Chapter 1986 - Chapter 1986: The Architect's Echo

The silence was absolute. It was not the dead quiet of a vacuum, but the profound, resonant stillness that follows a final, conclusive chord. The air itself seemed to vibrate with the memory of the song, thick with the scent of ozone and shattered stone-dust. The three of them lay on the cool floor of the tomb, their bodies leaden, their minds scraped raw. The immense, shared effort of hijacking the null-field had left them hollowed out, their individual resonances faint embers where once there had been fire.