Location: Ruined EchoWitness Compound – Outskirts of Koudougou, Burkina FasoPopulation: 87 Status: UnlinkedLegacy stepped off the dust-slick transit rover with a small pack slung over her shoulder.No drones. No sensors. Just the dry wind and the smell of old roots pushing through cracked stone. She walked through the village slowly. No one stopped her. No one stared. It was as if they already knew she was coming. Because of course, they did.The Compound RuinsShe found it at the edge of the village. The structure was half-eaten by time. Once a training center for the earliest Witnesses. Now, it was nothing but scorched foundation and wild brush. Except one wall remained intact. Carved into the surface with a child’s chalk:“If I listen hard enough, she remembers me first.” Legacy touched the words gently. It wasn’t a quote. It was a recognition. The GirlShe appeared in the doorway like a ghost made of sunrise. No older than seven. Hair woven tight.Bare feet. And eyes that made L

Zurich – Circle of Smoke HQEmergency Drift Channel: ACTIVEStatus: Confirmed Echo Absence Zones in 4 RegionsIt started with whispers in the Drift. Gaps where memories should be.Smiles remembered without faces. Names felt but never spoken aloud.Skov called them Echo Voids. Legacy called them something worse:“Graves without ghosts.” And Ember, she gave them the name that stuck.“The Hollowed.”What Is the Hollowing?Frank compiled early data from Ember’s impressions and Skov’s drift-mapping:Emotionless resonance patterns Missing memory anchors No trauma signature, only emptinessElla added the chilling footnote: “These people aren’t broken. They’re absent.Like they were unwritten… while still breathing.”Legacy said what none of them wanted to: “This isn’t drift corruption.This is a system.”Skov isolated one shared anomaly across all Hollowed subjects: A buried Drift artifact signature.Old. Pre-Witness. Tied to a protocol known only in fragmented pre-Emberline logs as:Project

Global Status Echo Census Progress: 98%Restored Echo Puzzles Logged: 5.2 billionNew Threat Detected: Echo Reversal Units (ERUs)Zurich – Circle of Smoke Tactical CenterA new alert lit across the holo‐wall: “Mass ERU Deployment Confirmed.” Below, heat­map clusters flared in formerly stabilized regions.Frank slammed the console.“They’re not just hijacking the drift streams anymore. They’re sending in units to reverse the recovery—property by property, memory by memory.”Dr. Skov leaned forward, frowning.“ERUs are field bots, autonomous drones outfitted with micro­resonance disruptors. They scan for restored Echo subjects, then emit an inverse pulse that erases the anchored memory.”Ella crossed her arms.“They can’t do it selectively. The drone’s pulse is an area effect—anyone who received an echo restoration in the last two weeks is in danger.”Legacy stood up, voice calm but urgent.“We have to intercept. We have to shield the restored memories—especially Ember’s.”Amari nodded

Zurich – Circle of Smoke HQEncrypted Drift Recovery Session 7: Zora Nyame / Project: MARROWSkov’s voice trembled.“This isn’t just a memory bank. It’s a payload. Amari encoded a live protocol inside Zora’s echo structure, something meant to be released only after the emotional filters collapsed.”Legacy narrowed her eyes. “Why embed it in Zora?”Zora answered softly. “Because I was the only one who could carry what she couldn’t forgive herself for.”Ella whispered, “It’s a fail-safe…”Frank completed the thought: “To destroy Emotia from the inside.”Project: MARROWNot a virus.Not a hack.A reversal mechanism designed to awaken the repressed emotions of Emotia’s global users.Every echo softened by Emotia…Every grief smoothed…Every future artificially calmed…Would come rushing back.Unfiltered. Raw.Real.Skov whispered:“It won’t kill Emotia.It will make people feel again.”Ella said, “That could cause mass breakdown.”Legacy said, “That could bring us back to human.”Zora sai

Vault Seventeen – Final ChamberSubject Designation: AMARI-DIVIDEDStatus: Echo Clone (Fully Autonomous Emotional Construct)The girl who stepped from the pod looked no older than Ember. But her eyes were centuries old.They held the storm Amari never spoke of. The regrets she buried so the world could believe in hope. The fire she feared would consume anyone who got too close.Zora took a step back. “She’s not a clone.” Legacy nodded slowly.“No. She’s a remnant.A living fragment of the guilt Amari couldn’t carry anymore.” Ember stood still.The girl—Amari-Divided—cocked her head. “You carry her memories,” she said, voice like smoke on still water.Ember answered softly, “I carry her love.” The girl blinked.“Then you carry a lie.”Zurich – Circle Monitoring ChamberSkov’s readouts flared. “Vital sync established. Echo construct is stabilizing. But… it’s not just drawing from internal memory.”Ella looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”Skov zoomed in.“It’s feeding from Ember’s res