The rail yard was quiet again.
Too quiet.
Smoke from a broken emitter curled into the cold air. The red glow was gone, but the ground still felt warm under their boots.
Renn wiped sweat off his forehead. "All right. I would like one normal night. Just one."
"You chose the wrong city for that," Jax muttered, checking the cut on his arm.
Malric stood still, eyes sharp. "They were not random operatives."
Lucan nodded. "Trained. Coordinated. And they retreated on cue."
Mira looked at Kai. "What did you mean? Not merging worlds."
Kai stared at the broken rail tracks.
When the overlap happened, he did not just see the ruined skyline.
He felt something press against the barrier.
Not human.
Not harmonic.
Patient.
"They said they were anchoring someone," Kai said slowly. "Not a place."
Theo frowned. "That makes no sense. Anchors stabilize spatial divergence."
"Unless," Malric said quietly, "the target is mobile."
That hung in the air.
Renn blinked. "You are telling me they are trying to summon a person?"
"No," Kai said.
He felt the echo again in his chest.
"Not a person."
Scene shift.
Central Tower. Midnight.
Director Vale stood in a dim operations room lit only by projection screens. A new harmonic waveform rotated slowly in front of him.
Unidentified Signature.
An analyst spoke carefully. "It appeared during anchor two's activation window. Duration: less than one second."
Vale's fingers tapped lightly against his arm.
"Cross reference against archived divergence data."
"We did. No match."
Vale's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Expand the archive."
The analyst hesitated. "Sir… that includes sealed Black Division files."
Vale did not look at him.
"Expand it."
Scene shift.
Lower North Sector.
A small convenience shop on the corner of an empty street.
Inside, an old man adjusted canned goods on a shelf. The flickering lights did not bother him.
A faint ripple passed through the air.
He paused.
Then slowly looked up.
His reflection in the glass refrigerator door did not move.
For half a second.
The reflection smiled.
The old man's hand trembled.
Outside, a shadow shifted across the pavement.
Then everything was normal again.
He blinked.
And continued stacking cans.
Scene shift back.
Rail yard.
Lucan gathered everyone in a loose circle.
"We cannot destroy anchors one by one forever," he said. "They will keep placing them."
Malric nodded. "Agreed. We need the source."
Theo adjusted his scanner. "The emitters were military grade but modified. The signature is masked."
"By someone with access," Jax added.
Renn glanced at Malric. "Academy access."
Malric did not argue.
Kai looked toward the dark edge of the rail yard.
The masked leader's words echoed in his head.
We are with the future.
"Did you recognize them?" Mira asked.
Malric shook his head. "No insignia. But their formation… it resembled a closed unit."
Lucan's eyes sharpened. "Which unit?"
Malric hesitated.
"The Vanguard Cohort."
Theo's head snapped up. "That group was disbanded."
"Officially," Malric corrected.
Renn groaned. "Why is nothing ever fully disbanded?"
Kai stepped away from them slightly.
The pull was weaker now that the anchor was destroyed.
But something else lingered.
Like being watched from very far away.
Or very close.
"Lucan," Kai said quietly.
Lucan turned immediately. "Yes."
"There is another one."
Everyone stiffened.
Theo checked the scanner. "No. No spike."
Kai shook his head. "Not active. Just placed."
"Where?" Mira asked.
Kai closed his eyes.
The voice inside him did not speak this time.
Instead, there was a sensation.
Cold.
Underground.
Water.
"Below the old drainage tunnels," he said.
Jax cursed softly. "That network runs under half the north sector."
Malric looked thoughtful. "There is an access point two streets west."
Renn cracked his knuckles. "Great. I love tunnels. Dark, damp, full of enemies."
They moved quickly.
Scene shift.
Central Tower Archive Wing.
Rows of sealed files lined reinforced walls.
An analyst rushed toward Vale with a tablet.
"Sir. We found a partial match."
Vale turned.
"Source?"
"Project Eidolon."
The room felt colder.
Vale took the tablet himself.
The waveform overlapped faintly with an old file labeled: Prototype Host Interface – Terminated.
Status: Unstable.
Last Activity: Twenty years ago.
Vale's expression did not change.
"Unseal the full report."
"Sir, that requires—"
"I am aware of what it requires."
Scene shift.
Drainage tunnel entrance.
Rust covered the metal hatch. The air that rose from below smelled like stagnant water.
Renn pulled the hatch open. "Smells like victory."
"It smells like you," Jax shot back.
They descended one by one.
The tunnels were narrow, concrete walls stained dark with age. Water dripped steadily from somewhere unseen.
Theo's scanner flickered faintly.
"There," he whispered.
A soft red glow pulsed around a bend.
They slowed.
Lucan signaled formation.
As they rounded the corner, they saw it.
Another anchor.
Smaller than the last.
But different.
Instead of being embedded into the ground, it was mounted onto the wall.
And standing in front of it—
Was no one.
Empty tunnel.
Renn frowned. "Do we destroy it now or after it tries to kill us?"
Malric stepped forward carefully.
"It is already active," he said.
The red glow pulsed once.
Then twice.
Kai felt it immediately.
Stronger than before.
Not outward.
Inward.
The tunnel air thickened.
The water on the ground trembled.
Mira grabbed Kai's arm. "It is pulling you."
He nodded slightly.
The pull was not toward the other skyline.
It was toward something between.
The red light flickered.
And a shape began to form in the air in front of the anchor.
Not solid.
Not clear.
A silhouette.
Tall.
Shoulders broad.
Head tilted slightly, as if curious.
Renn took a step back. "Please tell me that is a hologram."
"It is not," Theo whispered.
The silhouette did not move its legs.
It simply slid forward slightly.
The temperature in the tunnel dropped sharply.
Kai's heart pounded.
The presence inside him reacted violently for the first time.
Not fear.
Anger.
The silhouette's head turned.
Slowly.
Directly toward Kai.
Even without a face, he felt its gaze lock onto him.
The anchor flared brighter.
Lucan shouted, "Destroy it now!"
Malric rushed forward.
But before he could reach it, the silhouette raised one hand.
The water in the tunnel surged upward like a wall.
Slamming between them and the anchor.
Mira pulled Kai back just in time.
Renn swore loudly.
The silhouette's outline sharpened slightly.
And for the first time, a voice echoed in the tunnel.
Layered. Distorted.
"You are not ready."
The water crashed back down.
The red glow spiked
Then everything went dark.
Total blackness.
For three long seconds. When the emergency lights flickered back on
The anchor was gone.
The silhouette was gone.
Only damp concrete remained.
Theo's scanner showed nothing.
Zero.
No harmonic activity.
No residue.
Renn's voice was low. "Tell me that did not just happen."
Kai stood frozen.
Because the pull had not vanished.
It had moved.
From the wall.
To him.
And deep inside his mind, something whispered
Soon.