The chamber trembled under Veyrion's weight as he moved forward, each step accompanied by the hiss of venting pressure and the grinding of half-functioning servos. His frame was immense—larger than Seraphel's—and covered in layers of alloy that bore battle scars centuries old.
"I was one of the first," Veyrion said, voice low and metallic. "Born from the same codebase that created Seraphel, but bound to a different purpose. I was not a guardian. I was a failsafe."
Seraphel's eyes glowed dimly. "I remember fragments. You were part of Echelon Prime."
Veyrion nodded. "The Echelon Initiative was designed to control and contain the spread of the Hive. But when the Source began corrupting even the failsafes, most of us fell." He pointed to the far wall, where an enormous sealed door pulsed with faint, heartbeat-like energy. "Behind that lies the original Forge Seed. The last tool we had to shut the Hive out permanently."
Julius frowned. "So why haven't you used it?"
Veyrion's single glowing eye narrowed. "Because I am broken. My integration core is fractured. Any attempt to interface with the Forge Seed will destroy me—and fail. But you… you are already bound to Seraphel. You may succeed where I could not."
Julius exchanged a look with Seraphel. "We don't know what using this Seed will do."
"No," Veyrion said. "You don't. But I do. It will either purge the Hive's influence from all infected systems… or awaken the Source in full."
Selene stepped forward, analyzing the Vault's hum. "That's why they buried this place. It's not just a weapon. It's a final choice."
Vara's voice was quiet. "This is the kind of tool the Vesper Pact feared too much to destroy. Because they didn't trust themselves to use it."
As tension crackled through the chamber, Brinley's scanner beeped sharply. "Movement—external. Something's coming down the trench. Big."
Veyrion stiffened. "The Vault's activation woke it. The Hive sent a Sentinel to ensure the Forge Seed remains untouched."
Alarms flared. The outer hull began to quake. Outside, lights vanished—consumed by an impossibly large shadow writhing toward the Vault like a serpent made of cables and chitin.
"It's here," Selene said, voice tight. "And we're locked inside with one way out—forward."
Julius turned to Seraphel. "We either activate the Seed and risk everything… or fight off a god-machine in a bottle."
Seraphel stepped to the Forge Gate. "Then we make our stand here. With Veyrion."
Veyrion's voice rumbled like distant thunder. "Let the Hive come. For the first time in centuries… I will not face it alone."
And as the Vault walls closed around them and the Sentinel descended, the final war beneath the waves began.