Silence lingered in the aftermath of war—not the silence of peace, but of something deeper. Heavier.
A breath held by the stars themselves.
Kairos Vant stood alone in the Market Engine vault beneath Starwell, his mind fused—forever tethered—to the Nexus Core. He no longer needed terminals or code. The very air whispered trade values. The walls pulsed in ledger sync. Even thoughts… had margins.
He had become the Merchant Sovereign, yes.
But the Engine had only whispered half its truth.
The other half had yet to awaken.
And it was older than the Sovereigns.
The Whisper from Beyond
[Incoming Signal Detected]Source: Unregistered Coordinate Layer 000-αClassification: PRE-SOVEREIGN TRADE PROTOCOLAuthentication: VerifiedStatus: Dormant 108,471 Galactic CyclesMessage: "We remember."
The words echoed not through comms—but through existence. Kairos's perception fractured, his consciousness suspended in a datastream laced with history and myth.
He saw flashes:
