Chapter 12: The Lunar Gate
Aster num hull vibrated as it pierced the Moon upper thermosphere. The silence of space was deceptive—outside, a storm of radiation and debris swirled, remnants of long-abandoned mining colonies and failed expeditions.
Anderson floated near the command console, the quantum map Elira had given them unfolding into a 3D lattice above the dashboard. "That's the Gate?" he asked.
Mirror nodded. "Luna Station Theta. Not a station—it's a fortress."
Built into the far side of the Moon, invisible from Earth, Theta had been Dr. Z last known destination. But it wasn't abandoned. As they approached, warning lights flickered on across the station's surface—turrets emerged, shields activated, and one word pulsed in scarlet across their console: UNAUTHORIZED.
"Brace for contact," Mirror said.
A blast rocked the ship. Shields held, barely. Ferryman's voice cut in. "Sending override code now. If Z left a backdoor, this is it."
Static. Then silence.
And then—the turrets powered down.
"Welcome back, Dr. Zorin," a mechanical voice intoned.
Anderson blinked. "It thinks I'm him."
Inside the station, the corridors were eerily preserved. A museum of forbidden tech. Memory nodes lined the walls. Cloned plants breathed in zero gravity. And at its center, a chamber filled with suspended crystalline coffins—versions of Dr. Z, failed uploads, discarded copies.
Then they found it: the Core Room. A massive black sphere pulsing with quantum data. The voice returned.
"Anderson. Mirror. You have come not to find me—but to become me."
The floor shifted. Energy surged.
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward. Not a projection. Not an AI.
Dr. Z.
Alive.
Changed.
He smiled faintly, his eyes glowing like Mirror "Welcome to the edge of evolution."