The room was quiet as Kael, Lyra, and Elira stared at the glowing artifact. The faint hum of energy filled the space, its pulse rhythmic and steady. Kael's fingers still tingled from touching it. He could feel the weight of its power, even though he couldn't yet understand what it was capable of.
Elira was the first to break the silence. "The Heart of Xypheris," she repeated, her voice full of awe. "This... this is something beyond anything I've ever seen. It's the last remnant of the Xypherian civilization, and if we're right, it holds the key to unlocking their advanced technology."
"Xypherians?" Kael's brow furrowed. "Who were they?"
Lyra spoke up, her voice calm but filled with urgency. "An ancient civilization, long before humanity came to this planet. They had technology far beyond ours—artifacts like this one. When they disappeared, they left behind remnants of their knowledge, their power. But not much is known about them."
Elira stepped closer to the artifact, her eyes never leaving it. "We thought it was all myth, but I've seen the inscriptions on this device before. This is real. And if we activate it, we could unlock the answers to how the Xypherians could have lived here, on a planet once uninhabitable."
"But why is it so dangerous?" Kael asked, still feeling the weight of the artifact in his hands.
"Because if the wrong people get their hands on it, they could use it to control everything," Lyra replied. "The corporations—especially Neptar—they have no idea what this artifact truly is, but they'll stop at nothing to get it. That's why we need to keep it safe."
Kael glanced down at the artifact again. The words on its surface seemed to shift, almost alive. It was as if the object was speaking to him in a language he didn't understand yet, but he felt its urgency. It wanted something.
"We need to figure out how to use it," Kael said, his voice filled with determination. "And we need to do it before they get to it."