The next morning, they were summoned not to a lab, but to a stark interrogation room. Director Kael was there, along with a hologram of a being made of shifting, holy light—a Paragon, one of the moral and spiritual guides of the Ordered Multiverse.
"Squad Echo," the Paragon's voice was like a soothing melody that scraped at the soul. "Your recent actions have been exemplary. Yet, a shadow hangs over you. The incident with the simulation. The… unconventional nature of your bond-driven power growth. Order requires purity of purpose. We must test the integrity of your loyalty."
The Paragon gestured. A door opened, and two figures were led in. They were bruised, battered, their uniforms torn. A male human tech-officer and a female vulpine beast-kin.
"These two," Director Kael said, "are suspected Shadow Court sympathizers, captured on Astra Prime. They have resisted all standard interrogation. They will not talk. Your test is simple: extract the location of their primary safe-house in the Crossroads using your unique abilities."
Echo's stomach turned. "You want me to use my bloodline to torture them?"
"We want you to use your abilities to serve Order," the Paragon corrected gently. "Their knowledge endangers millions. The method is irrelevant. The outcome is purity."
Echo looked at the prisoners. He saw the defiance in their eyes, but also the fear. He reached out with his blood sense, subtly. He felt their pulses—rapid, but steady. He felt no taint of corruption. They weren't Corrupted. They were just… dissenters.
He looked at Leyla, Mira, Ryn. He saw their disgust, their unease. This was a line.
"I can try to sense deception, heightened stress," Echo said carefully. "But I cannot invade their minds or command their bodies to betray themselves. My power doesn't work that way." It was a lie—his burgeoning Vitalis Core could likely do exactly that—but one he would uphold.
The Paragon's light flickered, a sign of displeasure. "A Sovereign must be willing to make hard choices for the greater good. Your reluctance is noted."
Director Kael's face was stone. "Perhaps you need a reminder of what you fight for. And what happens to those who side with the shadows."
He nodded to a guard. The guard raised a neural whip against the vulpine prisoner.
Echo moved without thinking. He didn't attack. He stepped between the guard and the prisoner, his hand catching the guard's wrist. "That's enough."
Silence, thick and dangerous.
"You interfere with an official interrogation," Kael said, his voice deadly quiet.
"I fight the Corrupted," Echo said, meeting his gaze, his Charm and bloodline authority radiating just enough to be felt. "I don't torture prisoners. If that's a requirement for loyalty, then maybe your definition is flawed."
The Paragon's light dimmed. "The test is over. Your loyalty remains… unproven. You are dismissed. Return to your quarters. You will be confined there until a decision is made regarding your future deployment."
They were marched back to their suite under guard. The door sealed behind them with a final, heavy thunk.
They had passed their own moral test.
And they had likely failed the Order's.