Neo Mojaki -The Silent Storm

The rain poured in sheets over Virelia Academy, drumming against the rooftops like a warning from the heavens. Neo sat alone in the observatory tower, its windows fogged, the sky outside dark and furious. The faint pulse of his Echo Step had stabilized, but something still felt… off. Like a voice calling from deep within him—muted, but persistent.

He replayed Elin's words over and over:

*"We've both been pawns."*

His fingers traced the edge of a cracked photo on the table—an old image of Virelia's founding class. In the corner stood a figure he hadn't noticed before. The same cloak. The same eyes.

The traitor wasn't just operating *within* Virelia.

They had *helped build it.*

Suddenly, the door behind him creaked open. Riko stepped in, drenched and breathless.

"We've got a problem," she said without preamble. "The Council's moving. They're staging a purge—anyone they suspect of disloyalty is being blacklisted or worse. Elin's gone dark."

Neo stood, the air shifting around him.

"Then we're out of time."

Riko handed him a data shard. "Encrypted files. Names of agents hidden across the academy. Elin risked everything to get this to me before she vanished."

Neo slid the shard into his holowatch, his eyes scanning the names—some he knew, others hidden behind codenames. One name at the bottom made his blood run cold.

It was his.

Codename: **Echoborne.**

He looked up, his expression unreadable. "So I've been marked."

Riko nodded. "And they'll come for you soon."

Neo took a deep breath. The academy's storm wasn't just above ground. It was rooted in the halls, the walls, the very minds of those who walked them.

"Then let them come," he said calmly. "Let them hear my Echo."

And in that moment, the Silent Storm stirred again—no longer hidden, no longer afraid.

Neo Mojaki was done running.

Now, he would make the echoes roar.