On the morning of his release, Echo found not a data-chip, but a living messenger—a tiny, crystalline insect that landed on his windowsill and projected a miniature hologram of the shrouded figure.
"You survived a Dawn-Class corruption. You awakened something old. The Shadow Court is impressed. We have a proposal: a joint operation. A Corrupted research facility holds data on 'Origin Bloodlines'—including yours. We want the data. You want knowledge. Help us retrieve it, and we will give you everything we find on the Sanguis Imperator."
The hologram displayed schematics of a facility orbiting a black hole—The Event Horizon Archive, a place where the Corrupted studied stolen histories.
"The Academy would never approve this mission. It's too risky, too far behind enemy lines. But with your new abilities… you might survive. Think on it. Your blood holds the key to understanding not just the Corrupted, but the very origin of the multiversal war."
The insect dissolved into light.
Echo stared at the empty space.
The Shadow Court was no longer just offering power. They were offering answers.
And answers were the one thing the Academy had failed to give him.