During his solo study time in the Grand Atheneum, Echo delved deeper into "anomalous studies," searching for any record of beings like him.
He found little—only cryptic references to "Sparks of Un-Corruption" and "Spontaneous Systemic Corrections." Most texts treated such things as theoretical.
It was in a restricted subsection, under the guise of researching Corrupted evolution, that he felt a presence behind him.
Not physical. Mental.
A whisper brushed his mind, cool and sly: "You look for yourself in the ashes of dead theories. Look instead to the living shadow."
Echo stiffened. Who are you?
"A friend. One who knows what you hide. The Shadow Court's offer remains. The shard we offered holds the key to understanding the Corrupted… and yourself. Take it. Or remain a pawn of the Ordered, until they decide you're too dangerous to keep."
The presence vanished.
Left on the table before him was the same dark crystal—the Soul-Shard.
Echo stared at it. It pulsed with a faint, hypnotic light. A part of him, the anomaly core, reached for it. It wanted to understand the corruption, to dissect its code.
He slipped the shard into his pocket.
He wouldn't use it. Not yet.
But knowledge was power, and power was survival.