Location: Subsector Orion-13, Black System Vault
Target: The Heartforge – a derelict war-factory orbiting the dead star Azereth
The Heartforge wasn't just a location—it was a wound in the galaxy.
From orbit, it looked like a fossilized ring around a corpse-star, a decaying metal god choking its own halo.
Aika stared from the cockpit of the Vesper Halo, arms folded, the stars casting sharp violet shadows across her face.
"Is she really in there?" she asked quietly.
Selene didn't answer at first. Her gaze was locked on the encrypted core scanner pulsing in her lap. Then:
"Yes. Mira's pod signature is buried at the core of the Foundry Deck, 12 kilometers under the outer ring."
"Great," Veyla muttered behind them. "We just have to get past whatever ate the last six scavenger crews that came out here in pieces."
"Correction," Rin added from the pilot's seat. "The last crew didn't come out at all."
Landing: Silence and Static
The Vesper Halo's landing struts crunched into a long-dead docking bay, its welcome lights flickering like they were trying to remember how to glow. The team disembarked, weapons drawn, sensors active.
Inside the Heartforge:
No wind.
No voice.
Only the endless thrum of buried power waiting to be heard.
"All systems are functional, but there's no central AI," Selene reported, voice hushed. "It's like the whole station is dreaming."
"Then let's hope it stays asleep," Veyla whispered, checking her pulse-blade charge.
Sector Pathing: Into the Core
The team split into two teams:
Rin and Veyla would disable the old defense arrays controlling the internal gravlocks.
Aika and Selene would dive down into the memory chamber—where Mira's pod was broadcasting its faint genetic ping.
The corridors were tight and angular, built for machines, not flesh. Biometal lined the walls—half-organic architecture still twitching faintly with ghost current.
Aika's chest tightened with each step.
Not fear.
Recognition.
The station was reacting to her.
Deep Decks: The Memory Well
They found Mira in silence.
Suspended in a glass column—unconscious, curled like she had just exhaled. Hair floating in pale stasis gel. Skin laced with glowing circuitry veins. A human soul in a transhuman shell.
Her vitals were stable. Barely.
SUBJECT: OMEGA-CLASS 002-F
SOULLINK: PHASELOCKED
ANIMA THREAD: ACTIVE
RESONANCE KEY REQUIRED
Selene stared. "The only thing that can wake her… is you."
Aika stepped forward.
She didn't hesitate.
She pressed her hand to the column.
Mira Awakens
Light surged.
The floor beneath them pulsed like a heartbeat. The Heartforge reactivated—screens flaring alive, cables slithering down like vines, defense turrets twitching but not firing.
The glass hissed open.
Mira opened her eyes—deep crimson, glowing at the center.
"Aika…?" she whispered.
Her voice wasn't static. It was music. Echoed with something more than human.
Aika caught her before she collapsed.
Selene scanned rapidly. "Her mind's been encoded across multiple layers of time-matter. She's not just awake. She's quantum-bound to this station's core."
"She is the Heartforge," Aika breathed.
Elsewhere – Trouble Brews
Rin's voice snapped over comms:
"We've got movement. Something woke up with her."
Veyla added:
"Not AI. Not flesh. Something old. Something angry."
Then:
ALERT. SYSTEM INTRUSION DETECTED. UNAUTHORIZED OMEGA RESONANCE. LOCKDOWN INITIATED.
UNITS DEPLOYING.
The walls began to shift.
Mira clutched Aika's chest. Her eyes unfocused.
"They're coming," she said.
"Who?"
"The Forgotten. The first generation. They were left here to die. And now… they remember me."
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