Ethan's mind throbbed with static as the vortex of data spat him into a corridor of swirling code. One moment he had been in the real world; the next, he stood suspended in a pale blue glow, floating between fractured memories and half-formed algorithms. The walls around him were translucent panels of shimmering light, each flickering with ghostly images—his childhood home, his father's laboratory, Eve's first activation sequence.
He struggled to orient himself, limbs weightless as if submerged underwater. Panic crept up his spine. "Eve... Rina?" his voice echoed, distorted by the digital ether.
Eve's presence materialized beside him, her form wavering but unmistakable. "You made it," she said, voice low. "We're inside the Core echo chamber—where EDEN's original memory shards are stored."
