Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Reflections of Tomorrow
The chamber beneath the Vault of Echoes was otherworldly—eerily quiet, lit by soft pulses of blue and violet light that shimmered across walls made of smooth, reflective alloy. It was the kind of silence that didn't soothe but suffocated, like being trapped beneath a frozen lake. Every breath Jack took felt heavy, strained by the unseen pressure in the air. The core levitated at the center, its dark crystalline surface glowing with pulsating veins of crimson light, as though it had a heartbeat of its own.
Inside that core was himself.
Or rather… something that looked exactly like him. Every feature, every scar, every detail matched. Yet it wasn't a reflection. It blinked when he didn't. It smirked when he frowned.
> "You've come farther than expected," the voice said, rippling from all around, not from the being within, but from the Vault itself. "But you were always meant to."
Jack tightened his grip on his blade. "You're not me."
The crystal pulsed. The being stepped forward inside it, placing its hand against the inner surface.
> "No. I'm who you could become. The perfect hybrid of man and Mist. They called me Project Reverie. A version of you sculpted to survive."
Jack felt the pull. His Echo stirred violently, resonating in tune with the chamber. Every part of his body ached as if being rewritten at the molecular level.
> "I'm not a project," Jack growled. "I'm a person. A free one."
The figure inside the crystal smiled. "Freedom is an illusion you haven't earned. Not yet."
Suddenly, the core fractured—lines of glowing white racing across its surface. The crystal cracked, splinters of shimmering energy peeling away into the air. The Echo clone stepped out, barefoot, clothed in a uniform of flowing nanoweave tendrils, his eyes shining with silver light.
> "The world above is dying," the clone said. "You've seen it. The First Hosts, the Miststorms, the cities crumbling under their own corruption. They call us monsters. But we're the next step."
> "You sound just like the First Host," Jack replied.
> "I was part of them," the clone admitted. "But I learned. The First Host wants control. I want evolution."
A shockwave surged from the core as the clone raised his hand. Jack was thrown backward into a pillar, gasping for breath. The impact rattled his bones, but he forced himself to stand.
> "You won't take my body," Jack spat.
> "I don't want your body, Jack. I want your mind. The real mind. Not the conflicted, broken one. Merge with me, and we'll become what the world needs. A god of balance."
Jack's Echo screamed now, pulling toward the clone like a magnet. He could feel memories flickering—childhood thoughts, smells from the old resistance camp, the weight of his father's last words.
> "Join with me," the clone said again. "Together, we erase pain, loss, and fear."
> "You erase what makes us human."
Jack hurled a pulse of Echo energy. The floor exploded beneath the clone's feet. But the being phased through it, moving like a shadow.
> "Violence is always your answer," the clone murmured, disappointed. "So be it."
And then the chamber shifted. Walls rearranged. Gravity twisted. The floor became a sphere, and Jack found himself standing inside a mindscape simulation—his own memories used as terrain.
He saw Lena laughing beside a campfire… then screaming, consumed by Mist.
He saw Veyne's blade breaking… his body surrounded.
He saw himself… alone.
> "Do you see? Your fear is endless. Let me take it away."
> "You only show what breaks me. But my pain—my pain made me fight."
Jack extended his arms. His Echo surged brighter than ever before. He stopped resisting its call—not to give in, but to take control.
The clone attacked, launching a barrage of Mist-tendrils at lightning speed. Jack ducked, rolled, redirected, and met the clone in the center of the mindscape with a clash of fists. The two Jacks—light and shadow—merged into a spiral of memory and power.
Every strike between them was layered with thought and emotion. Regret. Hope. Rage. Doubt. And in the end… resolve.
> "You're strong," the clone whispered, gasping, kneeling.
> "Because I fight for them. Not for power. Not for purity. But for people."
Jack pressed his Echo-charged hand to the clone's chest. "You're just an idea. And I've chosen mine."
With a final surge of red light, the clone disintegrated into streams of raw Mist, spiraling upward and vanishing into the ceiling vents. The mindscape collapsed. The real chamber reassembled itself.
The core cracked completely—and then exploded in a burst of silent light.
Above, Lena and Veyne felt the shift. The creatures in the Vault collapsed. The consoles died. The lights dimmed.
And Jack stood in silence, breathing heavily, staring into the void where the crystal once floated.
The Vault of Echoes… was no more.