The doors to the Enclave parted and Rachel was greeted by Orion. The old man generally had an annoyed expression whenever he was forced to interact with anyone, but there was something different in his eyes this time around. Almost as if they displayed some concern.

“I wanna go on record as saying that I’m against this.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I expected as much. But this is what the Tribunal decided on.”

She walked from the elevator down the catwalk over the area where the Titans were being serviced. Orion rushed to catch up to her and match her stride.

“A Titan/Knight interface that goes this deep has only been attempted a handful of times. We’re talking throughout the entirety of Knight history,” he said. “Do you have any idea what you’re getting into?”

“I spoke to the Tribunal, but they said the records are classified.”

Orion groaned. “Of fucking course they did…don’t want anyone knowing just how dangerous it is.”

“I don’t see any other option,” said Rachel as she descended the metal stairs. “I saw something when I touched that crystal and I have to figure out what it is.”

Orion chased after her down the stairs. “I get that you feel this is important, but we can wait until we have more information.”

Rachel stopped and turned to face the old man. “Listen, I know your primary concern is the Titans. And I understand this may be risky, but the one assuming most of the risk isn’t Raiju—it’s me.”

“It ain’t Raiju my concern’s with.” Orion looked around to see if anyone was within earshot. “The Heads don’t want me telling this story, but I know about when this last happened. About fifty years ago, with Nicholas Barnes. He interfaced with his Titan, Wyvern.”

“Okay…and?” asked Rachel. “What about Barnes? Did something happen to him?”

“Nothing…at first,” said Orion. “But a few days later, he started having nightmares. A few weeks later, those nightmares became hallucinations while he was awake. He started talking crazy.”

“What did he say?” asked Rachel.

Orion shrugged. “I don’t know. It was just gibberish. Random sounds, grunts, clicks, that sort of thing. He had to be put in isolation while we tried to figure out what was wrong.”

“And then? Did you figure it out?”

Orion looked away.

“The Tribunal didn’t speak a word about any of this,” said Rachel. “I deserve to know what risks there are. So if you know something, you need to tell me. Please.”

“He was able to break free of his restraints and escape isolation,” said Orion. “Then he went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. He marched into the Sanctum and cut his eyes out.”

Rachel covered her open mouth in shock.

“He said it was all the Tribunal’s fault, screaming as he was dragged away,” said Orion. “Obviously, his powers were stripped and he was put in a psychiatric hospital.”

“My god…” Rachel whispered.

“The bitch of it is he actually outlived his teammates. He’s still alive…if you can call being doped up to the gills living.” Orion resumed eye contact with Rachel. “So you can see why I’m worried. Raiju will be fine, you might not.”

Rachel felt a smirk tug at her lips. “And here I thought you were an ornery old bastard who didn’t give a shit about any of us.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still ornery as fuck. And I wouldn’t go so far as to say I give a shit,” said Orion. “I just don’t want to have to deal with all the clean-up.”

Rachel patted Orion’s shoulder. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

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“But you’re still gonna be stubborn about this, aren’t you?”

She nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

Rachel moved over to the vaults containing the Titan spirits. She walked over to the chamber with the blue light above it. As she approached, her Gauntlet started to glow with a faint, azure aura and the chamber door opened. Blue light spilled out from the opening and Rachel stared into it, hesitating.

“This won’t make ’em change their minds about you!” said Orion.

Rachel paused and did a half-turn towards him. “What do you mean?”

“The Tribunal.” Orion took a few steps closer and shook his head. “I’m sure on some level, you probably hope that by stepping up in the field when Tom was incapacitated or by showing how willing you are to sacrifice for the cause that the Tribunal will come to realize they made a mistake. But that’s the thing about those floating heads—they’re more stubborn than a drunk toddler throwing a tantrum. They will never admit they were wrong.”

Rachel was stunned by Orion’s frankness. Not because he was so willing to speak poorly of the Tribunal—he actually had a reputation for that. But the insight he had into Rachel’s character was unexpected. She wasn’t even consciously aware of what she was doing, yet now being confronted by it, she realized it had the ring of truth.

Still, she was stubborn herself. “This has nothing to do with that. Tom’s the leader and I’m fine with it.”

“Just know why you’re doing this and understand the benefits only go so far,” said Orion.

Rachel nodded and stepped into the blue light. The door closed behind her and she was now in some kind of deep, dark void. Flashes of bright blue light cast only brief bursts of illumination. The air crackled with azure bolts of lightning, striking various points around her.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, visualizing her Titan before her. The lightning converged on a single point. It started with a few quick bolts, but then more came. They soon lasted longer, extending continuously. The point where the bolts met became an orb of blue energy, slowly growing larger. It expanded, taking on the form of a creature standing on all four legs.

The figure took shape. It was a giant blue wolf with streaks of white in his fur. Many of his hairs stood on end, sparks of electricity forming on the tips. The wolf’s blue eyes fixed on Rachel and he licked his lips and whined in appreciation.

“Hey, Raiju, I know it’s been a while since we met like this,” said Rachel. “But I need your help. I need to remember what I saw and to do that, I have to go deeper into my mind.”

Raiju grunted and shook his head.

Rachel reached her hands for the large wolf’s head and gently stroked it. “Please. This is the only way we can do it.”

The wolf’s eyes pleaded with hers, his voice continuing to issue whines of denial and protest. Rachel shut her eyes and pressed her head against his.

“We don’t have a choice.”

The Titan seemed to give in and Rachel soon felt a surge of energy rush through her. She gasped as her eyes bulged and she watched flashes of memories streak across her mind. Opening herself up to the Titan like this meant not only could her own memories be accessed, but she could also access his. And when the interface went deeper than before, there were no filters, no safeguards. Rachel experienced all memories simultaneously. She saw visions of past battles Raiju had been involved with, but instead of Raiju on the field, she saw herself. Brief images of an amalgam of her and the Raiju.

And then the symbol. Rachel observed it right in front of her. It was the exact same one she’d seen on the crystal when she touched it. The image was so clear to her now. She memorized every stroke and every angle of the strange rune.

Something else happened. A dark presence hovered over her. All the memories melted away into blackness and Rachel started falling through the void. She reached her hands out to grab something—anything. Rachel cried out for Raiju, but she couldn’t see him or feel him.

She felt utterly and completely alone. Rachel landed hard in a grassy field. Dew from the grass moistened her hands and she looked up to see stars dotting the night sky. She wasn’t sure at first if it was a memory or a dream. But as she surveyed the sky, she noticed something odd.

“Two moons…?”

The ground violently shook. Rachel turned around and she saw a village of some sort just ahead of the field. She didn’t recognize either the material the houses were constructed from nor had she ever seen that particular architectural style anywhere.

Quakes continued. Cracked started to form in the ground. Rachel watched in horror as the houses in the town collapsed, one after another. Screams of terror emanated forth. Instinct took over and pushed Rachel toward the village. As she ran, she soon saw others fleeing in the opposite direction. They were panicking, but they also looked very different.

Rachel stopped and watched as they ran. Their skin was chalk-white and they had some sort of tribal tattoos across their bodies. She’d never seen anyone like this before and she couldn’t determine what exactly they were.

The sound of an explosion. Rachel turned again and saw a bright ball of fire illuminate the sky. It grew larger and larger and she could feel the heat emanating from it. She turned away and closed her eyes, futilely holding up her arms in defense as the fire consumed her.

----------------------------------------

The door to Raiju’s chamber burst open and Rachel was thrown out. She hit the ground by Orion’s feet, rolling from side to side, her arms and legs swinging with wild abandon as she screamed.

“Fuck, I hate being right all the damn time…” the old man muttered. He hit his own wrist-mounted communicator. “Get Doc Wu down to the Enclave, now!”

Orion knelt down by Rachel’s side and tried to restrain her. The flailing subsided, but her screams continued echoing throughout the Enclave.