He Remembered the Sound First
Not his name. Not the coordinates. Not the mission.
The sound came first.
It echoed in the dark low, metallic, fractured like a memory dragged through broken speakers. Not a word. Not a voice. Just… a hum. Like the soft glitching of wings trying to unfold.
Echo stopped in the middle of the forgotten corridor and turned his ears toward it.
There it was again.
A vibration through the floor. A signal not meant for anyone… except him.
And it hurt.
Because buried in that noise were memories he hadn’t rebuilt yet. Laughter. A warning. A goodbye. A promise he hadn’t fulfilled.
His paw shook. The air glitched around his tail. His halo flared once and dimmed.
He didn’t know what it meant. But it was his.
And in that moment, for the first time since he arrived in this form— He felt something closer to home.