Chapter 109: Echoes Beyond the Seed

The signal pulsed again, stronger this time.

Evryn's eyes locked onto the waveform blinking on the screen. The word "KAI" was etched in her mind like an imprint from the past, but this wasn’t the Kai she knew. This was a shadow, a distorted echo of him, stretching through the void that had been left behind by the collapse of the Nexus fields.

"Answer it," Evryn said, her voice a low murmur, trembling with anticipation.

Kai stood motionless beside her, his face a mask of confusion and fear. "You don’t understand," he began, his voice cracking. "I’ve heard that name before. But it’s... impossible. How could there be another me?"

Aurex moved forward, his data-band glowing faintly. He tapped a few buttons on the console, attempting to analyze the waveform. "It’s coming from beyond the Seed’s boundaries," he muttered. "That shouldn’t be possible. The Seed was supposed to be a barrier."

Elara, eyes wide, looked between them all. "If this... Kai is out there, then how is he connected to the Seed? What does he want with us?"

Evryn’s mind raced. Her heart hammered against her ribcage. This wasn’t just a signal. This was a thread. A thread that could unravel everything she thought she knew about the Seed, about her mission, about herself.

"It’s a call," Evryn said softly, almost to herself. "A plea. And it’s coming from the heart of the Seed—its last remnant."

She stepped forward, her hand hovering over the controls. The thought of reaching out to the unknown version of Kai sent chills down her spine. Yet she couldn’t ignore the pull. It was like a magnetic force, a call to destiny.

"Evryn," Kai said, his voice urgent, but with an undercurrent of hesitation. "We don’t know what we’re dealing with. This could be a trap."

But her resolve had hardened. She didn’t have time to fear. She had to face whatever was waiting beyond the veil, beyond the Seed’s fractured shell. There was too much at stake.

"I have to know," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else in the room.

With a deep breath, she activated the communication link. The screen flickered and then stabilized. The waveform pulsed, growing in intensity. The air in the room grew heavy, charged with an electric tension. Then, the screen blinked once more.

A voice came through, deep and resonant, but tinged with something darker than Evryn had ever heard.

"Evryn," the voice said, and despite its harshness, it carried an unmistakable familiarity. "It’s you. Finally."

Evryn’s breath caught. "Who are you?"

The figure on the screen blurred for a moment before coming into focus. It was Kai—but not the Kai she knew. His features were more angular, his expression colder, almost clinical. His eyes—distant, calculating—burned through the screen with an intensity that sent a shiver through her spine.

"I am Kai," he replied, his voice devoid of warmth. "Or, at least, I was. Before the Seed... changed everything."

Kai’s hand tightened on Evryn’s shoulder. "What is this? How is this possible?"

The alternate Kai’s lips curled into a cold smile. "The Seed is a power unlike any other. It is not a mere vessel of life; it is a conduit for evolution, a bridge between dimensions. And I—" he paused, his gaze darkening, "—I was the first to understand its true potential."

Evryn's pulse quickened. The air felt thick, as if reality itself was shifting beneath her feet. "What do you mean, the first to understand?" she demanded.

The figure on the screen tilted his head slightly, as if savoring her confusion. "I was the one who, before the collapse, realized the Seed’s true nature. It isn’t a simple energy source, Evryn. It is a doorway. A doorway to control everything: time, matter, consciousness itself. I didn’t just want to contain it—I wanted to master it."

Her heart skipped a beat. "You—" Evryn’s voice wavered. "You used the Seed to gain power? To rewrite reality?"

The alternate Kai nodded. "Not just reality. The very fabric of existence itself. Do you understand, Evryn? The Seed is not just a tool—it is a weapon. And with it, I created the world you see before you. The one you call a fracture. The one you almost destroyed."

Evryn staggered back, her mind reeling. She looked at the others, their expressions mirroring her shock.

"What are you talking about?" Kai’s voice was tight with disbelief. "You twisted it. You became—what? A god?"

The alternate Kai’s eyes gleamed with a twisted satisfaction. "A god? No. I became something... more. I became the Seed’s true master. Its vessel. And now, I control its every facet, its every movement. The Seed will reshape the universe to my will—and soon, you will all see its true potential."

Evryn felt the ground beneath her tremble. It wasn’t physical. It wasn’t real. But it was enough to make her heart race. The Seed had been a power source—an energy field—but she never imagined it could be wielded like this. Could the collapse, the rupture, the quantum loops they had been stuck in, all be connected to this twisted version of Kai?

"How... how can we stop you?" Evryn whispered, her voice trembling with both fear and resolve.

The alternate Kai’s smirk deepened. "You can’t. You never could. The Seed is beyond your understanding, Evryn. But you don’t have to understand. All you have to do is submit. Submit to the power that is inevitable. The Seed will consume everything."

"No," Evryn snapped, her eyes flashing with defiance. "You’re wrong. You don’t control the Seed. You never did."

A chilling laugh echoed from the screen. "You think you can defeat me? You, the one who is tethered to it? You can never escape the Seed, Evryn. It’s already part of you."

Her hands clenched into fists. "Not anymore," she declared, her voice steady. "I’m done being its puppet."

Kai stepped forward, his presence grounding her. "Evryn is right. You may have controlled the Seed, but you’ve lost touch with what it really is. We’re not your playthings. We’re going to stop you."

The alternate Kai’s expression shifted—his eyes narrowing, anger flickering through them. "Fools," he spat. "You think you can escape this? There’s no running. There’s no hiding. The Seed will find you, and it will consume you."

Suddenly, the screen flickered violently, cutting off his face for a moment. A strange static filled the room before the image of Kai returned, but this time, there was a new urgency in his voice.

"You don’t understand," the alternate Kai said, his voice low. "The Seed is evolving. What you see now—what you think is a simulation, a bubble—it’s only the beginning. The Seed is evolving into something far more dangerous. If you don’t stop it now, it will rewrite the universe itself, and you’ll have no place left to run."

Evryn felt the weight of his words sink deep into her chest. The Seed, once an energy source, had now become something far worse. And it was spreading.

A new wave of urgency coursed through her.

"Then we destroy it," she said firmly, her eyes locking onto the screen. "We destroy the Seed before it can evolve any further. And you can’t stop us."

The alternate Kai’s expression faltered for a moment—just a flicker of doubt, but enough for Evryn to see it.

"You’ll never reach it in time," he whispered, his voice chilling. "The clock is ticking."

And with that, the connection cut off.

Evryn exhaled sharply. They were running out of time.

Elara moved swiftly to the control panel, analyzing the data. "He’s right," she said, her voice grim. "The Seed is accelerating. The collapse—it’s already happening on a larger scale. We need to act now."

Kai turned to Evryn, his face filled with determination. "What do we do?"

Evryn looked at the others. The weight of the decision pressed down on her, but she knew what had to be done.

"We fight," she said, her voice unwavering. "And we win."