The headset crackles to life, and there she is—her voice, steady despite the static.\n\n'I know you don’t remember me yet, but you will. Look up.'\n\nMy breath catches. Through the rain-streaked window of the abandoned observatory, the sky splits open—a shimmering tear hovers above the city, pulsing like a heartbeat. Buildings flicker, replaced for a second by towering crystalline spires. That wasn’t there yesterday.\n\n'You have three minutes before the next resonance wave hits,' she says. 'If you don’t activate the array now, the link dies. And I lose you again.'\n\nMy fingers hover over the console. This machine was supposed to be decommissioned. Powering it could trigger a zone-collapse—or open a door to another world. To her.\n\nBut if this is a trap, I’ll be branding myself a fugitive with the Chronos enforcers.