Elyra's eyes snapped open.
The familiar hum of the Seraphine's Echo filled her ears, the soft pulse of the ship's engines steady once more. She was back—real, solid, breathing. The air carried the scent of ionized plasma and burnt circuitry. For a moment, she simply lay there, letting the relief wash over her.
Then she turned.
Kael sat beside her, leaning heavily against the console. His eyes were open, clear, but faintly rimmed with gold light. He blinked, focusing on her, a tired smile tugging at his lips. "We made it out."
She laughed softly. "Barely."
The Marauder's voice rumbled from across the chamber, deep and metallic. "Your consciousness signatures have stabilized. The mental intrusion has been severed—though I sense residual contamination."
Elyra frowned. "Residual?"
"Something small. Subtle. Like a whisper clinging to the edges of thought."
Kael tried to stand, but his knees wavered. Elyra caught him, steadying him with a hand on his arm. The touch was warm—too warm. A faint shimmer ran beneath his skin, vanishing before she could react.
"Kael," she said carefully, "how do you feel?"
He paused. "Strange. Like… part of me didn't come back alone."
Before she could reply, the lights flickered. The ship's AI core buzzed erratically, its voice breaking with static.
⚠ Warning: anomalous data signature detected in neural relay. Source—unknown.
The Marauder extended one of its tendrils toward Kael, scanning. Its eyes brightened briefly—then dimmed. "The Void left a trace inside you."
Kael's hand tightened into a fist. "A trace?"
"A fragment of its code—a sliver of awareness. It hides within your neural lattice, masking itself beneath your own patterns. Clever, but not indestructible."
Elyra's pulse quickened. "If it's sentient, it could infect the ship—or worse, him."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Then we burn it out."
The Marauder hesitated. "Not yet. It may hold information—memories from the Void's network. If we can isolate it, we could learn how to destroy the source."
Elyra stared at the Marauder, then at Kael. The risk was enormous. But so was the reward.
"Alright," she said finally. "We contain it. But if it tries to take over—"
Kael finished for her. "You know what to do."
Elyra met his eyes, and in that silent exchange, the weight of trust passed between them.
The Marauder activated containment protocols. The chamber lights shifted to violet, energy fields flickering around Kael as the alien began to weave a lattice of light. The hum grew louder, pressing against the edges of hearing—then stopped abruptly.
The scanner dimmed. The containment field stabilized.
The Marauder's voice lowered. "It's done. The fragment is contained… for now."
Elyra exhaled. But as the last shimmer of energy faded, Kael's reflection in the console flickered—just once—and for a brief, chilling instant, the shadow staring back at him didn't smile.
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