or at least part of it)
The vault door opened.
No creaking.
Just a soundless shift — like reality was too scared to argue.
Inside… was a city.
Buried beneath the world.
Not just ruins — preserved structures.
Frozen people.
Half-finished timelines.
It was Cradle Gorge — the real one.
Not the battlefield.
The first Riftborn city.
BLAZE (stepping in, whispering):
"They built this… then erased it."
REN (heart pounding):
"Why?"
GRAVITY (responding, serious now):
"This is where Riftborn were made.
Not born. Made.
By someone who wanted to fix a broken universe."
SPACE (arriving, calm but worried):
"The Riftborn weren't supposed to exist.
They're tools.
Emergency pieces of reality meant to be inserted when timelines went off-course."
TIME (softly):
"You're not Kael's replacement.
You're the failsafe someone forgot to delete."
Ren stood still.
His eyes flicked from statue to structure.
There were images on the walls.
Others like him — Riftborn. Some with faces blurred. Others frozen mid-battle.
One looked just like Kael.
Another looked almost like Ren,
But the face had been scratched out.
AETHERIUM CORE (flickering text):
> FOUND: Riftborn Activation Site > ORIGIN DATA: CONFLICTING > USER MATCH: FRAGMENTARY > IDENTITY CONFIRMED… BUT INCOMPLETE.
REN (half-whisper):
"So… I was created?"
GRAVITY (quiet):
"No. You were awakened.
Created by mistake, maybe.
But awakened for a reason."
Suddenly — the glitching voice returned.
But not from the maze.
From inside the vault.
CORRUPTED VOICE:
"You found the door.
But the truth isn't free."
A figure appeared.
Not Echo-Ren.
Not the parasite.
Someone else.
Wearing armor made of erased timelines, stitched with broken glyphs. No face. No signature.
Just power.
BLAZE (drawing her blade):
"Who the hell is that?!"
UNKNOWN BEING:
"I am the Gatewatcher.
And your Core… doesn't belong here."
The entire city shook.
Statues crumbled. Lights dimmed. The fog screamed.
Ren stepped forward — one hand on his sword, the Core in his chest pulsing with unstable light.
He looked around.
A forgotten city. A corrupted guardian. A truth that could tear apart everything.
REN (breathing deep):
"Fine.
Then I'll take the truth by force."