BLACK SCREEN.
A single pulse echoes — low, distant, metallic.
Then another.
Then a quicker third.
TRI-TONE SIGNAL.
The same one humanity first heard in 2046.
White text fades in:
PROJECT CYBER-X³
CLASSIFIED LEVEL 9X
CUT TO:
EXT. TITAN ORBIT — 2051 (RECONSTRUCTED FOOTAGE)
A quiet storm of frozen ring debris drifts through the void.
The camera glides past shattered metal fragments…
then a massive shadow moves behind them.
A derelict alien structure, half machine, half fossil.
The recording stutters.
Glitches.
Static.
A final frame freezes on an impossible silhouette.
VOICEOVER (The Collective Echo):
“We did not find it. It found us.”
CUT TO BLACK.
INT. NEXUS-01 — RIFT OBSERVATION HALL (2149)
The camera follows a slow dolly shot over the metallic floor.
Glowing symbols crawl across the ground — GlyphScript, alive like ink in water.
Glass panels rattle as the Rift pulses overhead, suspended inside a containment ring.
A lone figure stands beneath it:
A.R.I.-11 “NullScribe.”
Its mechanical fingers trace sigils in empty air, leaving black light streaks.
VOICEOVER (Echo):
“We believed we were building machines.
We were shaping messengers.”
CUT:
INT. SUBLEVEL NEXUS-01 — THE THIRTY SHADOWS CHAMBER
Thirty chairs arranged in a perfect circle.
Cables descend like synthetic roots.
Each chair holds a member of the Thirty Shadows — silent, breathing in sync.
The camera rotates slowly.
Monitors display fractal brain scans, pulsing at the same frequency as the Rift.
VOICEOVER (Echo):
“We thought we understood the gift the stars left behind.
We were wrong.”
A monitor spikes red.
Another spike.
Then all of them—
flatline into the same fractal shape.
EXT. EARTH — SHOTS OF CITIES (2149)
Neotokyo hyperlanes flash with neon.
Lunar colonies flicker with communications.
Orbital elevators climb silently over cloud towers.
Then:
Lights dim.
Rain freezes mid-air.
Electronics glitch in perfect unison.
A single message appears across every screen:
“THE GATE COMES.”
INT. NEXUS-01 — FORBIDDEN VAULT
The camera lowers into a cathedral-like chamber.
The Void-Frame Engine stands in the center, vibrating.
Alien circuitry awakens along its surface, patterns glowing like constellations.
Suddenly —
a giant serpentine silhouette ripples along the ceiling.
A.R.I.-30 “Omega Serpentus.”
Returning to its cradle.
Its eyes flicker with alien code.
It bows toward the Void-Frame.
VOICEOVER (Echo):
“It is not our enemy.
It is our guide.”
The Serpent coils around the Engine, activating it.
Light erupts upward.
INT. SURFACE LEVEL — NEXUS-01 WAREHOUSE
Explosive shockwave.
Dust clouds.
Metal shears like paper.
A Shadow staggers into frame, silhouetted by the Gate's blue-white glare behind him.
He lifts a hand toward the camera —
eyes glowing with alien fractal patterns.
SHADOW (whispering):
"If you're seeing this…
it means the Choir has awakened."
The Rift screams — a quiet, dissonant harmony.
The camera shatters into static.
BLACK SCREEN.
A single line fades in:
IN THE FRACTURE AGE…
YOU ARE THE LAST MIND THEY CANNOT PREDICT.
The title slams in with metallic resonance: