The rift pulsed like a heartbeat, its energy rippling through the air, bending the light around it. Raith's breath hitched as he stared into its depths. Shadows moved within—figures neither solid nor entirely real. They flickered like faulty holograms, their forms shifting with each pulse of the tear.
"These aren't just alternate versions of people," Raith murmured, gripping his weapon tightly. "They're... fragments. What's left after their worlds collapsed."
"Echoes," Nia said softly, her voice trembling. She knelt, pressing her hand to the fractured ground. "I can feel them... fragments of lives torn from their dimensions. They're searching for something they lost."
"Searching for what?" Raith asked, his voice edged with tension.
Before Nia could answer, Zeke stiffened, his eyes narrowing. "We're not alone."
From the swirling rift emerged a figure, tall and gaunt, its edges flickering like static. Its face was a void, featureless and dark, yet its presence radiated menace. The temperature dropped sharply, and the air became heavy, thick with an unnatural dread.
"You shouldn't be here," it said, its voice resonating with an eerie, metallic tone.
Raith raised his gun. "Who are you?"
The figure tilted its head unnaturally, its movements jerky. "We are the Harbingers," it said, stepping closer. "Keepers of the Nexus. We were created to protect its balance. But now, balance is irrelevant. The rift's power grows beyond control... and so do we."
Raith tightened his grip on the weapon, but Nia grabbed his arm. "Don't," she whispered. "It's feeding on us—on our fear, our confusion."
The Harbinger's form shimmered, splitting into multiple versions of itself, each one slightly different—some larger, some smaller, some barely human. "The war has already begun," it said, its many voices layered and discordant. "The Nexus consumes. It cannot be stopped."
Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the Harbinger vanished into the rift.
"What the hell was that?" Zeke growled, scanning the area.
"That," Nia said, her voice shaking, "is what we're fighting against. And it's only the beginning."
Juno, the hacker, stepped forward, her eyes locked on the rift. "If the Harbingers are feeding on the Nexus, they're tied to it somehow. I need to get to its core—access its systems. Maybe I can sever their connection."
Raith nodded, his expression hardening. "Then we head for the rift's epicenter. We stop the Harbingers there."
As they moved deeper into the city, the distortions worsened. Skyscrapers folded into impossible shapes, and patches of ground flickered like static. Ghostly figures—half-formed echoes—drifted aimlessly, their faces frozen in silent screams.
One of the echoes lunged at Zeke, its form rippling with instability. He reacted instinctively, firing his weapon. The echo dissolved, leaving behind a chilling wail that echoed in the distance.
"They're getting stronger," Nia said, her voice grim. "The closer we get to the rift, the more dangerous this will become."
Raith glanced at his team, their faces lit by the shifting light of the tear. "Then we better be ready. Whatever's waiting for us on the other side, we face it together."