The sun dipped low behind the skyline, casting an amber hue over the plaza as the group walked in a slow, unspoken rhythm. Emi had drifted ahead, chatting idly with Jerome, while Seyfe and Saline trailed behind.
Saline glanced sideways at Seyfe, noticing the dark circles still clinging to his eyes, the way his gait occasionally stiffened as if remembering phantom weight. "You know…" she began casually, tucking a loose strand of her red-dyed hair behind her ear, "instead of wandering the streets like some brooding shadow-hero, why don't you just crash at my place?"
Seyfe blinked. "What?"
"I have an extra room in my apartment. You said you don't have the credits, and I'd rather not see you end up passed out in some alley with your black tongue scaring kids," she added with a half-smile.
Seyfe raised a brow. "Thought Jerome might offer."
Saline snorted. "Please. Jerome probably still lives under his older sister's roof. He's got the freedom of a lion in a petting zoo."
From up ahead, Jerome's voice called back, "I heard that, you know."
Saline waved him off before glancing forward at Emi. "And Emi'll probably be off again soon. Another mission, another domain. That girl doesn't sit still."
Seyfe slowed his steps slightly, looking ahead at the silver-haired Emi, her frame small yet unreadably strong. He took in the offer for a moment before nodding faintly. "Alright. Just until I figure something out."
Saline grinned. "Good. Rent's free. Chores aren't."
As they approached the Veiler residential quadrant, Emi's voice gently cut through the casual conversation. "So… have any of you fully filled your cores yet?"
Saline tilted her head, stretching her arms overhead. "Almost there. I think I'm at 84%. They said another mission or two and I'll hit the cap."
Jerome nodded. "Same. I've been doing calibration runs at night to make the process smoother. Jannet said once I reach 90%, she'll submit me for tactical independence trials."
Emi looked to Seyfe, her silver hair catching the evening light like strands of liquid steel. "And you?"
Seyfe's answer took a few seconds.
"My core…" he said slowly, "doesn't seem to regulate like it should. Ever since the stabilization, it's like it's there, but… not syncing right."
"You mean it's stalled?" Emi asked, frowning.
"No," Seyfe replied, eyes fixed ahead. "It's active. But it's like it's waiting for something. Or… refusing something."
Saline looked at him. "That's… ominous."
Jerome glanced between them. "Could be residual strain from that echoform, right? They said your readings were all over the place."
Seyfe gave a dry chuckle. "Well, that thing did try to rewrite me like a corrupted file."
Emi folded her arms, studying him. "If it's unstable, they should've flagged you for additional containment."
"They did," Seyfe said. "I left the next morning."
Saline muttered, "Like a genius."
"I didn't feel dangerous," he added, half to himself. "Just… different."
Jerome's brows furrowed. "Still. Keep that monitored. We've seen what unregulated cores can do to Veilers."
Emi didn't reply right away, but her expression didn't waver. Just as sharp, just as careful.
"Different isn't always a bad thing," she finally said.
The soft hum of holo-screens echoed across the curved room, red-tinged light washing over the command table as Aki reviewed the latest surveillance logs. Her red eyes remained unblinking, scanning line after line of anomaly fluctuations across the global rift grid.
A subtle chime broke the silence.
"Incoming priority communication from Asher Squadron," the AI voice announced.
Aki straightened in her seat. "Patch it through."
The center console flickered to life. On screen, a young officer appeared—ashen-faced and clearly strained. Static crackled briefly before the audio stabilized.
"This is Officer Lu Shen of Asher Squadron, operating under Handler Hansel Fel." The officer's voice shook, not from fear—but pressure. "We're requesting immediate Veiler Command assistance."
Aki's brows narrowed. "State your situation."
"Our deployed unit—Team Delta-7—was investigating a Grade B rift in the Eastern Asia quadrants. Coordinates locked at Sector 4R-N, near the old Sichuan ruins. All three Veilers have ceased communication."
"When was last contact?"
"Five hours ago. Their last logs indicated rapid phase destabilization and auditory interference—possibly early signs of broken layer intrusion. We initiated extraction protocol, but the rift's surface layer began fluctuating… and then sealed."
Aki leaned back slightly, processing the report with a sharp stillness.
"Is the rift stable now?"
"No, Ma'am. It's… mutating. The outer runic pattern shifted twice in the last hour. We believe it's artificially altered."
Her fingers drummed once on the glass.
"I'll issue a silent alert to all squadron handlers. Mark the zone as a red layer threat until further notice. You're to remain stationed outside the rift and monitor pulse activity. Do not engage unless fired upon."
"Yes, Ma'am."
The officer saluted sharply before the transmission ended.
Aki stood slowly, turning to the larger world map projection behind her. A fresh flare blinked on the Asia region—sharp and unnatural. Her red eyes narrowed further.
"Another echoform? Or something else…"
She turned toward the hallway with purpose, already preparing deployment contingencies.
"Get me Jerome, Saline, Emi—and Seyfe.....also Ferez"
Aki's boots echoed as she strode through the wide hallways with command urgency. Every technician and operative along the corridor stood a bit straighter as she passed. Her crimson eyes glowed faintly beneath the flickering lights—focused, sharp, unreadable.
Outside the central operations room, five names were already blinking on the holographic panel. One by one, they entered.
Seyfe came in last, his posture relaxed, but eyes alert. Saline followed beside him, arms casually crossed. Jerome had a quiet focus to him as he pulled the hood off his squad jacket. Emi trailed behind—smaller, silver-haired, but clearly just as alert. Ferez, towering and shadow-like as always, leaned against the wall with arms folded.
"You didn't call us just for greetings, did you?" Ferez muttered.
"No," Aki replied crisply, her tone not unkind, but laden with the weight of urgency. The room dimmed slightly as the map of Eastern Asia flared to life behind her.
"Three Veilers from Asher Squadron—Delta-7 Unit—have been declared missing within a rift zone near the Sichuan ruins. The last contact indicates sudden rift pattern mutation. Possibly echoform interference. Possibly worse."
Jerome stepped forward slightly. "What's our role?"
Aki turned to face them fully.
"You'll deploy under the Overseer tag—Observation and Extraction. No heroics. This rift has undergone two runic shifts in the last hour. We don't know if the lost squad is even alive. Your first objective is to locate the lost Veilers. If retrieval is impossible, confirm status and return immediately."
Seyfe raised an eyebrow. "And if it's another sovereign-type anomaly?"
"Then you survive. Report. And run."
Emi nodded once, her silver hair catching the map's glow. "When do we leave?"
"Four hours. Gear up, check your cores, and I'll have you transported via Rift Channel 09."
She paused, eyes lingering for a beat on Seyfe.
"…Especially you. I don't want another 72 hours of radio silence."
Seyfe gave a slight smirk. "No promises."
Aki gave no reply, but there was a flicker—only a flicker—of something like concern in her eyes as she turned back toward the map.
"Dismissed. Be ready."
The sound of boots against the metallic floor echoed with urgency. Seyfe adjusted the silver-lined gloves on his hands, eyes narrowing as the Rift Channel 09 gate began to pulse with energy. Saline was checking her gear beside him. Jerome stood quietly, reading the rift structure updates on his holo-tab. Emi, crouched, laced her boots tighter with the efficiency of a veteran. Ferez leaned silently against the wall, gaze unreadable.
Just as the final calibration was about to complete—
BEEP—BEEP—BEEP.
The HQ intercom flared to life in rapid succession.
"Urgent: Incoming high-priority signal from Kemika Squadron—Unit 12-A reporting active combat scenario near the South Siberian Divide."
Then another, louder, overlapping—
"Emergency: Foxtail Squadron—Unit 19-C has gone dark within a classified rift anomaly off the coast of the Mediterranean. Last transmission recorded unstable dimensional layering."
Inside the control booth, red lights flared like blinking veins across the rift room.
Aki was already on comms.
"Patch them through—now!"
Two holographic panels formed mid-air, showing flickering video feeds. On the left, a bleeding Veiler was panting into the screen, acid burns coating one side of his armor. "They're—they're splitting. Echoforms aren't acting like normal. They're... coordinated—!" The feed cut out in static.
On the right panel, a distorted scream echoed through before an unreadable sigil of twisted runes pulsed across the image.
"Corruption... of the Rift structure confirmed," one of the analysts muttered under their breath.
Saline muttered low. "This... isn't isolated."
Jerome looked at Aki. "You said 'no heroics.' What about when every front becomes a new disaster?"
Aki's face was tense, her crimson eyes scanning the panels. "We're past scouting. This is turning into a chain-reactive breakdown."
Ferez exhaled slowly. "So, this is it. The beginning."
Aki turned to the team.
"You're not going in alone anymore."
She tapped the panel on her forearm, rerouting protocol access.
"I'm assembling a multi-squad response under the Overseer banner. All rift-prioritized Veilers with operational capacity are to reroute to the Asia Rift immediately. That includes any Veilers still in cooldown."
She glanced to Seyfe again.
"This isn't reconnaissance anymore. It's containment."
The Rift Channel 09 behind them pulsed harder—like it, too, was waiting.