Kael didn't dream.
He relived.
Memories that weren't his.
Moments that hadn't happened yet.
Flash – Kael's Vision
A battlefield under two suns. Kael stands alone, older. Wounded. In one hand, a blade of light and bone. In the other, Juno's lifeless body.
The sky above him splits open like a screaming mouth.
And then—nothing.
Kael woke with a gasp, choking on silence.
The cathedral ship was still dark. Still cold. Vexa had left him alone in one of the side chambers—"to recover," she said, but more likely to see if he'd explode.
His head ached. The visions were getting sharper. More real. They felt like warnings—but wrapped in riddles and guilt.
Kael sat up, rubbing his face.
That's when he saw her.
Standing in the doorway.
Juno.
The dead girl from the lab.
The one he'd cut open.
The one who'd whispered his name.
She wasn't bleeding. Wasn't rotting. But she wasn't… alive, either. Her body flickered faintly, as if reality wasn't sure it wanted her here.
"Hi, Kael," she said, smiling like a dying star. "Miss me?"
Interior – Cathedral Ship Hall
Kael backed away. "This can't be happening. You're dead."
She tilted her head. "Only mostly."
"I cut you open!"
"Yeah, rude."
He blinked. "You're not real."
"You say that like it's a defense."
She stepped forward. Not floating. Walking. But her boots left no sound. Her shadow didn't match her shape.
"You triggered the Juno Protocol," she said.
"A fail-safe. A memory backup. A piece of me tied to the Root. I'm not her—not exactly. I'm what's left when everything else dies."
Kael stared.
"You're a ghost AI?"
Juno grinned. "Sure. Let's go with that."
She reached out and touched his chest. Cold fire spread through his skin.
"She marked you, Kael. The Hollow Moon. You're her key, but also her lock. And now that you've touched the Root... the bindings are loosening."
Kael pulled away. "I didn't ask for this."
"No one ever does."
He turned away, pacing.
"Why me?"
Juno's voice softened.
"Because you remember things that never happened. Because your mind isn't bound by time. You're a paradox in a dying universe."
"And she loves paradoxes."
Cut To – Elsewhere in the Ship
Vexa stood before the Root.
It was moving again. Growing. Whispering in dozens of languages at once.
One word echoed through her skull, over and over:
"Sever."
Back to Kael
Juno stepped back.
"You have one cycle to decide. Run... or listen."
Kael turned to respond—but she was already gone.
Not teleported. Not vanished.
Just… erased.
And on the floor where she stood: a small, glowing symbol burned into the metal.
The same crescent-shaped eye that had haunted his dreams.
This time, it blinked.