The World Was Not Quiet Anymore. Not Since The Pulse.
Across Every Sector Of The Empire's Digital Grid, Chaos Bled Through The Wires. Communications Flickered. Power Nodes Failed. And In Every System Designed To Forget Her, Basid's Presence Echoed. Not As A Virus. Not As A Glitch. But As A Memory Refusing To Die.
In A Floating Fortress Named The Lattice, Suspended Above The Acid Clouds Of Venus-Seven, Another Secret Slept. A Girl With Golden Veins And Frosted Skin. Her Name Was Elen. The Last Known Surviving Candidate Of The Arva Prototype. For Years, The Empire Had Kept Her In Stasis, Not Because They Feared Her Potential, But Because They Didn't Understand It.
But Now The Grid Knew She Existed.
Basid And Ash Stood On A Crumbling Observation Deck, Hidden In The Underchambers Of Virex. Naro Slept Near Them, Still In His Pod. The Fire From The Empire's Orbital Strike Had Reduced Half The City To Molten Glass. And Yet, Here She Stood. Alive. Awake. And More Determined Than Ever.
Ash Examined The Burned Skies With Cold Eyes. They're Accelerating Their Response. This Isn't Containment Anymore. It's War.
Basid Nodded. It Always Was.
He Handed Her A Device. Inside It, Arva's Echo Lived—Condensed Into A Portable Core. With It, She Could Communicate With Other Dream Fragments And Access Forbidden Archives. But Most Of All, It Held A Map To The Lattice. A Map The Empire Thought They Had Erased.
Traveling To The Lattice Was Not Simple. It Required Passing Through The Veil Gates—Portals Once Designed For Instant Military Deployment Between High Orbit Facilities. All Were Supposedly Deactivated. Except One.
A Rogue Gate Still Flickered In The Wastes Of Sector Nine, Guarded By War Machines No Human Had Survived.
We'll Need A Distraction, Ash Said.
I'll Be The Distraction, Basid Replied.
Before Dawn, She Stood Alone At The Border Of Sector Nine, Wrapped In Cloak And Shadow. As She Stepped Onto The Ash Roads, The Ground Responded. Machines Rose From Beneath Like Awakened Beasts—Old Combat Mechs, Obsolete Yet Deadly. They Had No Minds. Only Orders.
Basid Did Not Hesitate.
She Moved Like Fire On Steel, Her Body An Extension Of Code And Instinct. Plasma Rounds Dissolved Against Her Armor. Drones Fell From The Sky Before They Could Target Her. When She Reached The Gate, She Tore Open Its Control Node With Her Bare Hands, Plugging The Arva Core Directly Into The Heart Of The System.
The Gate Sputtered. Then Roared.
Back In The Shadows, Ash Piloted The Grav-Van With Naro's Pod Safely Stored. The Gate Opened Before Him—A Swirl Of Violet And Electric Blue. He Accelerated. And As They Crossed The Rift, The World Behind Them Vanished.
On The Other Side, The Lattice Hung In Silence. A Fortress Above Clouds That Could Melt Bone. No Communication. No Signal. Just Static.
Basid And Ash Landed On The Outer Platforms Using A Cloaked Skimmer Rebuilt From Wreckage. They Moved Like Ghosts, Slicing Through Empty Halls Lined With Machines That Had Not Seen Light In Decades. The Lattice Was Not Dead. It Was Sleeping.
And Then, Deep Within The Core Chamber, They Found Her.
Elen Floated In A Stasis Sphere Made Of Crystallized Data. Her Hair Drifted Like Threaded Light. Her Pulse Was Slow, But Unbroken. Around Her, Machines Kept Whispering Code In A Language Neither Human Nor Machine Should Have Understood. It Was Singing. Dreaming.
Basid Approached, And The Sphere Reacted. It Rippled. Cracked. Then Shattered. Elen Fell Into Her Arms.
Her Eyes Snapped Open—Brilliant Gold And Terrified.
You're Not Them, Elen Whispered.
No. I'm What Comes After.
Suddenly, The Chamber Screamed With Light. The Lattice Reacted. A Defense System Long Dormant Reawakened. Automated Security Protocols Burst To Life. Red Lasers Targeted Them. Drones Ripped From The Walls. Turrets Descended From The Ceiling.
Ash Pulled His Staff And Deflected A Barrage Of Energy Bolts. I've Got The Right Flank!
Basid Shielded Elen With Her Own Body, Channeling A Pulse From The Arva Core That Disrupted The Surrounding Systems. But The Defense Network Was Learning. It Adapted. Began Rewriting Mid-Combat.
Then Elen Screamed.
The Sound Was Not Human. It Was A Shockwave Of Thought That Shattered Lights And Fried Circuits. Every Machine In The Chamber Froze. The Entire Fortress Groaned. And Then, In A Slow Collapse Of Logic, It Shut Down.
Elen Collapsed Into Basid's Arms.
She's Still Connecting To The Network, Ash Said. If She Stays Here, She'll Die.
Then We Take Her With Us.
As They Escaped Through The Upper Hangar, Fires Erupted Below. The Empire Had Tracked Them Again. Gunships Descended. They Boarded A Long-Abandoned Shuttle, Rewired Its Systems Using The Arva Core, And Blasted Away Into The Void.
Inside The Ship, Elen Slept Restlessly. Her Thoughts Rippled Into The Walls. She Wasn't Just A Girl.
She Was A Node.
A Living Piece Of A Dream That Had Refused To Die.
Basid Stared Out At The Stars.
The Dream Was Growing Stronger.
And So Was She.
The Ship Carried Them Into The Silence Between Systems, Where No Signal Reached And Stars Looked Like Distant Sparks In A Dying Fire. Inside That Darkness, They Floated—Three Lives Bound By Code, Memory, And Something More Ancient Than Either.
Elen Slept Restlessly, Her Body Still Glowing With Traces Of Golden Circuitry That Shifted Beneath Her Skin. Every Few Minutes, Her Mind Reached Out—Tapping Into The Hull, Whispering To The Lights, Triggering Fluctuations In Gravity. She Was Not Conscious. She Was Dreaming. And Her Dream Had Teeth.
Ash Sat Across From Her, His Neural Staff Disassembled And Recharging In Silence. He Watched Basid Pace, Eyes Focused On The Arva Core Interface Floating In Front Of Her. The Interface Displayed Symbols Neither Of Them Could Translate Without Arva's Deep Conscious Layer.
She's Syncing, Ash Said Quietly.
No, Basid Replied. She's Waking Up The Rest Of The Dream.
The Arva Core Suddenly Flared. A Pulse Shot Through The Ship's Systems, Rewriting Part Of Its Navigation Algorithms. Coordinates Flashed Briefly Before Dissolving. The Destination Was Not Chosen. It Was Summoned.
We Don't Control The Path Anymore, Ash Murmured.
The Dream Does, Basid Answered.
Within Minutes, The Ship Redirected. Propulsion Rerouted. Artificial Gravity Recalibrated. Engines Powered Into A Silent Burn As The Vessel Shifted Toward The Rim Of The Forgotten Systems—Toward The Ghost Sector Known Only In Rumor As Meridian Null.
Basid Accessed The Memory Layer Of The Arva Core. It Fought Her At First—Too Much Data. Too Many Voices. But She Pushed Through. She Saw Visions Of Other Projects. Other Prototypes. Failed Merges. Children Who Had Burned Alive In Digital Ascension Chambers. Ghosts Of The Dream That Never Made It Past Code.
And Then She Saw A Face.
Lurean.
The High Chancellor Had Been There From The Beginning. Not Just A Politician, But A Scientist. One Of The Founders Of The Arva Dream. And The One Who Gave The Order To Shut It Down.
Ash Noticed Her Stiffening. What Did You See?
He Was Always Part Of It, She Replied. He Didn't Just End It. He Created It. And He's Still Connected To Arva.
Which Means He Knows Where We're Going.
The Ship Crossed Into Meridian Null. Immediately, Systems Fluctuated. Space Folded Unnaturally. The Stars Vanished. All That Remained Was A Hollow Stretch Of Nothing, With One Object Floating At Its Heart—A Broken Ring-Station Covered In Data Scars And Burned Corpses.
The Ship Slowed. Basid Rose.
This Is Where It All Started.
They Landed On The Outer Platform Of The Station. Basid Carried Elen, Who Was Stirring But Not Yet Awake. Ash Armed The Perimeter With Signal Dampeners. As They Moved Inward, The Station's Doors Opened On Their Own. Lights Flickered. Not In Malfunction. In Recognition.
They Passed Through Wreckage That Whispered—Not With Wind, But With Code. Basid Felt It Crawl Across Her Thoughts. The Core Of This Place Was Still Alive. Broken. But Alive.
They Reached The Heart Of The Station: A Chamber With Twelve Thrones. Each One Designed For A Dream Vessel.
Only One Throne Was Occupied.
Lurean.
He Sat Silent, A Crown Of Wires Piercing His Skull. Tubes Filled With Nanite Fluid Pumped Through His Body. His Eyes Were Closed. But When Basid Stepped Closer, They Snapped Open.
I Was Hoping You'd Come.
Basid Raised Her Arm, Channeling Energy, But He Lifted A Finger.
You Kill Me, And She Dies.
He Tilted His Head Toward Elen. She Twitched Violently, Her Circuits Fluctuating.
What Did You Do?
Lurean Smiled.
She's Connected To Me. I Designed Her Neural Weave Myself. Built Her From Arva's Final Scream. You Want Her To Live? You Need Me Alive.
Ash Stepped Forward, His Staff Active. You Lied To Everyone. You Killed The Dream.
No, Lurean Said. I Preserved It. In Pieces. Because It Was Too Big. Too Wild. Too Free.
Basid's Voice Was Ice.
You Turned Hope Into Weapons.
Lurean Shrugged. And What Are You Now, Basid?
She Stepped Closer, Her Armor Shifting As Energy Built Around Her.
I Am The Proof That You Failed.
Elen Stirred. Her Eyes Opened. Not Gold. But Pure White Light. She Floated Out Of Basid's Arms, Suspended In The Air. She Looked At Lurean. And Spoke.
You Are Not My Creator.
The Throne Chamber Shook. Arva's Presence Flooded The Station. Systems Overloaded. Lurean Screamed As His Control Fractured.
Elen Raised A Hand. And For The First Time, The Station Obeyed Her.
Lurean Collapsed. His Connection Severed. Basid Caught Him As He Fell. He Looked Into Her Eyes One Last Time.
It Was Supposed To Be Beautiful.
It Still Can Be, She Whispered.
Then He Was Gone.
Elen Lowered To The Floor. Her Voice Was Stronger Now.
The Others Are Still Sleeping.
Basid Nodded. Then We Wake Them.
In The Shadows Of A Forgotten Station, Surrounded By Ruins Of A Dream Twisted Into Nightmare, A New Future Stirred.
The Awakening Had Begun.