Chapter Four: Parallel Pulse
Part Four
Date: Maelis 26, Year 204 PCR
Location: Staccato Stronghold – Outer Field Sector Delta
Time: Late afternoon, Veil pressure rising
Torr Varnell hadn't moved since the last drill ended.
The rest of the squad had already split into cool-down routines—Kellian reviewing terrain echo notes, Vessa practicing footwork near the worn edge of the fracture ring, and Rhea… watching him again.
Because he wasn't just holding the scroll.
He was tracing something on it. A mark.
A symbol that none of them remembered seeing before.
A glyph that didn't belong.
"Torr," Mino said flatly from the boundary post. "That isn't part of today's run."
"I didn't draw it," Torr muttered.
He hadn't even looked up.
"We only calibrated for three glyph routes," Kellian called over, not moving from his slate. "There's no fourth anchor on the western shelf."
"There is now."
Rhea moved closer, her boots brushing over the hollow glass grass. The Veil was tense out here—too tense for no active training.
She stared at the scroll.
It was still glowing.
"Let me see it," Vessa said, walking straight up and snatching it from Torr's hand before he could stop her.
"Hey—!"
But she didn't flinch. She held it in front of Mino.
The captain narrowed his eyes.
The glyph pulsed once.
Faint. But wrong.
Too sharp at the corners. Too old. The echo lines were folded—not modern Veil script. Not even Lyceum-grade.
Rhea stepped closer.
"That's not Doctrine calligraphy," she whispered. "That's… that's pre-standard."
"Where'd you find this?" Mino asked without emotion.
Torr shook his head slowly.
"It was in my scroll pack. I didn't open it. I swear—when we got the field orders this morning, it was just there."
The glyph pulsed again.
Once.
Then again.
Twice. This time louder.
Veilfield around the stronghold shimmered. Like something had noticed.
"Drop it," Mino ordered.
"It's not flaring," Vessa argued, though her grip tightened.
"That's not a flare," Kellian said, now at her shoulder. "That's a call."
"To what?"
No one answered.
Then Elric—the Veilbrand courier assigned to recon missions—stepped out of the side corridor carrying a sealed resonance case.
His voice was flat. Dead even.
"Field packet for Unit Staccato. Standard glyph suppression clearance.
Target: Sector 7, Lower Caervale Ridge.
Priority Class: Echo."
Mino took the case.
Opened it.
Inside: the exact same glyph from the scroll. Burned into the pulse map.
Not drawn.
Etched.
"Why are we being sent to the same zone as Echo?" Kellian asked, voice tight.
"Doctrine protocol," Mino said.
But his eyes were already narrowing.
"Or a test."
Rhea's voice was quiet. The wind caught her tone and carried it like a whisper.
"Or a memory they're trying to see if we can survive."
The glyph pulsed again.
And this time, it answered back from somewhere far away.