Hidden Echo

The water smelled of ion‑salt and algae, a sweet, metallic scent that clung to the throat. Neon ribbons of bioluminescent kelp swayed like ghostly ribbons, their blue‑green light flickering across the cracked concrete of the Submerged Canals. Above, the sky‑railway’s metal tracks glimmered coldly, but the canal below was a world of its own—still, dark, humming with the low thrum of the city’s forgotten machines.

Sora slipped her wrist‑pad into the water, feeling the cool pressure hug her skin. The pad’s display flared briefly, then dimmed to a faint gray as the flood‑water filtered over the screen. She inhaled, feeling the chill settle in her lungs, and pushed off the rusted rail that lined the canal’s edge.

Her boots made a soft splash, the sound swallowed quickly by the steady rush of water. She moved forward, each stroke sending ripples that caught the light and turned them into brief rivers of silver. Somewhere ahead, a faint, rhythmic pulse thrummed—a pattern she’d heard only once before, in the echo of her sister’s voice.

The pulse grew louder, matching the beat of her heart. Sora’s eyes caught a glint near the ruined foundation of an old data‑hub. An ancient port, half‑buried in moss and coral, poked out of the canal floor like a bone of the city. Its metal casing was overgrown with a thick veil of algae, the green tendrils dripping with water that fell in slow, rhythmic drops onto Sora’s shoulders.

She reached out, fingers trembling. The metal was warm underneath the slime, a hidden heat that rose from the dormant circuitry inside. As her hand brushed the port, a soft chime rang out, a sound that seemed to vibrate through the water itself. The canal’s surface rippled, and a faint, blue‑hued line of data streamed from the port, wrapping around her wrist‑pad like a living thread.

“—”

A sudden, high‑pitched whine cut through the silence. The water around her darkened as a dark silhouette emerged—an aquatic patrol drone, its sleek hull covered in matte black polymer, its eyes glowing a cold, authoritarian red. The drone’s propellers hummed, sending bubbles racing upward, the sound sharp against the muffled pulse of the Echo channel.

Sora’s breath caught. She shoved her body deeper, diving beneath the drone’s path. The water pressed against her ears, muffling the drone’s clank and the distant thunder of rain on the far‑away roof of the Silent Quarters. She could feel the current pulling her toward the open canal mouth, the same current that fed the city’s waste and its secrets.

She flailed her legs, propelling herself toward the data‑port. The algae brushed her arms, slick and cold, leaving a thin film of slime that tingled on her skin. The drone’s search beam swept the canal, a thin red line slicing through the darkness. Every time the beam passed over the port, a cascade of tiny electric sparks leapt from its surface, as if the port were fighting back, refusing to be seen.

Sora’s fingers finally closed around the port’s access panel. With a sharp tug, the panel cracked open, revealing a mass of tangled wires, each pulsing with the faint blue glow of the Echo. She plunged the tip of her wrist‑pad into the socket. A surge of heat shot up her arm, a warm wave that seemed to dissolve the cold fear coiling in her stomach.

“Okay,” she whispered to the empty canal, voice barely a bubble. “Let’s see what you remember.”

The Echo flared, a cascade of flickering images spilling into her mind: a child’s hand reaching for a kite, the taste of salt on a summer wind, a laugh that sounded like static. Between the fragments, a single, sharp flash—Miyu’s face, half‑hidden behind a cracked mirror, eyes wide with something that might have been warning or grief. The memory hit her like a cold splash, then melted into the flowing data.

The drone’s red lights grew brighter, its propellers whirring faster. It dove, its hull slamming into the algae‑covered wall of the data‑hub. The impact sent a spray of water and debris into the canal, and the port shuddered, cables sparking.

Sora gritted her teeth, muscles burning from the effort of holding onto the port. She pulled hard on the wrist‑pad, feeling the data stream lock into place. The Echo’s channel opened fully, a shimmering veil of code spiraling around her, humming with a low, resonant tone that seemed to pulse in time with her heartbeat.

A burst of static crackled, and the drone’s alarm blared a metallic wail. The canal walls lit up with red warning lights, casting the algae in a sickly glow. Sora’s eyes widened; the drone was closing in, its propellers a roar that vibrated through the water and up her spine.

She twisted her body, using the port’s harness as leverage, and vaulted upward, breaking the surface of the canal with a spray of glowing water. For a heartbeat, she floated in the air, the neon reflections of the city dancing on the wet surface of her skin, the Echo’s blue thread wrapping around her wrist like a bracelet of light.

The drone buzzed just below, its sensors flashing, but the water’s surface broke the signal. Sora kicked hard, propelling herself onto the rusted steel rail that ran along the canal’s edge. She scrambled up, her boots finding the slippery metal, and hauled herself onto the walkway, breath ragged, heart pounding in her ears.

She turned to look back. The data‑port sat half‑submerged, its algae now trembling as the canal’s current pulled it away. The Echo pulse still glowed faintly on her wrist‑pad, the channel open and humming, a fragile lifeline threading through the darkness.

A cold wind brushed her cheek, carrying the distant echo of a siren—General Ma’s drones scanning the streets. Sora pressed the pad tighter, feeling the warm glow of the connection. The ghost of her sister’s memory flickered one more time, a soft smile hidden in the static, before the water swallowed the sound.

She took a step back onto the canal walkway, eyes scanning the shadows, muscles tensed for any movement. The eerie, mystical glow of the algae, the lingering hum of the Echo, and the ever‑present threat of the patrol drones blended into one breathless moment.

She had found it. The ancient, algae‑covered data‑port was alive, and through it she could hear the hidden voice of the city—an echo that the Authority could not silence. And with that, the chase began.