The morning sun hovered low on the horizon, its sickly orange glow fractured by drifting ash. In the half-ruined city of Neo-Gaia, every street corner told a story of collapse: flickering holo-signs sputtering blue neon into the gray air, cracked pavement splitting like a dying animal's jaw, and distant sirens wailing through ragged clouds. Aryan watched it all through the window of his family's makeshift shelter—a cramped, termite‑eaten prefab unit that his father had jury‑rigged to power its lights from a collapsing fusion core.

"Finish packing," his mother, Dr. Sana, called from the next room. Her voice was calm but strained, as if she were speaking through water. She was already dressed in her field medic's coat, pockets bulging with vials and scanners. "We leave in ten."

Aryan exhaled a long, slow breath and turned back to his small desk. Scattered across its surface lay his cherished notebooks—filled with half‑drawn sigils he'd never seen before, symbols that haunted his dreams. He shoved them into his pack, mindful of the crumpling paper. He paused over the last page, where a single, perfectly rendered echo‑symbol glowed faintly under his fingertip. A chill ran down his spine.

His father, Idris, emerged from the living area, clutching a battered satchel of survival rations. He was lean, with eyes like faded steel, and every line in his weather‑beaten face spoke of long nights spent tinkering with forbidden tech. Without looking at Aryan, he said, "You sure you've got everything? The locator beacon is in your jacket pocket."

Aryan nodded. The beacon—a small crystalline orb—flickered once, indicating it was linked to his brother's signal somewhere far ahead on the supply convoy. Rayyan was already at the Shield Academy's secondary camp, training with recruits to defend the last safe corridors against rogue AI patrols.

A low rumble shook the shelter. Outside, the ground fractured—a tremor rippling through the city like a wounded heartbeat. Aryan stumbled, bracing himself on the desk. His mother's voice rose an octave.

"Now!"

They slipped out the door and into the alley. Above them, the sky buckled, currents of electric storm clouds roiling in violet arcs. The city's lattice of drones overhead blinked and crashed into each other, plummeting like metal rain.

Aryan's heart pounded as they joined the crowd pouring toward the evacuation train platform—a serpentine line of battered refugees clutching whatever they could carry. His mother took his hand, her grip alarmingly tight.

"Stay close," she whispered. "No distractions."

For a moment, every thought in Aryan's mind crystallized around one fear: the sigil in his notebook. It glowed even brighter in his palm now. He frowned, but the train whistle blew—sharp, insistent—and he let go of the mystery to follow his family through the throng.

They'd gone no more than a hundred paces when Aryan felt it: a flicker at the edge of his vision, like a door opening in mid‑air for the briefest heartbeat. He jerked to a halt.

"Come on!" hissed his father, tugging at his elbow.

Aryan tried to take another step, but something pulled at him—a silent, insistent tug from the alley just beyond the light of the streetlamps. He glanced back: the corridor of burned‑out storefronts and abandoned crates seemed to warp, as if breathing.

His mother paused beside him. Her brow furrowed. "Aryan?"

The pull grew stronger, wrapping around his chest. He dared a glance into the darker alley. There, a door—brass‑bound, ancient—stood uncharacteristically pristine. Its surface was covered in dust, yet the symbol carved into it matched the one in his notebook exactly. It glowed with soft, silver light.

His heart thundered.

Before he could move, his father's hand yanked him forward. "We don't have time!"

But Aryan's feet refused to obey. The world behind him—the collapsing city, the frightened crowd—faded. All he could see was that door. That symbol. A voice whispered in his mind: Come. Choose.

The whistle sounded again, longer this time. His mother's grip loosened as she and his father gestured for him to follow. He hesitated, torn between two worlds: one, the only family he had left, and the other—a silent promise of answers he didn't understand.

And then the tremor deepened, throwing the street into chaos. The ground opened in a crack, swallowing half the crowd. Aryan screamed as he was yanked forward, his notebook torn from his pack and fluttering in the dust. He saw the symbol glow one last time before he was dragged away.

When he opened his eyes, he was alone. The roar of the city had vanished. Instead, shut‑eye darkness pressed against him like a tomb. He sat up slowly, chest heaving. The air smelled of old parchment and something faintly metallic.

A single lantern flickered at the far end of the room, revealing walls lined with impossibly tall shelves—crammed with countless oddities: mechanical clocks that ticked backwards, jars of swirling motes, telescopes that hummed softly. The floor was polished stone, etched with more of the echo‑symbols. He recognized them now as locks, seals—arcane circuitry glowing beneath his feet.

"Welcome, traveler."

The voice came from somewhere above. He looked up to see a figure perched behind a counter: tall, slender, with eyes like coals in a dying fire. The shopkeeper's skin was pale as moonlight, and his fingers ended in thin, delicate points. Around his shoulders hung the skin of some long‑dead beast; across the counter peered three animals—a black cat with gold‑flecked eyes, a white mantis that tapped its claws together, and an owl whose feathers seemed carved from alabaster.

"You are far from home," the shopkeeper said, voice smooth and resonant. "I have been expecting you."

Aryan's mouth went dry. "Where… am I?"

"This is the Archive of Echoes. A crossroads for those who carry the spark of possibility." The shopkeeper slid from behind the counter and closed the distance in three silent strides. "My name is the Archivist. And you—"

He smiled, baring teeth as white as bone. "—have been chosen."

Aryan's mind reeled. "Chosen for what?"

"Four must enter. Three may pass. One will remain." The Archivist gestured to the three animals. The cat purred; the mantis clicked; the owl hooted softly. He snapped his fingers. The lanterns blazed brighter, and in the center of the room a pedestal rose from the floor, bearing four small dice rollers—each carved from obsidian and ivory.

"Come," the Archivist whispered. "Your companions await."

A tunnel of light opened behind Aryan, and a sudden gust of wind carried the faint echo of distant laughter and voices—four silhouettes stepping toward him: a lanky boy with a tactical vest, a girl clutching a battered recorder, and another boy whose eyes flickered with electric arcs.

Aryan swallowed hard. His heart still pounding in rhythm with the echo‑symbols underfoot, he took a trembling step forward. Whatever lay ahead, there would be no turning back.

And somewhere in the back of his mind, that glowing sigil pulsed with promise—and with danger.

End of Chapter 1