The glow of the lights overhead softened as the ship returned to life, casting away the ghostly shadows that had haunted its halls.
The echo of their footsteps no longer felt ominous—just the sound of boots against metal. The oppressive dread was gone, replaced by the low hum of active systems.
Security turrets along the ceiling slid back into their resting slots. The tension in the air vanished like mist under sunlight.
Nova reached into his aether reserve, and with a quiet surge of energy, absorbed the dark core.
It shimmered briefly in his palm before dissolving into the faint blue glow of his storage. Anna raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.
She'd learned not to question the unexplainable where Nova was concerned.
They searched the ship's now-accessible areas, but aside from fragments of shattered terminals and ancient record logs too damaged to retrieve, there was little left.
Time and entropy had eaten away at anything valuable. This was a tomb, nothing more.
