The leap from the station bridge to the deeper levels of the artifact was almost like passing through a dream. The air was thick, saturated with blue light pulsing to Kael's rhythm. Each step echoed not only in the corridor, but also in his head.
Zara walked beside him, her guns raised. "I don't know if this is the beginning of the end or the beginning of something even worse."
"It's both," Kael replied, leading the group along narrow metal passageways. "But at least we'll be together."
Rex raised his rifle, scanning the darkness. "Together until something tears us apart."
Lira examined the walls with a mini-scanner. "Some parts of the artifact react to our thoughts. We can't act impulsively."
Taro nodded. "One wrong move and we could set off a chain reaction. We don't know what will happen."
Kael looked ahead. The pulsing light led them to the central chamber. There, the artifact stretched out in its enormous form. It glowed like a complex network of energy, swirling in all dimensions at once.
Zara raised an eyebrow. "It looks like it wants to suck you in."
"No," Kael said. "Not suck. Synchronously connect."
The man in the cloak appeared at the entrance to the chamber. His eyes were calm, his movements fluid. "What you feel here is the echo of the galaxy's decision. Kael, you must go inside. The rest of you must support your concentration."
Zara snorted. "Looks like we're here so you can have your vision and we can suffer through it."
Kael nodded. "We're not suffering. We're watching."
Rex put his hand on Kael's shoulder. "I just want to say… if it spits us out in pieces, I promise revenge."
Kael smiled slightly, though his eyes were focused. "Don't worry, Rex. If this works, we'll get through it together."
Lira positioned the scanners around them. "Synchronize. No distractions."
Taro connected the terminal to the artifact, carefully adjusting the energy flow. "We have to control every pulse. If we miss even one…"
"…The whole system will explode," Kael finished in his mind, feeling the echo inside him accelerate.
The light of the artifact enveloped them all. There was no sound, only vibrations that penetrated the body and mind. Kael felt that decisions were no longer his alone. They were part of a network where every choice could change the future of the galaxy.
Zara placed her hands on her helmet. "I don't like this feeling. It's too dense."
"It's not about feelings," Kael replied. "It's about choices."
Rex moved back slightly. "Looks like I have a choice too. And it's definitely not going to be an easy one."
Kael looked into the swirling light. "We have to be careful. Every mistake, every impulse, could end in disaster."
The light pulsed in rhythm with their thoughts, synchronizing with every movement and every breath.
Kael took a deep breath and entered the central chamber. The echo of the artifact enveloped him completely, swirling in his mind.
He felt the entire galaxy in a single moment. Every decision, every possible consequence. Every loss and every victory. He was at the heart of a decision whose effects could extend across thousands of worlds.
The artifact was not a place. It was a state.
Kael no longer felt the weight of his own body, though he was still standing. The energy enveloped him like a living being, penetrating deeper until every thought ceased to be his alone. He saw images, fragments of events that had no right to exist yet. Worlds in ruins. Fleets burning the sky. Silence after destruction.
Zara took a step back as the light suddenly took on a darker hue. "Kael, something's changing. It's not stable."
Rex clenched his hands on the rifle, even though the weapon seemed absurdly useless in the face of what was happening before them. "If it kills him, I'm getting him out of here. No matter what you say."
"You can't," Lira said, her voice tense. "If you break the connection now, the artifact will close. And he'll be trapped inside."
Taro stared at the gauges, which completely ignored the known laws of physics. "The energy flow is increasing. Not according to the pattern. It's not a machine. It's a reaction to his decisions."
Kael could hear their voices, but they seemed to come from another dimension. A web of possible futures stretched out before him. Each decision was a node. Each choice had consequences that could not be undone.
In one vision, he saw himself closing the artifact. The galaxy continues, but in fear. Wars subside, but the tension never disappears. In another, he opens it completely. Power spreads across worlds. Heroes rise, but so do tyrants. Chaos gives birth to new orders, and new orders give birth to new conflicts. There was also a third path—the darkest one. The destruction of the artifact. Silence. No echo. No future interference. The galaxy left to its own devices.
Kael felt the weight of responsibility so real it almost took his breath away.
Zara moved closer, ignoring the warnings from the scanners. "Hey. I don't know what you're seeing there, but remember one thing. You're not alone. You never have been."
Her voice cut through the chaos of the vision like a blade.
Rex added quietly, "We don't need a perfect future. We need one where we can still fight."
Lira closed her eyes, focusing. "The artifact is responding to your bond. It's no coincidence that we're here together."
Taro lifted his head from the terminal. "Kael, whatever you choose, the system will adapt. But it can't withstand conflicting impulses. You have to decide on one path."
Kael felt an echo resonate within him from their presence. He understood something he hadn't seen before. The artifact wasn't looking for a ruler. It was looking for balance. Not absolute control. Not complete freedom. Decision.
He reached out, touching the core of energy. The light reacted immediately, pulsing more calmly.
"I won't give you all the power," he said quietly. "And I won't let you disappear. You will be an echo, not a commanding voice."
The artifact trembled. The web of visions began to shrink, weaving into a single line.
Zara breathed sharply. "I can feel it. Like something is calming down."
Rex lowered his weapon. "Damn it. He did it."
Lira looked at the readings, incredulous. "The structure is stabilizing. But… Kael, something remains within you."
Kael lowered his hand. The energy slowly receded, leaving behind a silence. Too deep.
"An echo," he replied. "I'll always hear it."
The artifact faded, leaving behind a dead, metallic structure. But the galaxy was no longer the same.
Kael looked at his team. Tired, wounded, but alive. "This is just the beginning," he said.
Zara smiled wryly. "You always say that when everything is falling apart."
Rex snorted. "And unfortunately, he's always right."
In the distance, the station's low alarm sounded. Someone else knew the artifact had awakened. And someone would surely come for it.
The station's corridors shook to the rhythm of distant tremors. The echo of the artifact in Kael still pulsed, but now it was calmer, as if it had learned to wait.
Zara led the way, rifles at the ready. "I don't like this feeling. It's like we're being watched."
"We are," Kael replied, still feeling the subtle pressure of the echo pulses. "Not just by the artifact. Someone is here. And they're not going to stay quiet."
Rex walked over to the panel on the wall. "The readings show changes in the station's power supply. Someone is activating the emergency mechanisms. I don't know exactly what, but we're in for a surprise."
Lira looked at Kael. "The echo within you is reacting to this place. If the station starts to defend itself, it can sense every decision and reflect it in reality."
Taro adjusted the terminal. "The security systems are activating faster than we anticipated. It's as if someone predicted our moves."
Kael nodded. "We need to find the control core. If the station is capable of tracking us, that's where we'll find a way to stop it."
As they made their way through the main corridors, shadows shifted. Silhouettes appeared and vanished between the metal pillars.
Zara muttered. "Okay, this isn't a friendly welcome."
Rex raised his weapon, and Kael felt the echo inside him quicken its rhythm. He understood that the station was reacting to intruders. Any false move, any uncertain action, could spell disaster.
"Stay close to me," he said calmly. "The echo inside me is now synchronizing our movements. Every step counts double."
Lira slid her fingers across the sensor panels, neutralizing the traps suddenly activated in the corridor. "There are a thousand tiny pulses here. The station responds immediately."
Zara rolled her eyes. "Great. More surprises. Can you feel it, Kael?"
"Yes. And we need to move faster."
At the end of the corridor was a huge metal gate. The mechanisms were old but stable. They pulsed with the same blue light as the artifact, and Kael felt the echo within him resonate more strongly with this place.
"This must be the control core," Kael said. "We'll find the answers there."
Rex aimed his rifle. "Here's where the fun begins."
Zara lunged forward, knocking the alarm mechanism over with her hand. Metal screeched, sparks splattering across the walls.
Lira connected the terminal, synchronizing with the system. "If it works, we can take control. But if not…"
Kael looked at her intently. "Then at least we'll have tried."
The gate began to open slowly. The echo pulsed in time with their footsteps. Kael felt everyone in the team synchronize with his perception. It was the first true connection.
The core room stretched out before them. On a raised platform pulsed a huge object—the heart of the station. Kael felt vibrations throughout his body. The echo within him responded to the energy of the core.
Zara muttered quietly. "It looks like the station is breathing on its own."
Rex moved closer, checking for possible emergency exits. "I don't think we're getting out of here without a fight."
Kael looked at the artifact. Its presence was subtle but distinct. The echo within him waited, ready to respond to any decision.
"This isn't just a station," he said finally. "It's a test. And we're just getting to the heart of it."
Kael felt the entire core of the station pulsing in rhythm with his decisions. The echo of the artifact harmonized with the energy of the object, filling his mind with visions of possible paths.
Zara moved forward, rifles at the ready. "I can't understand it… it's as if everything is alive, as if it's looking straight into our heads."
"Exactly," Kael replied. "And we have to be synchronized. Every step we take, every impulse we make matters."
Rex pressed himself against the metal railings, watching the movements in the room. "If something jumps out from behind those wires, it'll be the last thing we ever see."
Lira sped up her work at the terminal. "Synchronization with the core is only possible through short pulses. If we exceed the limit… the system will rebel."
Taro adjusted the terminal's parameters, his fingers racing across the buttons with surgical precision. "Done. Now we just wait for your decisions, Kael."
Kael took a deep breath and reached out toward the core. The light of the artifact within him and the pulse of the station's core merged into a single rhythm.
"We cannot make a mistake," he thought. "Every decision must be conscious."
The room began to vibrate, and the metal structures shook. The echo of the artifact in Kael responded immediately, synchronizing the core's energy with his thoughts.
Zara looked at him. "Looks like you're the center of this whole fucking system now."
Rex snorted. "So we're supposed to hope you don't destroy us by accident?"
Kael didn't respond with words. He focused on the pulse, feeding his own intentions into the energy network. The artifact's light spilled across the room, creating a swirling web of connections between them and the core.
Lira monitored the sensitive sections of the terminal. "Stability is increasing! But the pulse must be steady. Kael, don't stop!"
Taro added, "Any fluctuation could cause a cascade reaction throughout the station. We have to be perfect."
An echo in Kael hit him with a wave of visions—fragments of the future, possible consequences, reflections of their actions across the galaxy. He felt every world, every decision, every threat.
Zara grabbed his arm. "Don't get lost in that chaos. Come back to us."
Kael nodded and focused even harder. His decisions began to shape the core's response. The artifact's light pulsed in harmony with him, and the swirling images of the future began to stabilize.
Rex snorted. "Looks like he's really making a difference."
Lira smiled, a rare occurrence. "If this works, we'll gain control of the core. And maybe… our own destiny."
Taro took a deep breath. "I hear stabilization. It's working."
Kael reached out further, allowing the echo of the artifact and the station's core to resonate together. The vibrations became calmer, the network of connections harmonious.
The light pulsed and slowly faded until only a quiet, stable aura remained in the center of the room. The artifact in Kael still resonated, but now it was not chaotic.
"It worked," Kael said quietly. "The core… is under our control."
Zara smiled wryly. "Damn. I always thought something like this would be hellishly difficult."
Rex snorted. "Hellishly difficult, and yet we made it through alive."
Lira looked at the artifact in Kael. "What remains in you… is an echo. Now you will always feel it."
Kael nodded. "And we'll use it wisely."
Taro turned off the terminal. "The entire station is in synchronization. No one can outsmart us… at least for now."
Zara rolled her eyes. "For now. I love that statement."
In the distance, in the shadows of the room, previously invisible indicators flashed. Someone else was watching their victory. Someone who knew the power of the artifact and was waiting for their decision.
Kael looked at the team. "This is just the beginning. But at least now we have the advantage."