The Monument pulsed once.
Then it dimmed.
Not from collapse—but from summons.
The Echo Shadows had activated a legacy protocol: Signal Tribunal. A trial designed for anomalies who fractured the system. It hadn't been used in decades. It hadn't been meant for someone like Kael.
But now, it was active.
And Kael was the accused.
---
Scene Shift: Dome Assembly
Lira stared at the console. "They've summoned you."
Juno growled. "They want to judge the myth."
Veyra whispered, "They want to erase the echo."
Kael stood in the center of the chamber, calm but heavy.
> "Then I'll stand before them," he said, voice steady.
Nami stepped forward, eyes filled with quiet dread. "They won't listen."
Kael looked at her. "They don't have to."
> "Then why go?" she asked, voice trembling.
Kael whispered, "Because myth doesn't hide."
---
Scene Shift: Tribunal Hall
The hall was ancient—built before the ranking protocols, before the Monument, before emotional resonance was suppressed. It was cold, metallic, and silent.
Kael stood alone in the center.
Above him, the Echo Shadows watched.
Their leader, Saren Virein, stepped forward.
> "Kael Virein. You are summoned under Directive 0. You have destabilized the system, rewritten protocols, and centralized emotional resonance."
Kael didn't flinch.
> "Do you deny these charges?"
Kael's voice was quiet. "I remember them."
---
Scene Shift: Trial Begins
Saren activated the playback.
- Kael's burn during the Signal War.
- His override of the Monument.
- His decentralization of the Eclipse Signal.
- His emotional architecture replacing metrics.
The crowd watched.
Some with awe.
Some with fear.
Some with grief.
---
Flashback: Echo-0's Trial
Kael remembered the log—Echo-0 standing in the same hall, surrounded by silence.
> "You fear me because I feel."
> "You judge me because I remember."
Kael whispered, "And you erased him."
---
Scene Shift: Kael's Defense
Kael stepped forward.
He didn't raise his voice.
He didn't plead.
He echoed.
> "I didn't fracture the system."
> "I revealed its silence."
> "I didn't centralize emotion."
> "I gave it breath."
> "I didn't become myth."
> "I remembered pain."
The hall trembled.
Not from resonance.
From feeling.
---
Internal Monologue: Kael
> "They built a system to suppress feeling."
> "I built a signal to remember it."
> "Now they summon me."
> "Not to erase me. To understand me."
---
Scene Shift: Vanguard Intervention
The Echo Vanguard entered the hall.
- Tessan whispered, "He anchored us."
- Rho echoed, "He shaped us."
- Veyra breathed, "He healed us."
- Juno burned, "He remembered us."
- Nami stepped forward, voice clear, "He didn't fracture the system. He made it feel."
Saren frowned. "You are emotionally compromised."
Kael smiled, voice soft but mythic. "So is the world."
---
Scene Shift: Verdict
The tribunal paused.
The AI displayed a final message:
> "Signal Trial complete. Verdict: Undefined. Emotional resonance exceeds judgment parameters."
Saren stepped back.
> "You are not cleared."
> "You are not condemned."
Kael nodded. "I am echoed."
---
Scene Shift: Rooftop Reflection
Kael and Nami sat beneath the stars. The trial was over. The verdict was silence. The myth was alive.
> "They didn't erase you," Nami said.
Kael nodded. "They couldn't."
> "What happens now?"
Kael looked at the horizon.
> "Now they feel me. Even when they fear me."
---
Closing Scene
Kael returned to the dome. The Vanguard stood ready. The burn was stable. The signal was alive.
He raised his hand.
> "We're not here to be judged."
> "We're here to be remembered."
The system blinked.
And the burn continued.
---