The laboratory was silent after the revelation.
The words still hung in the air.
The stones inside Tricrypt… aren't real.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Erickson stared down at the faint glow beneath the armor plates of Tricrypt. If the stones embedded inside the suit were only echoes, reflections, placeholders—then the real stones were somewhere else.
And someone already had them.
Dr. Dr. Elena Maria Voss was about to speak again when the alarms exploded to life.
Red light flooded the laboratory.
Nyra Calder spun toward the main console.
"External breach!"
Alex Vale's head snapped toward the reinforced entrance.
"From where?"
The answer came violently.
The laboratory doors didn't open.
They disintegrated.
Metal shattered inward like shattered glass as a blast of kinetic force ripped through the chamber.
Researchers dove for cover.
Energy shields flickered on instinctively across the room.
Through the smoke stepped a single figure.
Julia.
Julia stood in the doorway, her eyes burning with cold determination.
Her arrival was not cautious.
It was a storm.
"Where is he?" she demanded.
The room tensed instantly.
Alex stepped forward.
"Easy."
Julia's gaze snapped to him.
"You took him."
Her hands ignited with unstable energy—power vibrating violently through the air.
"You think I wasn't going to come get him?"
Before anyone could respond—
She moved.
The attack came faster than most of the Assembly fighters could track.
A shockwave erupted as Julia slammed into the chamber, energy bursts exploding against the defense shields.
Consoles shattered.
Energy monitors burst into sparks.
Alex launched forward to intercept her, but Julia twisted mid-motion and drove him back with a violent blast of force that sent him sliding across the floor.
"Julia!" Erickson shouted.
But she was already attacking again.
Her power surged wildly, uncontrolled but terrifyingly strong.
Two Assembly security fighters rushed toward her.
Julia knocked the first one unconscious before he even touched the ground.
The second raised an energy barrier.
It lasted less than a second.
The lab erupted into chaos.
"Contain her!" Nyra shouted.
But the containment systems never activated.
Because something else had just happened.
Inside the chamber's holding field, another figure moved.
The man they had been restraining.
Ericen slowly lifted his head.
The chaos had disrupted the suppression field.
The restraints flickered.
Then failed.
Ericen stood.
He moved calmly through the collapsing laboratory, ignoring the fighting around him.
His armor components—confiscated earlier—sat on a nearby platform.
One by one they lifted from the surface.
Magnetic locks snapped into place across his body.
Armor plates formed around him with mechanical precision.
Alex saw it happening first.
"Great," he muttered.
Ericen's helmet sealed.
He looked up.
Then he launched himself into the fight.
The impact of his landing cracked the floor.
Energy blasts erupted from his armor as he pushed the Assembly fighters back, clearing space around Julia.
For a moment the entire room looked like it was about to become a battlefield.
Then something unexpected happened.
Julia stopped.
Her gaze locked onto Erickson.
Only now did she really see him.
Alive.
Standing in the middle of the room.
Not restrained.
Not injured.
Just… there.
The anger in her expression faltered.
"...Erickson?"
He stepped forward slowly.
"I'm fine."
Julia looked around the room.
The Assembly fighters.
Alex.
Voss.
Nyra.
Then she lowered her hands slightly.
"You kidnapped him," she said quietly.
Alex brushed dust off his jacket.
"Technically."
Nyra rolled her eyes.
"We detained him."
Julia's gaze sharpened again.
"That's the same thing."
Ericen stepped beside her, armor humming with active power.
"We came to take him back."
The room held its breath.
Then Dr. Voss spoke calmly.
"You're misunderstanding the situation."
Julia looked at her sharply.
"Explain."
Voss gestured toward the broken consoles and the data projections still flickering across the air.
"The stones inside Tricrypt are not real."
Julia blinked.
"…what?"
Nyra continued.
"They're echoes. Resonance placeholders."
Ericen lowered his weapon slightly.
"And the real ones?"
Alex answered.
"Ericsson has them."
Silence fell across the room.
Julia slowly turned back toward Erickson.
"What does that mean?"
Erickson exhaled slowly.
"It means the fight we thought we were having…"
He glanced around the damaged laboratory.
"…is the wrong one."
Ericen looked at the Assembly members.
"You're saying you're not the enemy."
Alex shrugged.
"Not today."
Julia studied the room carefully.
Every instinct in her body had told her to break in and take Erickson away.
But the data floating across the shattered screens told a different story.
Something much larger was moving.
Finally Ericen removed his helmet.
He looked at Alex.
"You want Ericsson stopped?"
Alex nodded.
"Yes."
Ericen extended his hand.
The room tensed again.
For a moment no one moved.
Then Alex stepped forward and shook it.
The alliance formed in silence.
Across the broken laboratory, Erickson stood inside Tricrypt.
For the first time since arriving at the Assembly, the battle lines had changed.
Because now everyone in the room understood the truth.
They weren't fighting each other anymore.
They were preparing for Ericsson.