The bunker floor hummed.
Not loud.Not violent.
Just a low vibration — like a heartbeat under concrete.
Alex stiffened beside Kayden, arm braced in front of him.Phineas clung to a rusted pipe like it might save his soul.
Kayden swallowed hard.
"…APEX… what does 'the kind that remembers me' mean?"
APEX pulsed softly, voice almost hesitant.
"Below this bunker lies a resonance vault.Inside is an early Operator imprint.An echo."
Alex frowned.
"An echo of WHAT?"
APEX replied:
"A person."
Kayden's breath shook.
"A person who's still alive…?"
"No.An imprint.A stored resonance memory from the early Operator trials."
Phineas squeaked.
"ARE YOU TELLING ME WE ARE STAYING ABOVE A DEAD FUTURE-GHOST—?!?"
The floor vibrated again.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Kayden slowly pushed himself upright on the bunk.
Alex steadied him immediately.
"No.You lie down.You're not going down there."
Kayden shook his head.
"It's… calling me."
Alex's jaw clenched.
"Of course it is. Everything calls you. Doors, machines, ghost-machines—"
But Kayden wasn't hearing Alex.
He was hearing the hum.
Subtle.Familiar.Like a voice he couldn't quite recognize whispering through a wall.
Not dangerous.
Not hostile.
Just waiting.
APEX confirmed:
"The echo is activating due to your resonance seed.It has recognized your presence as a compatible signature."
Kayden whispered:
"…it thinks I'm one of them."
Alex looked at him, softening.
"You're not a ghost.And you're not a failed experiment.You're just Kayden."
Kayden gave a shaky smile.
"Alex…I need to see it.If it remembers me…maybe it knows something."
Phineas groaned loudly.
"This is how people die in found-footage movies!"
APEX interjected calmly:
"No danger predicted.Proceed with caution."
Alex exhaled sharply.
"Fine.But I'm in front.And if it touches you, I'm punching it."
Phineas raised a finger.
"You cannot punch a ghost."
Alex replied:
"I will try anyway."
They moved deeper into the bunker.
A small metal door at the back trembled faintly.Kayden approached it, hand outstretched.
The hum responded to him.Only him.
When he touched the door—
click.
It unlocked.
Alex stepped in front again, shoving it open.
The room beyond was small.Circular.Walls lined with dead monitors.A cracked glass cylinder stood at the center, vines and dust strangling its form.
Kayden stumbled closer.
"APEX…was this… a containment chamber?"
"Yes."
"For an Operator…?"
"…for an attempt."
Phineas gagged.
"Oh no.Not another failed Operator.This is turning into a pattern."
Alex shot him a look.
Then—
The cylinder flickered.
Kayden froze.
"…did you see that?"
Another flicker.A faint, blue-white silhouette shimmered inside the cracked glass.
Human-shaped.Motionless.
APEX whispered:
"Echo forming."
Phineas hid behind Alex.
Alex placed a protective arm in front of Kayden.
The silhouette sharpened.
Shoulders.Arms.A faint outline of hair drifting in unreal wind.
No face yet.
Just a presence.
Kayden's pulse climbed.
"…hello…?"
The echo lifted its head.
The face formed last —not as a photograph,not as a ghost,but like memory reconstructing a shape carved from resonance.
Eyes first.Blank but searching.
Cheeks.Jawline.
Expression soft, almost sad.
The echo stepped forward.
Its feet didn't touch the ground.
It floated inches above the floor.
Alex tightened his stance.
"Say something," he muttered."If you're evil, now is a great time to reveal it."
Kayden ignored him.
He stared at the echo.
Because something about it felt familiar—
Not like a friend.
Not like a relative.
But like a reflection in water.
He whispered:
"…do I know you?"
The echo blinked.
Then its voice spoke —not from its mouth,but from everywhere:
"you were small."
Kayden's heart stuttered.
"…what…?"
"you visited this roommany years ago."
Kayden stepped back.
"Apex—is this true?"
APEX answered quietly:
"Yes."
Alex snapped toward him.
"You said he didn't have Operator contact as a kid!"
APEX corrected:
"I said he did not remember."
The echo drifted closer.
Not touching.Not threatening.
Just approaching Kayden with the recognition of someone who had waited a long time.
"they brought you to us."
Kayden's breath caught.
"Us…?"
"the early ones.the experiments.the broken.the almost."
Phineas whispered fiercely:
"I hate this room.I hate everything in this room."
The echo's eyes softened.
"you were frightened.they wanted to know why you resonated."
Kayden whispered, shaking:
"I don't…I don't remember…"
APEX whispered back:
"Suppression protocol erased your visit."
The echo lifted a hand —shimmering, crackling faintly.
Kayden stared.
"Did I… talk to you? Back then?"
"you cried."
Kayden flinched.
Alex stepped closer, gripping his arm.
The echo continued:
"but you touched the glassand the chamber calmed.the resonance stilled.the early ones slept."
Kayden's throat tightened painfully.
"…I calmed you?"
"yes."
The echo leaned its head softly.
"we remembered youeven when you forgot."
Kayden couldn't breathe.
Alex looked at him, horrified and gentle all at once.
"Kay…you're crying."
Kayden wiped his face.
"I—I don't know why—I don't know—I just—"
The echo flickered again.
APEX spoke:
"Stability degrading.Echo fading."
The silhouette blurred.
As it dissolved, its last words brushed Kayden's mind like a cold hand:
"you were never a mistake.not like us."
Kayden's breath broke.
The echo faded completely.
The chamber went silent.
Alex wrapped his arms around Kayden instantly, pulling him into his chest.
Kayden whispered into Alex's shirt:
"…they used me.Even when I was small.They used me to fix their mistakes."
Alex held him tighter.
"You are not their tool."
Kayden shook.
Phineas stood near the doorway, eyes wide.
"So…a ghost Operator baby remembered you.And loved you."
Kayden sobbed once —quiet, sharp.
"…yeah."
APEX spoke with rare softness.
"Operator.The echo's final point is relevant."
Kayden lifted his head.
"What point…?"
"You were not a mistake."
Kayden pressed his eyes shut.
Alex kissed his hair.
"I've been telling you that since day one."
And deep under the bunker,the memory of the early echosettled into the soillike a forgotten truth finally breathed again.