An original AI-generated sci-fi illustration on an immutable blockchain – Monolith of Echoes – When Commander Ralen stepped onto the plains of Vorynth, the sky was already screaming. Before him rose the Monolith of Echoes—an obsidian slab taller than mountains, carved with faces that twisted and howled in eternal agony. Each visage shimmered with faint blue light, their hollow eyes glowing like distant stars. The air crackled with static, and Ralen’s instruments went dead. He knew then that this was not a relic of stone, but something alive—something listening. As he approached, the Monolith began to vibrate, resonating with a frequency that made his vision fracture. Voices poured into his mind, not as words but as memories—millions of them, from civilizations that had vanished before his species had even evolved. The Monolith was a vault of souls, a cosmic archive of consciousness, each imprisoned in the black lattice of its surface. Lightning arced across the alien sky, illuminating the horror of it all: these were not ghosts, but the preserved intelligences of entire worlds. Ralen reached out, unable to resist the pull. The moment his gloved hand touched the Monolith, his mind was flooded with light and terror. He saw galaxies burn, gods die, and time fold in on itself. Then came the final revelation—the faces were not screaming in pain, but warning. The Monolith was not a tomb; it was a beacon, calling out across the stars for something vast and ancient to return. And now that he had touched it, it knew where to find him.