The Vanguard Core's Reckoning
The low hum in the Vanguard Core chamber intensified, a sound that resonated not just in the air but in the very essence of Kieran and Lyra. The green, bio-metallic tendrils binding Rhys pulsed with a sickly light, their rhythm an accelerating heartbeat of corruption. On the massive, holographic projection, Dr. Aris Thorne's face remained impassive, his cold, intelligent eyes a mirror of his ruthless, methodical mind. A digital timer appeared on the screen, its digits ticking down with unnerving precision. Ten minutes.
"You are a predictable variable, Unifier," Aris's voice was a flat, dispassionate drone. "You came here to save your friend, your last remaining link to a sentimental, primitive past. A fatal weakness. The Vanguard Core is a living weapon, a
