The light of the ring engulfed the Black Star completely. For a split second, everything disappeared—sound, sight, gravity. Kael felt as if someone had ripped him out of reality and thrown him into an endless void.
Then came the impact. Not a physical one, but deep, as if something had passed through his thoughts, memories, and fear all at once. The bridge lit up violently, and the systems began to malfunction.
Rex grabbed the chair. "Ship status!" Lira was already working on the panels. "I don't know where we are. The maps don't match. The stars don't fit any sector."
Zara got up from the floor, brushing the dust off her shoulder. "Classic. A leap into the unknown, no plan, everyone's alive—for now." Taro stared at the main screen. Space was dense, filled with a fog of energy. Huge structures drifted in the distance, irregular, unnatural, like skeletons of cities or machines.
Kael felt the artifact calm in his hand. It stopped pulsing chaotically, glowing with a steady, cool light. "This isn't normal space," he said quietly. "It looks like... the inside of something."
Lira nodded. "The energy field is closed. Like a bubble. We're inside." Rex looked at the sensors. "And we're not alone." Signals appeared on the radar. Dozens. Hundreds. Motionless, but active.
Zara smiled wryly. "Tell me they're just wrecks." "No," Taro replied. "It's something else. They're... waiting." Shapes began to emerge from the fog. Irregularly shaped constructs, black with lines of light, intersecting like guards.
Kael stood up slowly. "It must have been a gateway to a place that stored something important. Or someone." The artifact glowed brighter, and symbols appeared on the central screen. Foreign, but strangely understandable.
Lira held her breath. "It's the language of machines. Very old machines." Zara tilted her head. "So either someone is about to talk to us or try to kill us."
They didn't have to wait long. One of the constructs moved without engines or sound. It flashed through space and stopped right in front of the Black Star.
A voice rang out on the bridge, neither metallic nor mechanical. "The key bearer has been identified." Kael felt it was speaking to him. "Integrity test initiated."
Rex cursed under his breath. "I don't like the word test." Zara leaned against the console, ready to fire. "Kael, just say the word."
Kael looked at the artifact, then at the construct. He knew one mistake could mean the end—not only for them, but for everything he knew. "We're not firing," he said calmly. "Not yet."
The construct slid apart, revealing an interior filled with light. "Bearer," the voice spoke again. "If you wish to proceed, you must remember who you were. And who you will cease to be."
The bridge fell silent. Kael realized this place wasn't testing the ship or the weapons. It was testing them.
The light from inside the construct expanded. Suddenly, the bridge was gone. Kael felt no movement or jolt. It just stopped being there.
He was standing on sand. Red, dry, hot sand. Above him, a sky streaked with fire. The smell of burnt metal hit his nostrils, and he instinctively took a step back.
He knew this place. "No," he whispered. The ruins of the colony stretched before him—destroyed domes, melted towers, shipwrecks stuck in the ground like spearheads. Kharon-9. The day it all ended.
He heard a scream. He turned and saw himself from years ago. Younger, stupider, weapon too low, reactions too slow. A squad of corporate soldiers entered the evacuation zone. He saw a flash, saw the people he had promised to protect fall.
"It wasn't like that," he said aloud.
A figure emerged from the fog. Not a construct. Not human. Something in between. It had his face, but its eyes glowed with alien light.
"That's exactly how it was," the voice replied. "You ran away."
Kael clenched his fists. "I survived." "By leaving others behind."
The image changed abruptly. Now he was aboard the Black Star—first mission, first blood, the first decision not to rescue the lifeboat because it would delay the jump.
A scream echoed. "Every choice had a price," the voice continued. "And you always chose yourself." Kael felt a weight in his chest. The truth hurt more than the accusation.
"No," he said finally. "I chose those who could still live."
The figure approached. "And now?" The image changed for the third time.
He saw Zara laughing in the heat of battle. Rex shielding him with his body. Lira bent over the terminal, racing time. Taro a second too late to close the door. "Who will you choose now?"
Kael raised his head. His eyes were filled with anger, fear, and determination. "I choose them," he said firmly. "Always."
The figure recoiled as if struck. The image shattered like glass. Kael gasped for air. The bridge returned. Alarms wailed quietly. The construct still hung motionless.
"Kael!" Lira shouted. "You disappeared for five seconds. I thought—" "I'm here," he replied, hoarse but confident. The artifact in his hand broke into lines of light and entered his skin. Warmth. Stable. Obedient.
The construct spoke again. "Integrity confirmed." Rex raised his weapon. "Does that mean we can leave?" "The process is not yet complete."
More shapes emerged from the fog. Smaller. Faster. Zara bared her teeth. "Here we go." Kael looked at them all. Something had changed. He could feel the space, the energies reacting to him.
"Don't shoot randomly," he said. "They react to aggression." "So how are we supposed to greet them?" Zara snorted. "By waving?"
One of the creatures lunged. Kael raised his hand instinctively. Light spread around the ship, forming a barrier. The creature struck it and crumbled into dust. Silence fell on the bridge.
Taro stared at the readings, eyes wide. "Kael... this isn't technology." Kael lowered his hand slowly. "This is something older."
The construct hovered closer. "Bearer," the voice said. "Now you decide. Will you claim your heritage? Or will you close the gate forever?"
Zara looked at Kael. "No pressure." Kael knew one thing. Whatever he chose, the galaxy would never be the same.
The bridge trembled slightly, hovering between two decisions. The light around the hull pulsed in a rhythm no scanner recognized. Kael stepped forward. The artifact was no longer an object. He was inside it.
"If you take this," Lira said quietly, "we don't know what will happen to you." "I know," Kael replied. "And if you close the gate," Zara added, "everyone who wants it will come after us." "They already will," Rex muttered.
The construct rose. Patterns formed in the light—maps, galaxies, red trails through space. "Integration grants legacy," the voice announced. "Destruction grants closure. Forever."
Kael closed his eyes. He saw futures filled with gates, wars, and burning worlds. He opened them again. "I won't give it to them," he said calmly. "To whom?" Zara asked. "Everyone."
He raised his hand. Light exploded across the bridge. Gravity vanished. Systems screamed. "Suboptimal decision," the voice weakened. "Maybe," Kael replied. "But it's mine."
The structures around them vanished, erased from reality. "Kael!" Taro shouted. "Space is folding. Seconds!" "Tell me you have a plan," Rex said. "I do."
Kael placed his hand on the jump console. Light flowed into the ship. The engines roared. Zara laughed once. "Okay. That was awesome."
Space cracked—not into hyperspace, but into something new. The ship surged forward. For an instant, Kael felt everything. Then silence.
The bridge stabilized. Outside, normal stars. "No structures," Taro whispered. "We're nowhere." "Off the record," Lira added. Rex lowered his weapon. "So we're alive."
Zara studied Kael. "Are you still yourself?" Kael sank into the captain's chair. "Yes," he said quietly. "But this isn't the end."
The artifact was gone. Somewhere in the galaxy, something had awakened. And it was looking for them.