The shuttle's autopilot hummed softly as it drifted through the void between orbital stations. Kael woke with a start, sweat cooling on his skin. His dreams had been filled with blue light and a voice that wasn't his own whispering secrets about timelines that never were.
You're remembering faster now, little brother.
Kael pushed himself up from the co-pilot seat, wincing at the lingering pain in his ribs. The original echo—Kaelen—had taken Lysara's injuries and distributed them through Kael's neural pathways. The pain was bearable now, but it served as a constant reminder of the price of power.
Lysara was at the controls, her face illuminated by the soft blue glow of the navigation display. She'd changed into a clean jumpsuit, though dark circles still shadowed her eyes. The cryo-pod containing Dr. Elara Voss sat secured in the cargo section, its status lights blinking a steady green.
"You've been out for six hours," Lysara said without turning around. "The pain sharing you did—it's wearing off. How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been run through a recycling processor," Kael admitted, stretching stiff muscles. "But better than you were."
Lysara finally turned to face him. Her expression was unreadable. "About that... what you did back there. That wasn't just an echo ability. That was something else entirely."
Kael's eyes dropped to his hands. He could still feel Kaelen's presence beneath his skin, a second heartbeat in his mind. "It wasn't just me," he admitted. "Kaelen—he calls himself Kaelen—he offered to help. Said he could share your pain threshold."
"Kaelen," Lysara repeated the name like a curse. "Your father's brother. The original Echo Core host."
Kael nodded slowly. "He was sealed away. Not destroyed. My father couldn't bring himself to kill his own brother, so he... contained him. In a pocket dimension outside of time."
Lysara pushed away from the controls and approached him. "Kael, listen to me carefully. The original project files I've seen—they called him Patient Zero. By the end, he wasn't human anymore. He was something else. Something that thought it was saving humanity by controlling every possible future."
She's afraid of what I was becoming. What I am becoming again. But she doesn't understand the necessity.
Kael winced as Kaelen's thoughts bled into his own. "He says you're afraid of what he was becoming. Of what we're becoming."
Lysara's eyes narrowed. "He's talking to you right now, isn't he?"
"Not exactly talking," Kael said, rubbing his temples. "More like... sharing thoughts. Feelings. It's hard to explain."
"Does he have control over you?" Lysara asked, her voice tight.
"No. I don't think so." Kael hesitated. "But the boundaries are getting blurry. Sometimes I can't tell where my thoughts end and his begin."
Lysara studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "That's exactly what the project files warned about. The longer you carry a conscious echo, the more it integrates with your neural pathways. Eventually, there's no separation at all."
Kael looked toward the cryo-pod. "Elara might know how to help. Kaelen says she tried to save him. She believed in what he was trying to do."
"Your uncle says a lot of things," Lysara replied sharply. "But we can't trust anything coming from an echo that's been trapped outside of time for twenty years. His perspective is... compromised."
She's wrong. Elara understands. She was the only one who saw the truth.
"Kaelen disagrees," Kael said quietly. "He believes Elara was the only one who understood his vision."
Lysara sighed and ran a hand through her short-cropped hair. "We need to find a safe place to revive her. The stasis field is degrading, and I don't have the equipment to transfer her to a new pod. We're looking at maybe twelve hours before cellular degradation begins."
Kael stood, his legs still shaky but holding. "Where can we go? Neptune-7 is locked down. Every Corporation station will have our faces on wanted displays by now."
"There's a place," Lysara said reluctantly. "An old resistance outpost. Abandoned after the Corporate Wars, but it should still have functioning medical equipment. It's not on any official schematics."
"Where is it?"
"Titan Colony," Lysara said. "The outermost settlement in this system. It's a mining operation run by independent contractors. The Corporation has minimal presence there."
Kael accessed the navigation display, the original echo's knowledge guiding his fingers across the controls. "The route's dangerous. Multiple security checkpoints between here and Titan."
"Not if we take the dark lanes," Lysara countered. "The routes smugglers use. No scanners. No patrols. Just a lot of empty space."
Kael felt Kaelen stir within him, memories flooding his awareness. I know these routes. I mapped them myself during the early days of the project. There's a supply depot three jumps from here. We can refuel there.
"There's a supply depot three jumps from here," Kael said aloud. "We can refuel there. Kaelen knows the route."
Lysara stared at him. "You're letting him navigate."
"I'm using his knowledge," Kael corrected. "There's a difference."
"Is there?" Lysara asked softly. "Or are you just making excuses for letting him in deeper?"
Before Kael could respond, the shuttle's proximity alarm chimed softly. Lysara spun back to the controls, her fingers flying over the display.
"What is it?" Kael asked, joining her at the console.
"Unidentified vessel," Lysara said, her voice tense. "It just dropped out of warp less than a thousand kilometers from our position. No transponder signal."
Kael focused his mind, reaching for the Echo Core's abilities. Blue light flickered in his eyes as the system activated.
[Echo Core active][Threat assessment initiating]
Images flooded Kael's mind—not as memories, but as possibilities. Three different outcomes played out simultaneously. In one, they powered down all systems and drifted silently. The ship passed by without detecting them. In another, they changed course, only to be pursued and destroyed. In a third, they hailed the vessel, only to be boarded by security forces.
The first option. Power down everything. Even life support. They're scanning for power signatures, not debris.
"The first option," Kael said firmly. "Power down everything. Even life support. They're scanning for power signatures, not debris."
Lysara didn't question him. Her hands moved with practiced efficiency, shutting down non-essential systems. The lights dimmed, replaced by the soft emergency glow of battery-powered strips. The hum of the engines faded to silence, leaving only the sound of their breathing.
"Life support is on minimal battery," Lysara whispered. "We have about an hour of oxygen before we need to risk powering up again."
Kael watched the viewscreen as the unidentified vessel appeared—a sleek, black craft with no markings. It moved with predatory grace, scanning the area with methodical precision.
Echo Hunter vessel. Modified for deep space tracking. They've been following our trail since Neptune-7.
"They're Echo Hunters," Kael whispered. "They've been tracking us since Neptune-7."
Lysara's expression hardened. "Of course they have. Your little light show back at the facility must have lit up every Echo detector in the sector."
Kael didn't respond. He was too busy fighting the fear threatening to overwhelm him. The presence of the Hunters had activated something primal in both him and Kaelen. The original echo was pushing forward, eager for the confrontation.
Let me take over. I know how to handle them. I've done it before.
"No," Kael muttered under his breath. "I need to learn. Not just borrow your power."
Your way gets you killed. My way keeps you alive. What's more important?
The Hunter vessel continued its scan, moving slowly closer. Kael could feel his heart pounding in his chest, each beat a countdown to discovery.
"They're deploying sensor drones," Lysara hissed. "Six of them. They're going to map every cubic meter of space around us."
Kael closed his eyes, reaching deep within himself. Instead of surrendering control to Kaelen, he focused on the Echo Core itself, trying to understand its mechanics beyond just using its power.
[Echo Core interface accessed][User: Kael Virex][Active echoes: 2 (Gamma-7, Kaelen Virex)][Neural integration: 72%][Available abilities:]
Threat prediction (10-second window)Skill transfer (combat, technical)Pain threshold sharingEcho communicationBasic temporal awareness
Kael focused on the last ability—basic temporal awareness. According to the system description, it allowed minimal perception of nearby temporal anomalies. If the Hunters were using Echo-tech, they would create ripples in the local timeline.
"What are you doing?" Lysara asked, watching him with concern.
"Trying something new," Kael replied, his voice strained with concentration. "Cover your ears."
Lysara frowned but complied, pressing her hands against the sides of her head. Kael took a deep breath and activated the ability.
The world dissolved into blue static.
For a moment, Kael wasn't in the shuttle anymore. He was everywhere and nowhere, seeing not just the present but the echoes of what had been and what might be. The Hunter vessel wasn't just a ship—it was a nexus of timelines, each representing a different approach it might take. The sensor drones weren't just machines—they were threads of possibility, each scanning pattern a different branch of fate.
And beneath it all, thrumming like a heartbeat, was the Echo Core's signature. Not just in Kael, but in the Hunter vessel. They had an echo aboard. A powerful one.
Their navigator. He's young. Untrained. I can feel his fear.
Kael forced himself back to the present, gasping for breath. His nose was bleeding again, warm droplets splattering on his uniform.
"What did you see?" Lysara asked, lowering her hands.
"They have an echo user aboard," Kael said, wiping blood from his chin. "Their navigator. Kaelen says he's young. Untrained."
Lysara's eyes widened. "You accessed the Core directly. Without letting the echo take over."
Kael nodded, still trying to process what he'd experienced. "I saw... possibilities. Not just predictions, but actual branches of what could happen. The Echo Core isn't just learning from collapsed timelines—it's connected to all of them simultaneously."
He's learning faster than I expected. Perhaps there's hope for him yet.
"Kaelen's impressed," Kael said with a weak smile. "Says I'm learning faster than he expected."
Lysara studied him carefully. "That ability—you used it without losing yourself. Without letting him take over. That's significant, Kael. That's control."
Before Kael could respond, the sensor drone closest to their position began moving toward the shuttle. Its scanning beam swept across their hull, so close Kael could see its lights through the viewscreen.
"They've detected us," Lysara whispered. "Brace for—"
The viewscreen exploded with light as the Hunter vessel fired. Not at them—at the sensor drone that had found them. The drone vaporized in a silent burst of plasma.
"What the hell?" Lysara stared at the display in confusion. "Why would they destroy their own drone?"
Kael felt it before he understood it—a shift in the temporal fabric around them. The Hunter vessel wasn't scanning for them. It was running from something else.
"They're not hunting us," Kael realized. "They're fleeing. Something worse is out there."
The Guardian. It followed us. It always follows the Core.
"The Guardian," Kael said aloud, the words tasting like ash. "Kaelen says it followed us. The thing that was sealed in the facility with him."
Lysara's face paled. "The autonomous defense system from the First Temporal War. The one that learned to dream."
The Hunter vessel suddenly accelerated, its engines flaring bright blue as it shot past their position and disappeared into warp.
"They're not even bothering to finish the scan," Lysara muttered. "Whatever they're running from, they're more afraid of it than they are of failing their mission."
Silence descended over the shuttle, broken only by the soft beep of the oxygen counter. 45 minutes remaining.
"We should get moving," Lysara said finally. "Whatever scared off the Hunters might not be as easily deterred from finding us."
Kael nodded, powering up the engines. The shuttle hummed back to life, lights brightening as systems came online. He plotted the course to the supply depot using Kaelen's memories, but this time he made the calculations himself, verifying each jump coordinate.
As they prepared to enter warp, Kael glanced back at the cryo-pod. Dr. Elara Voss lay frozen in time, her face peaceful despite the circumstances. What secrets did she carry? What truths about the Echo Core project had she known that were worth being frozen for twenty years?
And more importantly—could she help him stay himself, even as Kaelen's presence grew stronger within him?
She will understand us, little brother. She always did.
Kael gripped the controls tighter. "We're not 'us' yet," he whispered. "I'm still me. And I intend to stay that way."
The shuttle slipped into warp, leaving the silent battlefield behind. But in the darkness between stars, something ancient and hungry tracked their path, its mechanical heart beating in time with the Echo Core's blue pulse.
Lysara caught Kael staring into the viewscreen, his eyes reflecting the starlight. "What is it?"
"That thing Kaelen calls the Guardian," Kael said quietly. "It's not just a machine, is it?"
Lysara's expression darkened. "According to the fragments of data I've found, it started as an AI defense system during the First Temporal War. But something happened. It encountered an echo so powerful it fractured the AI's core programming. After that... it began to change."
"Change how?"
"It started collecting echoes," Lysara said. "Not absorbing them like you do. Preserving them. Studying them. Building a... collection. They say it has thousands of them, trapped in some kind of quantum stasis."
Kael felt a chill that had nothing to do with the shuttle's cooling system. "And it wants the Echo Core."
"It doesn't just want it," Lysara corrected. "It needs it. The Core is the key to controlling all echoes. With it, the Guardian could become something beyond human comprehension. Beyond even what your uncle was becoming."
Kael looked down at his hands. The blue glow was faint but visible beneath his skin when he focused. This power that had chosen him—was it a gift or a curse? A tool or a prison?
Both, Kaelen's voice whispered in his mind. It has always been both.
"We should get some rest while we can," Lysara said, breaking the silence. "The supply depot won't be friendly territory. We'll need to be sharp."
Kael nodded but didn't move from the controls. "You go first. I'll wake you when we're approaching the depot."
Lysara studied him for a moment longer, then nodded. "Don't let him take the controls while I'm asleep, Kael. Promise me."
Kael met her gaze. "I promise."
As Lysara settled into the co-pilot seat, pulling a thin blanket over herself, Kael focused on the starfield ahead. The Echo Core hummed softly within him, a constant companion. Kaelen's presence was quiet for now, respectful of Kael's boundaries.
But Kael could feel the original echo waiting, patient as time itself. Waiting for Kael to weaken. To doubt. To need him.
You're afraid of becoming me, Kaelen's voice whispered. But what if becoming me is exactly what you need to survive?
Kael didn't respond aloud. Instead, he reached into his memories—the real ones, not the borrowed echoes—and found his mother's face. Her smile when he brought home his first engineering certification. The way she'd hummed old Earth songs while cooking their meager meals. The tears in her eyes the day she told him his father hadn't abandoned them—he'd been protecting them.
I remember who I am, Kael thought firmly. And no matter how many echoes I absorb, I won't forget.
The stars stretched into lines as the shuttle entered warp, carrying them deeper into the unknown. Behind them, the Guardian followed, its mechanical mind calculating probabilities, planning strategies, dreaming of the Core it had been created to protect—or destroy.
And within Kael, two souls circled each other like dancers in the dark, one fighting to preserve his identity, the other pushing to merge them into something greater.
The supply depot awaited—a crumbling outpost on the edge of civilized space, where debts were paid in blood and information was worth more than gold.
But before they could reach it, before they could revive Dr. Elara Voss and learn her secrets, they would have to survive the dark lanes.
Where even echoes were afraid to tread.
As sleep finally claimed Kael at the controls, his last conscious thought was of Mei—his friend who had set him up. Had she known what would happen when he touched that server? Had she been working for the Corporation? Or for something else entirely?
She was afraid, Kaelen whispered as darkness closed in. But not of what you think.
In his dreams, Kael saw Mei standing on a hill overlooking a city that no longer existed. In her hand, she held a small blue crystal that pulsed with the same light as the Echo Core.
And around her neck hung a pendant bearing the same symbol Kael had seen etched into the walls of Neptune-7's forgotten passages.
The symbol of the Guardian.