Chapter 0: Echoes of a Broken World
> “They said the planet we once lived on died long ago… but even now, it still screams beneath our feet.”
Black.
No light. No sound. Just silence.
Then, deep beneath that silence — a strange hum. Like something old, something broken, still trying to speak.
A voice begins to whisper. Soft. Calm. But full of static — like it’s coming from a damaged machine.
> VOICE LOG 1:
“The core exploded seventeen seconds before everything changed.
Their reality twisted. Time broke.
We couldn't stop it.
We were too late.
We are always too late.”
---
They said Earth — or Eden, or whatever it used to be called — was dead.
Long gone.
But that wasn’t true.
Beneath the steel cities and the tall towers we’ve rebuilt…
Beneath the bunkers, training zones, and command halls…
Underneath it all — the planet still breathes.
And it screams.
Every Rift we try to close…
Every battle we fight…
Every inch we reclaim…
It’s built on the corpse of a dying world.
And that corpse?
It never sleeps.
---
EXCERPT: RIFT WAR DOSSIER // CLASSIFIED LEVEL OMEGA
> Subject: Temporal Cascade Failure
Project: Echofall
> The incident at [REDACTED] led to the collapse of all seven known dimensions inside Zone Theta.
> Survivors said they saw… themselves.
> Not shadows. Not illusions.
Real versions of who they could have been. Or should never have become.
> Reality wasn't meant to twist like this.
And now… it’s falling in on itself.
> Estimated deaths: Uncountable.
Estimated timeline stability: Unknown.
---
Somewhere, under a broken sky filled with flickering light and cracked moons…
A boy stands alone.
His name is Aarav.
But not here.
Not yet.
This version of him doesn’t know who he really is.
Not the name.
Not the past.
Not the power that sleeps inside him.
But deep in his dreams — something wakes.
He sees a blade glowing in his hand. It hums like it knows him.
He hears a woman’s voice. Gentle. Kind. Familiar.
> “My son…”
He falls. Again. And again.
Into fire. Into darkness. Into a world that keeps breaking around him.
But the voice keeps calling.
---
FIELD LOG 37-B | Observer Unit: Mira Veil | AGE: 19
> “They said my father went into the Deep Rift Zone… and never returned.
They said it was an honorable mission.
But they lied.
He found something.
Something they don’t want us to know.
I still have the blade he left me.
And it hums — just like the Rift — when I go near the wrong places.”
Mira is no ordinary cadet.
She’s faster than most.
Smarter than most.
Stronger than most.
But she hides her pain.
She hides the truth.
---
They say heroes are forged in fire.
That’s a lie.
Real heroes?
They rot in silence.
Alone.
Buried under ash and forgotten timelines.
---
YEAR 7 AR (AFTER RIFT)
It had been seven years since the first Rift tore open the skies.
Seven years of war, loss, and fear.
People needed something to believe in.
So, they built a Ranking System.
Not for honor.
Not for truth.
But to delay the fear growing inside everyone.
A simple order:
Commander
General
Captain
Vice-Captain
Cadet
These ranks became everything.
If you had a rank, people listened.
If you didn’t — you were nothing.
But deep down, everyone knew the truth:
The chaos couldn’t be controlled.
Even the strongest — the Captain people whispered about — couldn’t stop it.
He was only delaying the end.
---
> AUDIO EXCERPT: UNSTABLE RECORDING // UNKNOWN SOURCE
> “Reyan… if you're hearing this… stay away from the Core Zone.”
> “They’re using us. We thought they were testing weapons.
But it’s deeper than that. It’s loops. Timelines repeating. Again and again.”
> “We were never meant to win.”
> “But he… he breaks the loop.”
> “Aarav is the key. Just like last time…”
---
In a distant corner of the world, a child hums.
It’s a soft tune. Like an old lullaby.
A melody no one remembers.
A song from a time no longer real.
He’s alone.
His brother is gone.
Or maybe he never existed at all.
His name was Kairav, or something close.
People say he had eyes full of light.
He was always smiling.
Always dreaming.
Now?
Now they say he’s the storm.
The storm that devours entire worlds.
---
There are no gods here.
Only echoes.
And the Rift?
It’s the wound that was never stitched.
---
CLASSIFIED RIFT CORE BLACK BOX – UNKNOWN TRANSMISSION – TIME STAMP: 00:00:01
> “This isn't the first time.”
> “Timelines… they always eat themselves. Loop after loop.”
> “But this one is different.”
> “He remembers.”
> “And that changes everything.”
---
Then:
A heartbeat.
One, loud, lonely beat.
Followed by a scream.
Not of pain. Not of fear.
A scream that remembers.
Then — silence.
And in that silence… a new world waits.
A world full of broken time, shattered souls, and war without end.
This is not a story about saving the world.
This is a story about remembering it.
Before it forgets us all.
[END OF CHAPTER 0]
