The Silent Gallery had expanded once more. The grey mist had retreated, revealing vaulted ceilings made of ribbed obsidian that looked like the underside of a colossal raven's wing. At the center, the glass table had grown into a massive, circular slab of "Memory-Quartz," pulsing with the soft indigo light of Caspian's new sequence.
Caspian sat on his throne of bone, his presence now so heavy that the very air seemed to bow toward him. He was no longer just a doctor or a scavenger. He was a Void-Voice, and his silence was louder than a storm.
"It is time to summon the shadows," Caspian whispered.
He reached out, not with his hands, but with the Tentacles of Light that now resided within his spiritual core. He plucked at the threads of Ash and Marble.
The Assembly
Two pillars of light erupted.
Ash appeared first. The soldier's form was no longer crumbling; the "Stabilizing Remnant" Caspian had given him had worked, but his aura was restless. He looked around the expanded Gallery, his eyes widening as they landed on the new statues—including the Ash-King's shattered helmet.
Marble appeared a moment later. Her form was no longer stone. Thanks to the Athanor, she looked human again, though her skin had a translucent, pearlescent quality, and her eyes remained a solid, unblinking white.
"Curator," Ash said, snapping a sharp military salute. "The upper city is in chaos. Oakhaven's fall has triggered a 'Purge Protocol.' The Church is hunting everyone with even a trace of aether-mutation."
Marble stepped forward, her silk gown trailing like smoke. "They think we are dead, Curator. But the Governor's manor didn't just fall; it was erased. The Church is terrified. They've locked down the remaining islands and are preparing the 'Great Lung-Bellows' to descend into the Rift."
Caspian leaned forward, his indigo eyes ringed with the golden gears that never stopped turning.
"Let them come," Caspian said, his voice layered with a thousand echoes. "The sky is a cage they have lived in for too long. I have walked the Foundation. I have spoken to the Operating System of the world."
Marble gasped. "You reached the bottom? You... you are different, Curator. Your voice... it feels like it's vibrating in my very soul."
"I have ascended," Caspian replied. "I am the Void-Voice. And I have brought a gift for my gallery."
The Distribution of Spoils
Caspian waved a hand. Two artifacts manifested on the table.
For Ash, he produced the Ash-King's Rusted Gauntlet. "This is a Sequence 7 artifact. It will allow you to command the 'Cinder-Legion'—the spirits of soldiers who died without a war. With this, you can build an army within the Iron Belt. We will need a distraction when we move against the Cathedral."
Ash reached for the gauntlet, his ember-like form flaring with heat. "I will give them a war they can't ignore."
For Marble, Caspian produced the Crystalline Gear of Navigator Sarah. "You are a Weaver. This gear contains the true navigation logs of the Old World. Use it to find the 'Hidden Paths' between the islands. We need a way to move the survivors without using the Church's elevators."
Elara took the gear, her white eyes glowing. "I can weave a bridge of light between the islands. But it will require a massive amount of soul-coal."
"You won't need coal," Caspian said. "The Athanor is ours. The Foundation provides all the energy we need."
The Warning
The meeting was interrupted by a sudden, sharp ticking sound.
The Clockwork Monocle didn't appear this time. Instead, a phantom image of Julian Vane projected itself onto the surface of the Memory-Quartz table. He looked disheveled, his white suit stained with soot.
"Curator," Julian's projection said, his voice crackling. "If you can hear this, you need to hurry. The Clockwork Weaver isn't just waiting for you. He's started the 'Grand Unravelling.' He's pulling the tethers of the remaining islands. He's going to drop the entire Caelum Chain into the Rift to jump-start the Core."
"Why?" Marble asked, her voice trembling.
"Because the Sun isn't a star," Julian replied, his image fading. "The Sun is a Battery. And it's empty. He needs millions of souls to recharge it for the next five hundred years. Don't let him... don't let him turn us into light..."
The projection shattered.
Caspian stood up, his indigo shroud expanding until it filled the entire hall.
"The meeting is adjourned," he commanded. "Ash, begin the rebellion. Marble, prepare the bridge. I am going to the Core."
"Wait!" Marble called out. "You can't face the Weaver alone! He's the one who created the Path of the Surgeon and the Path of the Weaver!"
Caspian looked at his hands, which were now flickering between physical flesh and spectral light.
"He may have created the paths," Caspian said, his voice resonating with the power of the Void. "But I am the one who walks them to their end."