The air was heavy with heat and tension, dancing between the spire, the machine, and the crew. Ethan's muscles tensed as he stood at the edge of the base of the spire. His breathing was uneven, his mind a whirlpool of speculation and fear. The pulsations of the spire had quickened and now the symbols seemed to live like veins of molten energy.
And then it came again.
The sound.
It had begun low, barely audible beneath the metallic groans of the machine and the pulsing glow of the spire. A distant whisper, a vibration in the air that made Ethan's teeth ache. His body stiffened as it grew louder- like music, but not a good one. He felt an age, ages, old, and impossibly, disturbingly familiar. Like it was alive, like it was to him, right to him.
Wasn't accidental.
Ethan's hand was shaking while clutching his gun tightly. He breathed in jerky, quick gasps as though he received the air; the sound vibrated through his bones as if something in his memories-from way, way down-was rising to the surface. He jerked at it, somehow, as if he knew that sound from somewhere other than his life-but from before".
"Do you hear that?" Amara whispered, her voice low and her hand on her weapon.
Ethan didn't move. His eyes were frozen on the spire now, as if it and nothing else existed in the world - the sound drawing him to it. It was like a chant and a drumbeat, a throbbing low note that threatened to rip apart the world he stood in.
Kael stood beside him, furrowed his brow. His voice was sharp. "Ethan, listen to me. Focus. You can't let your brain space out. We aren't going to let this thing catch us off guard."
And he couldn't focus, actually. His heart hurt in his chest, and his brain would wander. There was something about the sound, like.about its nature. Something vital, like it knew.like it knew *him*.
It knew *something* about him.
Before he could speak out, the sound changed—a deeper note, low rumbling that felt alive, resonating even in the spire. His knees almost buckled as his body shuddered at the response. He gripped his weapon tighter.
"I think it's coming from the spire," he croaked, his voice tight as his mind raced. In fact, nothing else filtered through the sound.
Stay calm, Kael said. His tone was sharp, commanding. Whatever this is, it's ancient and powerful. We need to tread carefully.
The sound came again, and this time, it felt almost deliberate. Ethan could swear he could feel it in his chest, in his bones. His hands were trembling as now the sensation grew.
And then he felt it—a sudden, sharp pulse of energy, unlike anything he'd ever known.
He has felt it, burning away inside his chest, in the sharpness of its pain, the incomprehension of it. His entire being tenses, and all this feeling erupts down his veins and limbs to his fingertips. He lived in his entire body-the whole thing filled with pulsating energy. It's nothing like pain-not even as close as one can name. It was clarity-comprehension-connecting-to something that slumbered very deeply long in an indolent past.
Ethan gasped and fell onto his knees. His weapon hit the floor with a loud thud when he was forced to clutch his chest in confused attempts to make something out of it.
"What's going on with you?" Amara asked Amara as she drew near him, concern in her voice.
"I-I do not know," Ethan replied, trying to breathe short bursts into his lungs as his body felt electrified, vibrating with something beyond the knowable.
Kael took a step forward, his hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Ethan, snap out of it. What do you feel?"
Ethan shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. But he could feel the energy inside him alive. His heart was pounding fast, very hard. His breath felt sharp and jagged. He could almost feel the presence of the sound now, as if it had gone into his bones.
"I felt… power," he muttered. His voice was barely above a whisper. His fist flexed and he relaxed his hand. His fingers looked thick, almost like sausage meat. His heart boomed, but now he could think it had found a pattern, one connected to something much older than he.
Kael looked worried, fascinated. "Power? What kind of power?"
The sound came before Ethan could answer it this time.
The hum of the spire was louder now, more resonant. But this time, it did not feel random. It felt personal.
"Master."
The word came again, low and deep. Ethan froze, staring. His muscles tensed as his body continued to shake. His heart was hammering in his chest, and yet something inside him, the newly awakened energy, felt like it resonated with that sound.
"Master," the voice repeated.
Ethan's eyes snapped open. His breath caught, his knees quivering. It wasn't a sound in the void. It wasn't just ancient machines. The whole body was inert, frozen, as though the sound had become his. His head was chaos, trying to wrap his mind around it. He could feel it-the bond was there.
"What's happening?" Amara said, her voice tight with uncertainty.
Ethàn hadn't guessed. His mind reeled. The sound came louder back.
Master.
It was familiar; it was strange, in a foreign kind of manner. But somehow, too, comforting in an unspeakably bad way, Ethan felt that the resonance of the sound had affinity with the power now inside him. It was like something that had been his since before he was flesh, tied to his marrow, marking his body ahead as an inevitability.
"I don't know," Ethan whispered.
Kael's voice cut through the chaos. His hand tightened on his weapon again, uncertainty reflected in his stance. "Stay calm. Let's not lose control. We'll figure this out."
But the word came again.
"Master."
This time, the sensation didn't frighten Ethan. No, it didn't terrify him. His thoughts slowed as he listened. It wasn't a command. It wasn't a threat. It felt more like a statement—something awakening, something ancient tied to him.
His chest felt lighter now; it was as if this energy inside him had begun to settle.
"It's calling me," Ethan whispered. His voice was shuddering. "But why?"
At his question, the spire throbbed more forcefully. Now that throb had a sense to it. No more cacophony but deliberate now, Ethan's body also throbbed with powers as well as his regular breathings.
Kael turned to him, skepticism written across his face. "We have to keep our eye on the prize. This isn't even close to over."
But Ethan wasn't so sure. His body came alive in ways he couldn't explain, and the spire, the sound, the machine had somehow awakened something inside of him.
Something old. Something strong.
And now, that sound only came for him *master.*
What that was going to be?