My Infinite System.

The bridge lights were dimmed, casting long shadows across the determined faces of the crew. In the center of the main display, a complex, shimmering frequency map rotated slowly. Sira, now unbound but under the watchful eyes of both Marc and a very alert Kaelis, pointed a slender finger at a specific, pulsing harmonic node.

”This is it,” she said, her voice quieter now, stripped of its earlier arrogance. ”The resonant frequency of the Echo Vault. It’s not a place you can chart. You have to... tune yourselves to it. It will feel like your mind is unraveling. You have to hold on.”

Reia studied the data, her brow furrowed. ”The energy required to initiate the harmonic alignment is massive. It’ll be another beacon, bigger than anything we’ve done before. Every power that’s looking for us will know exactly where we are the moment we start.”

”Let them know,” Lucian said, his voice flat and final. He stood with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the pulsating node. ”We’re done hiding. We’re done reacting.” He looked at Marc. ”You ready for this?”

Marc gave a single, sharp nod. The calm, pale light of his Aethel power flickered deep within his eyes for a second. ”Just point the way.”

”Alright, listen up,” Lucian said, turning to address everyone. ”This is it. The final push. Marc and I are going in. We find our father. We find Lucy. We end this.”

He looked at Kaelis, then at Reia, Evelyn, Silas, and Vyn. ”The rest of you... you’re the gatekeepers. The moment we initiate the frequency, this location is going to become the most popular spot in the galaxy. Every Diva fleet, every Ashura war-pack, every bounty hunter and scared civilian with a ship is going to come running. Your job is to hold the line. No one gets through. No one. You give us the time we need.”

Kaelis, still in his smaller form, puffed out his chest, a tiny plume of smoke curling from his nostrils. ”They will break against us like water on stone.”

”Reia, you’re on comms and counter-intelligence,” Lucian continued. ”Jam everything. Scramble their sensors. Make it as hard for them to coordinate as possible.”

”On it,” Reia said, her fingers already dancing across her console.

”Evelyn, Silas, you’re on point defense. The Sanctum’s weapons are yours. Keep the skies clear.”

”Finally, some proper fireworks,” Silas grinned, cracking his knuckles.

Evelyn just nodded, her expression serious. ”We’ll hold them off.”

”Vyn,” Lucian said, his gaze softening slightly as he looked at her. ”You’re our wild card. You see something we don’t, you feel a shift... you act. No questions.”

Vyn met his eyes and gave a confident nod. ”I will not fail.”

Finally, Lucian turned to Sira. She flinched under his direct attention. ”You. You’re going to do something for us.”

”I... I have helped you already,” she stammered.

”Not enough,” Lucian said, taking a step closer. ”You’re going to use whatever channels you have left. You’re going to send a message to your masters at the Archive. To the Diva. To the Ashura. To anyone who will listen.”

He leaned in, his voice low and intense, but devoid of malice. It was a statement of pure, unvarnished fact.

”You tell them this: We are not our father. We do not want to unmake your universe. The only thing we want is to stop the man who does. Every ship, every soldier they send against us is a waste of time and lives. It’s a distraction from the real threat. They’re so afraid of us pressing the reset button that they’re helping the one guy who actually wants to press it. So they can stand down, or they can get out of our way. But if they choose to fight us... then they’ve chosen the wrong side.”

Sira stared at him, her violet eyes wide. She saw the absolute conviction in his face. This wasn’t a plea. It was a warning.

”Do you understand?” Lucian asked.

She swallowed hard and nodded. ”I... I will try.”

”Good.” Lucian straightened up and looked at Marc. ”Let’s go get our sister.”

He walked to the center of the bridge, Marc falling into step beside him. They stopped before the main viewport, which now showed only the strange, shimmering distortion of the Vault’s frequency.

”Reia, initiate the harmonic alignment,” Lucian commanded.

”Initiating now. Brace for spatial disorientation.”

A deep, thrumming hum filled the ship, vibrating through the deck plates and into their bones. The view outside the port twisted, colors bleeding into one another in nauseating waves. Lucian and Marc closed their eyes, focusing inward, reaching for the frequency with their will.

The world outside dissolved into a screaming vortex of light and sound.

---

Inside the Echo Vault, Alistair stood before a massive, pulsating core of tangled light and shadow—the sealed heart of the prison. Lucy stood beside him, her eyes still a blank, featureless white, her body poised like a perfect, waiting tool.

He was about to speak, to command her to begin the final unlocking, when he paused. A slow, knowing smile spread across his face.

He turned his head, as if listening to a distant song.

”They’re here,” he said, his voice filled with a strange mix of annoyance and pride. He looked at Lucy, reaching out to gently touch her cheek. ”Your brothers are so stubborn. So predictable.”

His smile widened, showing a hint of teeth.

”Let’s go welcome them, shall we? It’s time for the family to be reunited.”

Diva’s Headquarters

”It is inevitable, the universe is going to be reset and we might not going to be part of it.”

Hearing this Luminar would frown, ”So Alistair would win, even after everything we would do to stop him.” He said looking at the woman in front of him.

”Alistair?” The woman raised her head and looked at Luminar, ”Who said it was going to be Alistair who would hit the reset button, it is his son, the unawakened one, Lucian.”