Echoes of the Nexus

Elias's mind was no longer his own.

He was falling—not through space, not through time, but through something deeper. His consciousness unraveled, stretched thin across an expanse so vast it defied comprehension. He was everywhere and nowhere all at once.

And in that abyss, he saw them.

The Forgotten.

They weren't just creatures. They weren't invaders or ghosts of a long-dead war. They were something else entirely.

They had existed before.

Before humanity. Before the first stars ignited. Before time itself was measured. They were the architects of entropy, the echoes of a reality before this one—a civilization that had once ruled the infinite void.

And then, something had erased them.

Something stronger.

The Nexus had not been a prison for them. It had been a weapon—the last desperate act of those who had fought against them. A seal meant to bury their existence forever.

Until now.

Elias felt their hunger, their longing to return, to reclaim the universe that had been stolen from them. And in that moment, he understood.

The Nexus was failing.

And he was the reason why.

---

A voice shattered through his mind.

"Elias! Wake up!"

A jolt of pain snapped him back to reality. His vision returned in a dizzying blur of metal and flickering lights. The observation chamber was in chaos—alarms screaming, Roarke coughing as he pushed himself upright, Sienna kneeling beside Elias, her hand gripping his arm.

The entity stood motionless before them. But something had changed. The violet light within its form was fracturing, as if it was struggling to hold itself together in this reality.

Elias gasped for air, his mind still reeling. "They were… erased. But now they're coming back."

Sienna's eyes were wide with horror. "How? Why you?"

Elias clenched his jaw. "Because I saw them."

The entity's mask twitched, its head tilting as if amused. "You are more than an observer. You are a beacon. And the gate is now ajar."

A deep vibration resonated through the station, shaking the floors. Outside the observation window, the anomaly above the Eclipse began to expand—no longer just a ripple, but an open wound in space.

Through it, shadows writhed.

They were coming.

Roarke forced himself to stand, his weapon still trained on the entity. "Whatever the hell you are, you're not leaving this station."

The entity laughed—not a sound, but a rippling distortion that sent a shudder through Elias's bones.

"You misunderstand. We are already here."

The lights died.

For a split second, absolute darkness swallowed the room.

And then, something moved in the shadows.

Not just the entity.

Something else.

Something much, much bigger.

Elias's blood ran cold.

The seal hadn't just weakened.

It had been broken.

And humanity had no idea what was about to arrive.