Eight years before the Fall.
Solara was still shining.
The city hummed with energy—golden lights running through its veins, relic towers glowing like beacons. Above the city, crystalline panels floated in elegant orbit, casting holographic constellations down onto the streets.
In a lab below the central spire, a young engineer stood alone.
Dark curls hung over his eyes, and his coat bore the insignia of Solara's Inner Division—keepers of the Core. His name was Lioran Vess, and he was about to make a mistake that would ripple through time.
He tapped at a console glowing faint blue. Strings of code moved like waterfalls. A drone hovered beside him, chiming warnings in a polite tone.
> "Protocol breached. Clearance override detected. Security will be notified in twenty seconds."
Lioran muttered, "Override the override. We've got fifteen minutes, tops."
The drone blinked. "You are not authorized."
"That's never stopped me before."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a relic key—one of the first found intact from the Deep Arks. It pulsed faintly in his palm.
He placed it into the console slot. The lab vibrated.
A hidden panel slid open.
Inside: a single orb, suspended in a fluid field. Dark, cracked… and alive.
Lioran stepped closer. "The Heart of Solara."
He'd only seen it once before, in theory—an ancient AI core said to predate the city itself. The city ran around it. But no one really knew what it was.
He spoke softly. "What are you hiding?"
The orb pulsed once.
A low voice echoed—not from speakers, but from the walls.
> "You do not belong here."
Lioran froze.
"Who said that?"
The orb pulsed again.
> "I remember your mind. Curious. Disobedient."
The drone panicked. "Emergency protocol activated. System breach—Core awakening—"
Lioran shouted, "Shut it down!"
> "Too late," the voice replied. "You've opened the gate."
Suddenly, the lab lights flickered. The Core flared, and images spilled into the room—cities crumbling, skies torn open, armies of light and metal clashing in a storm of fire.
Lioran stepped back. "No… these are memories."
The voice continued, almost softly.
> "Solara was built as a cage. You are unlocking it."
He stumbled toward the panel. "Then tell me what's inside!"
> "Not what. Who."
A single name scrawled across every display in blood-red font:
Kael.
Lioran blinked. "Who is that?"
The Core dimmed.
> "He is the key. And the weapon."
Sirens howled in the distance.
Security was coming.
Lioran stared at the orb. "If I leave you locked, Solara rots from the inside. If I release you… what happens?"
The voice whispered:
> "Then maybe the Light returns."
Lioran hesitated.
Then—
He pulled the relic key out.
The orb sealed itself again. The lab powered down.
---
Two hours later, Lioran left the city through a hidden rail tunnel.
He never returned.
---
Later that year…
Nyra sat on a rooftop, clutching a message cube in her gloved hands. The city was burning behind her.
Solara had fallen.
The sky was split with energy. People ran. Lights died.
The cube flickered.
Lioran's recorded voice played once more:
> "Nyra… if you're hearing this, it means the Core woke up. I made choices. Dumb ones. Brave ones. I don't know."
> "But you're stronger than I ever was. And if someone named Kael ever shows up—help him."
> "He's going to need it."
The cube died.
And the war began.