Ascension Protocol: Rouge System

It wasn't lost on Keiran that he walked eerily silent streets with Lira, the chill of the eastern quadrant air clinging to skin warm from exertion with Maric. Everything was unnaturally still after the witch had gone through, the world seeming to hold a deep and expectant breath in her wake as Keiran and Lira tread cautiously, Keiran's head turning over his shoulder every third step or so in stops-and-starts. Even the soft crunch of their boots on frost-covered stones was too loud in the oppressive quiet.

"I don't believe it," Lira muttered, the only sound. She clutched her arms, wrapping them as close around her body as possible, for warmth or reassurance. "A witch. A real, actual witch."

Keiran nodded, his mind too caught up to answer right away. The words of the Nigerian witch, Ada, still rang in his ears: "She plans to kill you." That thought, along with what was left of the soul connection he had with Abeni, kept gnawing at him.

"She saved us," Keiran said finally, his voice low. "But that kind of power. it's dangerous.

Lira stopped and turned to him, her brows furrowed. "Dangerous? Keiran, she froze an entire quadrant and stopped that scholar in her tracks. If it weren't for her, we'd be dead."

Kier sidled along, readjusting the satchel on his shoulder. The faint glow of the Orb of Resonance that seeped through was like a thin haze and reminded him far more than he liked that the artifact was not one bit harmless. "Yeah. I know. But, um, what now? What do we even with this thing?"

The chilling mechanical voice of the system intervened.

[Orb of Resonance seeks balance. Turmoil within bearer instigates movement. Prolonged proximity will continue to destabilize emotions.]

Keiran stopped, rubbing his temples. "Great. Now it's telling me this thing is screwing with my emotions."

Lira groaned. "I knew it. That stupid orb is going to drive you insane before we figure out how to use it."

"Not helping," Keiran muttered.

They walked in silence, tension almost palpable, until frozen ground gave way to warmer, untouched streets at the outskirts of the quadrant. Keiran's mind was awhirl with possibilities: if the scholar had really intended to kill him, what other dangers awaited them?

The little room was in a dim light; filtered light came through the high narrow slit of a window. Now cross-legged, Ada seemed fragile; her commanding presence diffused by exhaustion. Keiran and Lira entered warily, unsure quite how to approach her.

"Are you all right?" Lira asked to break the silence.

Ada lifted her head, and there was the flicker of dry humour in her dark eyes. "I should ask you the same. You two faced the scholar's treachery, not me."

Keiran went a step forward, his face serious. "You told me that she'd kill me. Why?

Ada let out a deep sigh and nodded toward the little window. "The scholar is not what she seems. The real nature she conceals, and her ambition far exceeds in durability any brake to stop her conscience. The artifact that you are with now, the Orb of Resonance, it has endless power. For her, it is worth more than your life.

Keiran's jaw clenched. "And you? What's your angle in all this?"

Ada returned the regard with equanimity. "I am no friend to the scholar. She kept me as her prisoner, used me for my knowledge and power. Helping you was as much about my survival as yours."

Lira crossed her arms over her chest. "So, you don't care about us. Just yourself.

Ada leaned her head to one side, her face unreadable. "Survival makes for strange allies. But let me assure you, your life-and the life of this planet-is hanging by a thread. If you do not learn to wield the Orb, someone else will. And their intentions may not align with yours."

Keiran frowned, her words weighing heavy upon him. "You said something earlier about visions. What precisely did you see?"

Ada's eyes clouded. "I saw death. I saw destruction-a being consumed by the will of the Orb, using the power to bend reality. And I saw you, Keiran. But it was not clear whether you were savior or destroyer.

The large, main meeting room in the middle of the base was the next destination after their conversation. Jessica paced across it. "So first we have a witch and a deadly artifact. To top that, now it seems we also have an insane scholar trying to kill us. Great, this just makes for one successful mission.".

Keiran leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "We can't just ignore Ada's warning. If the scholar's still out there, she's not going to stop until she gets the Orb."

Jessica stopped pacing and turned to him. "And what do you propose? Hand it over to someone else? Destroy it? We don't even know what this thing is fully capable of."

That's just the problem," Keiran said, his voice rising. "We don't know anything about it. All we have are some cryptic messages from the system and Abeni's visions."

Lira chimed in, an edge to her tone. "We need answers, real answers, not some guesses or half-truths.

Jessica huffed loudly, running her hand through her hair. "Great. But for us to decode this puzzle, we're going to have to step with politeness. We absolutely don't need another incident of the scale that happened within the Eastern Quadrant."

Keiran looked into the satchel that lay on the table before him; the Orb shimmered inside, an active, glowing pulse, as if it lived, too. "Agreed," he replied, "but where in the world is a beginning?

That night, Keiran sat alone in his quarters, the Orb of Resonance resting on the table before him. Its glow bathed the room in an eerie, shifting light. He stared at it, his thoughts a whirlwind of doubt and determination.

The silence was finally broken by the voice of the system.

[The Orb of Resonance is attuned to its owner. The key to unleashing its true power: find your inner harmony.]

Keiran frowned. "Harmony? What's that supposed to mean?"

The state of the Orb reflects that of its wearer's soul. Instability shall follow emotional dissonance. The key is balance.

Keiran leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. "Great. So now I have to fix my soul, too?"

He thought of Ella, lying in the infirmary and getting worse by the day; Lira, Jessica, and now Ada-all were dependent upon his clarity of judgment. It pressed upon him like an entire mountain-the glow of the Orb pressing in, as if it too sensed his disturbance.

"Balance," he muttered. "Easier said than done."

The next morning, Jessica had called a meeting. "We have to decide our next move. Ada's warning cannot be ignored, but neither can we just sit around waiting for the scholar's next move."

Keiran nodded. "Ada did mention someone, an elder, who might know more about the Orb. It is a risk, but it is our best lead."

Lira frowned. "Another dangerous journey. Fantastic.

Jessica crossed her arms. "We really don't have an option. If this can make us understand the Orb more, then so be it-the risk is worth taking. I mean, after all"

Keiran looked across to Ads, who was mute in the corner of the room. "Will you come along?

Ada nodded a little reluctantly. "I will. But let me tell you this: the path ahead shall not be easy. The elder you seek is guarded by forces far greater than you have faced before."

Keiran's grip closed harder on the satchel. "We'll get there. We have to.