Lupine Echoes

Chapter 16: Primary Consciousness Dormancy

Jaden's eyes snapped open, glowing with an unfeeling silver as an eerie, mechanical voice slipped from his lips. "Alert: Hostile presence detected during primary consciousness dormancy. Automated activation of Justice-Activated Defender and Extraordinary Neutralizer initiated."

Skylar froze, the words barely registering as his pulse spiked. "Holy shit!" he muttered. The air around him charged with static as dread crawled up his spine.

Weston staggered, his face draining of color. His squad of security guard, sensing the shift, stormed in, weapons aimed and ready, their laser sights dancing across Jaden's rigid form. The atmosphere thickened, each second weighted with impending violence.

Yet Wilton, unflinching and analytical, raised a hand, effortlessly halting the squad while maintaining the same unwavering smile. "No need for theatrics," he murmured, his tone smooth, dripping with quiet triumph. "This... this is what I've been waiting for. J.A.D.E.N."

Jaden's vacant gaze zeroed in on Wilton. "Initiating data search," he intoned, the words hollow. The silver sheen in his eyes intensified as though scanning every molecule of Wilton's existence. "Ultra-tellurian identified as level-S technokinetic. Extraordinary Neutralizer engaged in terminating ultra-tellurian adversary." The room plunged into a dead silence as Jaden continued in his robotic monotone. "NGC 3532: A Wishing Well Cluster spell sequence activated."

Above them, a radiant magic circle bloomed into existence, bathing the room in a soft, pulsating splendor. Shimmering hues—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—swirled together, forming a vast arcane pattern that hovered in the air. At its core, a nine-pointed star spun slowly, its edges gleaming with stellular energy.

Three colossal rings—each engraved with patterns too intricate for the eye to follow—circled the star, their movements mirroring the orbits of celestial bodies as though the very heavens had been summoned into the room. Within the heart of the formation, a detailed star map of the NGC 3532 cluster glittered, each pinpoint of light representing a distant star, twinkling in the expanse of the ceiling above like the cosmos had descended upon them.

Every eye in the room was drawn upward to the sublime constellation above. The guards, once steady, now faltered, weapons lowering as fear gnawed at their nerves. Skylar's chest tightened, and Weston's breath came in shallow spurts, his mind grappling to grasp the sight. But Wilton remained unmoved, his eyes glinting with a dangerous thrill.

"Spell parameters adjusted. Target locked: ultra-tellurian adversary – technokinetic." Every syllable Jaden spoke felt like an order demanding obedience. "NGC 3532, release."

Suddenly, the air erupted into chaos as 400 luminous plasma spheres rained down from the summoned constellation. Each one streaked toward the ground, not like falling stars but like sentient fragments of rainbow light, their paths swerving unpredictably. Their iridescent trails left ghostly arcs in the air, splitting into fractals before slamming into the floor, sending tremors through the room. The security guards, now overtaken by sheer panic, bolted for cover, but there was no safe place. Tiles broke apart, chunks of debris flew, and the ground rippled under the barrage of Jaden's heavenly body magic. The building groaned as explosions rocked the foundations.

Weston barely had time to react before a magical sphere whizzed past him. The air shuddered in its wake, and then it detonated. The shockwave blasted him backward, his body twisting mid-air before he smashed into the far wall. Pain lanced through him as he struggled to regain focus, his vision a kaleidoscope of calamity—flares of astral glow, shards of stone, and flashes of heat.

Meanwhile, though, Wilton stood unnervingly still amid everything, the picture of control. His arms rose, and as if drawn by invisible strings, pieces of metal from the ruined room flew toward him. Gears and plates whirred together, assembling rapidly into a sleek pair of metallic wings. Then they unfurled with a mechanical hiss, shimmering under the ethereal light like molten silver.