Eschaton Genesis

Novella 1

Prometheus
Rising
 PROMETHEUS RISING

Should have left a day earlier, Kael thought. The restraints bit into his wrists.
He lay strapped to a gurney in a room that stank of damp concrete, rot, and old
chemicals. A single spotlight burned above him, aimed straight into his face. It
erased the ceiling. Erased the walls. Erased everything but the white disk that
seared into his vision and the black around it.

He blinked. The ghost of the light stayed there. He did not know what they
had chosen for him this time.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Boots.

Kael’s heart started hammering. A man came out of the dark in a hazmat
suit, slow, as if Kael had nowhere to go. The visor was opaque. Kael saw only
himself in it: eyes wide, jaw clenched, face wet with sweat.

The figure raised both gloved hands. He was carrying a transparent

container. Kael saw what was inside and his stomach dropped.

A creature lay coiled in the fluid. Long. Pale. Sinuous. Its grey skin glistened
against the glass, segmented in faint ridges that flexed while it waited. At its
front, a circular mouth opened and closed with slow, wet patience. Teeth lined
the ring. Too many of them. Fine as needles near the top, thicker near the
bottom, arranged in rows that moved against each other.

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Kael pulled against the restraints. The metal cut harder into his skin. He
didn’t beg. He didn’t scream. Neither had ever helped.

The figure stepped closer and began to unscrew the lid. Kael twisted on the
gurney. His shoulders slammed against the padding. His ankles jerked. The
cuffs held. Pain seared through his wrists.

The lid came free with a soft hiss. The figure tipped the container. The
creature slid out onto Kael’s stomach. Cold weight hit his skin. Kael recoiled so
hard the gurney rattled. The thing was slick and heavy. Its body contracting to
drag itself across him, leaving a trail of cold slime that turned warm almost
immediately against his flesh.

Its mouth lifted. The ring of teeth opened. A chittering sound came from
inside it, low and rapid, like nails clicking behind a wall.

“No,” Kael said.

The creature struck. The teeth punched into his abdomen. For one
impossible second there was only pressure. A hard, circular force driving down
through him, crushing his belly toward his spine.

Then the teeth opened inside the wound. Kael’s body arched.

The pain came in layers. First the punctures, dozens of them, each tooth a
separate needle of scorching red heat. Then the tearing, deeper and slower, as
the ring locked into muscle and pulled.

His skin stretched around the mouth. Something wet gave way beneath it.
He tried to breathe and got half a breath. The creature bit deeper. Heat flooded
the wound.

Not fire on the surface nor burn he could snap away from. This was inside
him, a liquid acid spreading through meat, sliding under muscle, crawling along
nerves. It poured into him in pulses, each one hotter than the last. Kael
screamed. The sound broke halfway out of him.

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His stomach clenched around the creature. The teeth ground deeper. A
fresh bolt of pain ripped through him. His vision flashed black at the edges. He
felt the rows shift. Saw. Anchor. Twist.

Something inside him tugged the wrong way. He bucked against the
restraints. The cuffs ate into his wrists. Skin split. Warm blood slicked his
palms. He barely felt it. A distant phantom to the storm that brewed within him.

The thing moved. It did not withdraw. It crawled while still buried in him.
Pressure dragged upward under his skin. Tissue split in a hot line from his belly
toward his ribs. The creature’s body contracted and extended, contracted and
extended, hauling itself through him by the hooks of its teeth.

Every inch had a sound. Wet tearing. Small clicks. His own breath failing.

The pain changed as it climbed. Low in his abdomen, it had been heat and
ripping. Near his ribs it became pressure, a crushing, invasive weight that made
everything inside him shift aside to make room. His body tried to vomit.
Nothing came.

His throat panged with a sour copper taste. Blood. Or something like blood.
His legs kicked once, uselessly. His heels hammered the gurney. The restraints
snapped them back down.

The creature reached his diaphragm. Kael knew because his next breath did
not work. His chest tried to rise. Something inside him spasmed instead. The
teeth ripped through the muscle.

His brain forced him to pull a life sustaining breath.

Failure.

He made a thin, animal sound. Air sat in his throat, useless. His brain tried
again. Nothing. He was drowning in a room full of air. The spotlight swelled
above him. The white disk smeared into a halo. Tears ran into his ears. His jaw
trembled so hard his teeth clicked.

The creature kept moving. Upward. Toward his chest.

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Kael’s thoughts began to come apart. The room skipped. The figure with the
visor. The light. The teeth. The smell. The impossible need to breathe.

Ayla.

The name rose through the panic.

“Ay…”

His mouth shaped the rest, but there was almost no air left to carry it.

Ayla.

He saw her smiling at him. Not here. Not in the room. Somewhere bright.
Somewhere before all this. They had been ready to leave. Another planet.
Another system. Another nation. A clean start. He should have left a day earlier.

“... la.”

The darkness pressed in around the spotlight. Kael tried to hold her face.
For one second, he did. Then even that began to go.

The darkness lifted.

Kael's eyes snapped open, the blinding light replaced by the sterile white
ceiling of a lab. His body jerked as he tried to move, only to find himself
restrained on a metal bed. His breathing was ragged, his heart racing as the
remnants of the nightmare throbbed in his consciousness. His skin still tingled
with the phantom sensations of pain, his muscles sore from trying to escape the
simulated agony. The vividness of the experience left him disoriented.

Kael blinked several times, trying to clear his vision as he looked around the
lab. The room was stark and clinical, filled with an array of advanced medical
equipment. The walls were lined with screens displaying various data streams,
each flickering with complex readouts and holographic interfaces. To his right,
a large, three-dimensional construct of a brain rotated slowly, sections
highlighted in different colours indicating areas of activity.

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Two lab technicians stood nearby, their attention focused on the screens.
They were engrossed in the data, occasionally tapping at virtual keyboards that
floated in front of them. They spoke in hushed tones.

At the entrance to the lab, two guards stood watch. Clad in dark, imposing
armour. They held their weapons with a casual readiness while their eyes
scanned the room.

One of the technicians approached Kael. Her demeanour professional. Kael

lazily darted his eyes at her. “Your vitals are normal,” she said. “Your brain is in
disarray right now. Those pain signals did a number on it.” She reached in and
removed the neural headgear and signalled the guards.

The guards moved in. As the technician stepped back, they began to
unfasten Kael's restraints. His limbs felt heavy and unresponsive. As soon as he
was freed, they roughly pulled him to his feet. Kael's legs buckled, and he
retched, vomiting on the cold, sterile floor.

He glanced up in time to glance the technician's face. It had a subtle twist

of disgust. One of the guards looked to her for instructions. “Should we take him
to the infirmary?” he asked.

“No need," she replied dismissively. “He's stable enough. Just get him back
to his cell.”

The guards nodded, their grips firm as they half-dragged, half-carried Kael
out of the lab. His body felt like lead, every step a monumental effort.

They navigated the ship's labyrinthine corridors, the sterile white walls and
harsh lighting a stark contrast to the dark, dingy room they placed his
consciousness in. The hum of the ship's engines was a constant, oppressive
background noise.

They reached a section of the ship with inter-vessel transports. The guards
hauled him onto one of the sleek, cylindrical pods, securing him to a seat before
the pod's doors hissed shut. The transport moved with a smooth, almost eerie

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silence, gliding through the vast interior of the ship. Kael's head lolled back
against the seat, the motion of the transport making his nausea worse.

After what felt like an eternity, the transport came to a stop. The doors slid
open, and the guards resumed their task of dragging Kael towards the HES
(Human Experimental Scheme) section. The corridors here were dimmer, the
air heavier, as if the ship itself recognized the grim purpose of this area.

They reached his cell and pushed him inside. Kael stumbled, catching
himself on the edge of the small bed. The cell was stark but not entirely
inhumane. A single bed, a toilet, and a small sink occupied the space, all within
arm's reach. The walls were a cold, featureless grey, and a small, reinforced
window high up let in a sliver of artificial light.

Kael collapsed onto the bed, his body finally giving in to the exhaustion. The
guards locked the cell door behind him, their heavy footsteps fading as they
walked away. He lay there, staring up at the ceiling, his mind still reeling from
the simulation.

The cell was his world, a confined space that offered little comfort but a
temporary respite from the endless cycle of torture.

The Human Experimental Scheme, or HES, was a grim facet of the

Allegiance of Man’s justice system. Those convicted of the gravest crimes—
murderers, traitors, and the like—were inducted into the program. It was a fate
worse than death. The condemned were subjected to relentless experiments,
their bodies and minds pushed to the brink in the name of scientific
advancement. They were even leased to corporates like commodities with little
oversight on what was done to them. There was no parole, no clemency. Once
inducted, exemption only came with major scientific break throughs, the
criteria of which weren’t known to Kael – considering they even survived.

Kael was part of Project Mindprobe, aimed at extracting information from

a person without physical harm, launching them into a simulated environment
and torturing them till they broke.

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Despite the relentless torture he faced, Kael clung to the thought of Ayla.
He didn't want to die; he wanted to return to her. The hope of seeing her again,
of making things right, was the only thing keeping him from giving in to despair.
The memories of her were both a comfort and a curse.

The cell door suddenly slid open, and Kael's heart skipped a beat. He
propped himself up on one elbow, wincing at the pain.

Standing in the doorway was Captain Ula Thyron, flanked by two guards.
She was tall and imposing, with sharp features softened only by her intense,
piercing blue eyes. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and she wore
a jumpsuit of light blue with accents of dark blue, almost matching the flag of
the Allegiance of Man. The uniform was both functional and symbolic, denoting
her high rank and the authority she wielded.

Ula stepped into the cell, her gaze sweeping over Kael with a mixture of
scrutiny and subtle pity. She paused for a moment before speaking, her voice
calm and commanding.

“You're coming with me,” she said.

Kael struggled to sit up with confusion and apprehension. "Where are you
taking me?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

Ula's eyes met his, a flicker of something almost compassionate in her gaze.
“You've been given a chance,” she replied. “A chance of exemption from the
HES.”

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Kael was being escorted through the ship's corridors, the guards’ grip on him
gentle but firm. The contrast from their usual rough handling did not go
unnoticed. He took the opportunity to ask, his voice still weak from the earlier
ordeal, “How am I going to be exempted from HES?”

Captain Ula Thyron, walking ahead, turned slightly to respond. “You and
the others will be briefed soon,” she said, her tone as neutral as ever.

“Others?” Kael said.

Ula nodded. “There are five others like you.”

Thousands of prisoners like him from HES were on the ship. “Why choose
me out of so many options?” Kael asked.

Ula's gaze met his. “Your crimes, while severe, are milder compared to the
others. At least your intentions weren't as dangerous.”

They continued down the corridor, the ship's hum a constant reminder of
their location. The walls were sleek and metallic, lined with dim, pulsing lights
that gave the passageways an eerie glow.

After a short walk, they arrived at a small docking station where an inter-
transport vessel awaited. The doors slid open silently, and Kael was guided
inside. The guards secured Kael to one of the seats. The doors closed with a soft
hiss, and the vessel began to move. It glided through the ship's vast interior.

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Kael watched through the transparent panels as they passed through various
sections of the ship.

The vessel came to a stop, and the doors slid open to an even larger door. It
opened as well to reveal a section of the ship clearly designed for military
personnel. This area was more organized and well-maintained. The floors were
a smooth, polished metal.

Military personnel walked about with brisk efficiency. They entered and
exited various rooms, each doorway leading to a space dedicated to different
operational tasks. Some personnel carried data tablets while others engaged in
brief, focused conversations. As they passed, the personnel saluted Captain Ula
Thyron. She acknowledged them with a simple nod.

As Kael and his escorts moved through this section, the contrast to the
prison area was stark. Here, the atmosphere was one of discipline and
preparedness. The air was filled with the low hum of machinery and the
occasional beep of electronic devices, creating a backdrop of constant activity.

They continued through this section until they reached a room at the end of
a quiet corridor. The doors slid open with a soft hiss, revealing a room. It was
large, with a high ceiling and walls lined with transparent displays showing
various data streams. The lighting was soft, casting a clinical yet almost serene
ambiance over the space.

In the centre of the room was a single, large metallic table surrounded by
chairs that seemed to float slightly above the ground. On them, five other
prisoners were already seated. They were dressed in similar jumpsuits like him,
all looking thin and frail, their eyes hollow and devoid of hope. The table itself
was covered with holographic interfaces, flickering with different images and
texts.

Apart from the prisoners, several guards were stationed around the room.
At the head of the room stood another figure in a military jumpsuit identical to
Ula’s. He was tall, with a hardened expression.

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Ula stepped forward, her voice commanding and clear. “I am Captain Ula
Thyron, commanding officer of the AoM Inara Qorath. This is Major Orin
Drayden,” she gestured towards the man standing beside her.

The holographic interfaces on the table shifted, displaying a three-

dimensional model of a celestial object. The sphere was a colossal, black sphere
with an almost ominous presence. The model rotated slowly, showing its
immense size and the gravitational field lines extending from its surface.

Intricate patterns adorned the surface, faintly pulsing with a soft blue light,
creating an almost hypnotic effect. These patterns seemed to shift and change,
like the flow of some invisible river beneath the surface. It reminded Kael of the
intricate circuitry of ancient machines, yet there was an organic quality to it.

Ula continued, “We have discovered a strange celestial object in this section
of space, which we have designated ‘the Sphere.’ It measures approximately
3000 kilometres in diameter and possesses a gravitational force of
approximately one-sixth that of Novara Prime.” Novara Prime was the capital
of AoM.

She paused, allowing the information to sink in. “However, every probe or
drone we have sent to investigate the Sphere has failed to return.
Communication is lost as soon as they enter its vicinity. Due to these
circumstances, we have decided to send a human team to investigate.”

Kael's heart sank at her words. He knew what was coming next.

“And that is why you are here,” Ula continued. “You six have been selected
from the Human Experimental Scheme to undertake this mission. If you
succeed and return alive, I personally guarantee your freedom. We will sign
legal agreements confirming this arrangement.”

Kael felt a mix of emotions swirling inside him. The promise of freedom was
a glimmer of hope, but the reality of the mission could be a death sentence. He
could feel his stomach knotting in anxiety, his mind racing with possibilities.

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The thought of possibly never seeing Ayla again was troubling, but the promise
of freedom kept him focused.

Ula's voice cut through his thoughts. “Furthermore, Major Drayden will be
accompanying you on this mission,” she said, turning to the Major. This
revelation put Kael somewhat at ease. A decorated military personnel
accompanying them. Maybe they knew something about the Sphere that didn’t
make it a death sentence.

Major Drayden stepped forward, his presence imposing. He looked each

prisoner in the eye before he began to speak, his voice authoritative. “We will
be departing in 168 hours. During this time, you will undergo intensive training.
You will be provided with MARS suits—Multipurpose Augmented
Reconnaissance Suits—for this mission.”

The holographic interfaces shifted again, displaying detailed schematics of

the MARS suits. “You will be trained to take environmental samples, analyse
data, and handle potential threats. Your suits will be equipped with the
necessary equipment which we will discuss during training.”

He paused, before speaking again. “Your suits will also be linked to mine.
With a single thought, I can control it’s movement. This means that if any of
you attempt anything that jeopardizes the mission or my safety, I can stop you
instantly.”

“You will be armed XR-95 rifles for your protection,” Drayden continued.
“These rifles are equipped with standard and high-velocity rounds. They also
have integrated sensors that will alert me if they are aimed in my direction. If
that happens, I will have the authority to freeze your suits and, if necessary,
eliminate the threat.”

He let the last words hang in the air, the implications clear. "Your suits are
also equipped with a failsafe. Should any of you attempt to sabotage the
mission, Vextrion can be released into your suits. It is a highly corrosive agent
that attacks any tissue that comes in contact with it, causing immediate and

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severe chemical burns. It will destroy your lung tissue, leading to asphyxiation,
while the external exposure will result in severe dermal necrosis.” He sighed.
“This all will happen while you’re trapped in your suit.”

There was an eerie silence. Kael felt a slight amount of adrenaline in his
guts after that gruelling description.

Ula stepped forward, a note of half-hearted positivity in her voice. “Enough

of the threats. You all deserve to enjoy some real food.” As she spoke, the doors
slid open to reveal robotic waiters entering the room, each carrying trays laden
with food.

The smell hit Kael immediately—rich, savoury, and mouth-watering. It was

meat. Steak. His stomach growled audibly, a reminder of how long it had been
since he’d had a decent meal. The aroma of the freshly cooked steak filled the
room.

Kael watched as the robotic waiters rolled in and placed the trays in front
of each prisoner. The sight of the thick, juicy steak was almost overwhelming.
It had been months since he had tasted anything other than the bland, nutrient
paste they were fed in the prison. The sight and smell of real food were almost
too much to bear. He hesitated for a moment, hardly believing that this feast
was real. Then, unable to resist any longer, he picked up the fork and started
devouring his meal.

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Kael sat in his room aboard the drop ship, the steady hum of the standard fusion
engines—a series of powerful ARC-22 reactors—rang through his ears. The
room was more comfortable than the prison cell he had been confined to, but
the door was securely locked. It would take them two days to reach the Sphere.

His training had been gruelling but thorough. Better than what he had go
through otherwise. They were drilled on how to take environmental samples,
analyse unknown substances, and handle the XR-95 rifles they had been issued.
The rifles were sleek, black with matte finishes. Kael barely remembered one of
his friends talking about this variant of rifles. They were the most basic ones
issued to AoM soldiers.

He had also been taught how to operate the MARS suits. They were
equipped with advanced life support systems, integrated HUDs and a variety of
tools for scientific analysis and survival. The suits were sleek, almost skeletal in
design, with dark grey plating that shimmered with a faint blue hue under the
light.

Locked in his room, Kael's thoughts turned to the Sphere. The holographic
model of the colossal, enigmatic structure had fascinated him. As an astro
engineer, he couldn't help but theorize about its origins. Could it be a remnant
of the Ancient humans? The Ancients were a mysterious and advanced
civilization, and very little of their technology had been found. The warp drives,

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which had revolutionized space travel, and the synthesis of Yossnianium—an
incredibly hard alloy discovered through schematics on Yosnia—were among
their few known legacies. If the Sphere was indeed connected to the Ancients,
it would be the largest discovery in history.

The thought excited Kael. The potential scientific breakthroughs were

staggering. What other secrets could the Sphere hold? Advanced technologies?
New materials? The possibilities were endless.

His musings were interrupted by a voice over the intercom. “All personnel
prepare for suit deployment.”

Kael's heart quickened. He stood up as a compartment in the wall slid open

with a soft hiss, revealing his MARS suit and XR-95 rifle.

He stepped towards the suit, a feeling of fear filling his heart. Fear of the
unknown. The suit opened at the back, allowing him to step inside. As he did,
the internal systems activated, the suit sealing around him with a series of soft
clicks and hisses. The HUD flickered to life, displaying vital statistics and
system checks. His vision was filled with readouts and data overlays.

Kael picked up the XR-95 rifle, feeling its weight and balance in his hands.

With a deep breath, Kael walked to the door, which slid open to reveal the
corridor beyond.

He walked along the corridor, where the other prisoners were also exiting
their rooms. They formed a silent line, each one moving towards the ship's
bridge.

As they reached the bridge, Kael saw Major Drayden already seated in the
pilot seat. The bridge filled with glowing panels and holographic displays. Kael
remembered that AoM dropships had advanced autopilot software, capable of
piloting the ship without human intervention if the environment wasn't too
hostile.

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Major Drayden's suit was a step above theirs, clearly more advanced. It had
a sleek, integrated design with additional armour plating and enhanced HUD
capabilities. Kael recognized the suit as the Celeris model.

“Prepare for landing,” Major Drayden said.

Kael and the other prisoners took their seats and strapped themselves in.
The restraints clicked into place, securing them. As the ship began its descent,
the deceleration increased, designed to soften the landing. The engines roared
with increased intensity, and the entire structure vibrated as they approached
the Sphere's surface.

The deceleration forces pressed them back into their seats, the gravitational
pull of the Sphere adding to the strain. Kael's heart pounded as they neared the
unknown.

With a jarring thud, the drop ship landed. The vibrations ceased, and the
engines wound down to a low hum. Kael released his breath, realizing he had
been holding it. They had arrived.

They unstrapped themselves and moved out of the bridge to the exit area.
The anticipation hung heavy in the air as they approached the hatch that would
lead them into the Sphere.

The hatch opened, revealing the surface of the Sphere. They stepped out,
their boots connecting with the strange, dark material that made up the
Sphere’s exterior. The surface was smooth and featureless, stretching out in all
directions. Above them, the sky was a vast, star-filled expanse, with the Inara
Qorath barely visible as a distant speck against the backdrop of interstellar
space.

Kael's breath caught as he took in the sight. The Sphere itself was a
monolith of mystery. It loomed in the void like an ancient titan, its vast surface
unmarred by the ravages of time or space. The material it was constructed from
was unlike anything Kael had seen before—dark, smooth, and eerily reflective,
absorbing the starlight in a way that made it seem almost liquid. It was as if the

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entire structure was forged from obsidian. There was no atmosphere, only the
cold, unyielding void pressing against their suits.

The gravity, was just enough to keep them grounded, each step a delicate
balance between floating and falling. It had been ages since Kael was in a low
gravity environment.

As they moved further from the drop ship, the sense of scale grew even more
daunting. The Sphere's horizon curved gently. Every now and then, the surface
would reveal subtle imperfections—tiny, almost imperceptible ridges and
valleys that hinted at a complexity far beyond current human comprehension.

“We've lost contact with the Inara,” Major Drayden said with a sigh “Stay
together. Our first task is to collect any sort of sample we can find and head back
to the drop ship,” He looked around. “Though it seems it won't be easy given
the lack of obvious material to pick up.”

Their suits had built-in thrusters designed to fly across the low-gravity
surface, but for now, they moved on foot. The group stuck together as
instructed. Each step on the Sphere's surface was a surreal experience. Kael had
been on moons before, had spacewalks. This wasn’t remotely similar to those.

After walking a few meters, the Major paused and turned to face them. “The
surveillance drones are booting up. I want to scan the area once before we fly
anywhere. See if there’s any samples we can collect.” he informed them and
turned around to face the horizon.

The communication channel among the prisoners was blocked, only to be

opened at the will of Major Drayden. So Kael was by himself in his suit. The
Major didn’t talk much.

As Kael stood there, his mind began to wander. He thought about Ayla and
wondered what she was doing right now. She moved in with her brother in
Yosnia after Kael was convicted. Last time they spoke, she said about helping
her brother out with his business. “I just need to keep my mind off things a bit,”

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she had said. “It just hurts too much if I am not busy.” That wretched Kael’s
heart. She-

The Major snapped his head back. Kael followed his gaze and his blood ran
cold. The prisoner they called ‘Screw’ was in two pieces. He had been severed
cleanly from the arms down by a tumbling piece of metal, which clattered onto
the ground after slashing him apart. Screw’s upper half landed softly on the
surface, blood spraying out and vaporizing instantly in the vacuum of space. His
hands twitched, groping desperately for the lower half of his body that was no
longer there.

Before Kael could react, he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye.
He turned back to look at the dropship and froze.

A massive tentacle, about 50-60 times taller than any of them, made of the
same dark, reflective material as the Sphere, had emerged from the surface and
wrapped around the ship. The tentacle coiled around the drop ship, crushing it
with terrifying ease. The ship's hull buckled under the immense pressure, pieces
of metal twisting and snapping in the vacuum of space, flying out in all
directions.

In a matter of seconds, the drop ship was reduced to a heap of twisted

wreckage. The tentacle, after completing its work, arched up and stood there,
towering ominously above them.

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Kael's breath came in ragged gasps, his heart pounding in his chest.

The other prisoners, reacting on instinct, activated their suit thrusters and
began to lift off the ground. They tried to put distance between themselves and
the monstrous appendage, some firing their XR-95 rifles at it in desperation.
Kael was about to do the same, when he noticed Major Drayden.

The Major stood perfectly still, staring at the tentacle with a steely calm.
There was no hint of panic or fear in his posture. Kael hesitated, his instincts
screaming at him to flee, but something about the Major’s composure made him
reconsider. Maybe Drayden knew something they didn’t. Maybe staying still
was the key to survival.

Kael forced himself to stay grounded, his muscles tense with the effort of
resisting the urge to flee.

The tentacle moved with horrifying speed and precision.

One prisoner, flying at a breakneck speed, was caught mid-air. The tentacle
wrapped around him, crushing his suit and body in an instant. The suit
crumpled like foil, and his bones snapped within the confines of his suit. Blood
and debris sprayed out, visible through the helmet's cracked visor, but there
was no sound, only the haunting silence of space. The body, now a mangled

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mess of flesh and metal, fell gently to the ground, blood beginning to boil,
forming small red bubbles that vaporised away.

Another prisoner, firing wildly, was swatted aside like a rag doll. The
tentacle struck him with such force that his body tore into pieces upon impact.
Limbs detached and fell to the surface, leaving a trail of blood droplets that
sparkled in the dim light. His head, helmet still intact, landed softly. The boiling
blood created a crimson mist around the remains.

The tentacle continued its deadly dance. It showed no sign of being affected
by the rifle rounds that struck it, the bullets merely bouncing off its dark,
reflective surface. Another prisoner tried to evade, manoeuvring erratically, but
the tentacle was faster. It caught him by the legs, and with a swift motion, tore
him in half. The lower half of his body was left dangling in the tentacle’s grasp,
while the upper half, still clutching the rifle, landed gently on the ground. The
exposed blood vessels in his severed torso bubbled and boiled.

Kael watched in horror as the tentacle wrapped around the last of the
fleeing prisoners, snapping bones and crushing the suit with ease. The
prisoner’s body went limp, landing on the surface as the tentacle released its
grip. The suit’s visor shattered, and blood poured out, boiling instantly into a
macabre cloud of red mist and ice crystals.

The tentacle released the body and returned to its default position and
remained still.

It began to retract. It slid back into the surface of the Sphere, leaving behind
only the wreckage of the drop ship and the broken bodies of the prisoners.

A cold sweat broke out of Kael’s brow, despite the regulated temperature
of his suit. His thoughts raced, filled with the terror of leaving Ayla alone, of
dying here in this desolate place.

Regret gnawed at him with relentless intensity. He had wanted to survive,

to find a way back to Ayla, to make things right. But now, standing on this alien
sphere with death all around him, he realized how hopeless it all seemed.

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Wouldn't it have been better to stay back on the ship and endure the tortures?
At least there, he had some semblance of a future, some sliver of hope. Here, it
was a literal death sentence.

How had it come to this? He had been so close to freedom, and now it felt
as though all of that was slipping through his fingers.

I am dying here.

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Orin Drayden surveyed the aftermath. The tentacle's rampage had left a scene
of carnage, but Orin felt only a twinge of disappointment—disappointment that
he hadn't been one of the victims.

The surveillance drones were showing offline in his HUD. They had been
destroyed in the chaos.

He glanced at Kael, who was on the ground reeling from the horror that had
just unfolded. Orin accessed Kael's communication channel and heard the
hyperventilating. His breathing was erratic.

“Zorin,” Orin said, his voice cutting through the noise. “Get up. The drones
are destroyed, and we have to do this without them.”

Kael ignored him, lost in his terror. Orin’s tone sharpened. “Zorin, I said get
up.”

Kael's voice crackled over the comms, filled with anger and fear. “Do you
even care? Two-third of our team were just killed right in front of our eyes!”

Orin remained unmoved. “We need to keep moving and find out what we
can. Sitting here won’t change anything.”

Kael hissed. “You don’t care, do you? You’re just another AoM slave. A
disposable-”

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Orin disconnected the channel, not interested in Kael's tirade. He began
hiking forward. A notification flashed on his HUD—Kael's arm was too close to
him. Orin froze Kael instantly, spinning to face him.

Kael was frozen mid-motion, his arm extended in a punching gesture. Orin
reconnected to his comm channel. “Don't make me release the Vextrion,” he
said.

He then heard Kael's sobs, the whispered words barely audible. “I just want
to see her again.”

Something stirred in Orin.

Orin was in the cave, his unit trapped. One of his soldiers,
Small, was crying. Blood poured from a deep gash on Small's
side, the wound exposing muscle and bone. Black lines crept
through his veins, flowing to his brain with alarming speed.
He could almost see them move in real time. “You're gonna be
okay, Small,” Orin said, but he knew it was a lie. Small’s voice
was a weak whisper. “I just want to talk to my mom one last
time, Meek,” he said as a drop of tear slithered down his cheek.

Orin snapped back. He took a deep breath and disconnected the channel for a
moment. “I am sorry, Small,” he whispered. He reconnected.

“Take a seat," Orin commanded.

“What?”

“Take a seat,” Orin repeated more firmly.

They both complied. Orin sat down on the ground, using his suit's controls
to freeze the upper part of his body so he could lean back comfortably. Kael
followed suit.

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Orin started. "Why are you in the HES?"

“What does that have to do with-”

“Just answer the question,” Orin ordered.

Kael took a deep breath. “My wife and I were finally going to leave AoM and
start a new life in Itridas. We decided to stay one more day, just to celebrate,
meet friends and family for the last time.” He paused. “I killed a guy that night.”

“What happened?”

“Well … got into an argument with this drunk guy in the bar. He said some
vile things about my wife and we started throwing punches. I lodged a shard of
glass in his neck. Help arrived too late to save him.”

“Manslaughter,” Orin said. “Not enough to get you into the HES.”

“Yes. Was sent to a regular correctional facility with a sentence of five years.
There … I killed a guard.”

That escalated fast, Orin thought. “Why?”

“He was a sadist. Used to single me out. Gave me punishments for the
smallest of infractions. Beatings, solitary confinement, no outdoor time.” Kael’s
voice grew intense, “At one point, I couldn’t take it anymore. So I built a
makeshift taser, tased him when he entered my cell and beat him to death with
his own baton.”

“First-degree murder. That would do it,” Orin said, understanding Kael.

“I just wanted to protect myself.”

“Sometimes, we do things we never thought we were capable of.”

Orin's breathing quickened as images from the past came rushing back. He
muted his comm channel to hide his heavy breaths. Closing his eyes, he chanted
softly to himself, “It won’t happen again … It won’t happen again …” He forced
his mind to focus on the fact that the AoM Navy had nuked that place, vaporized
it. Nothing could survive that.

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“How did you know to stay still in front that tentacle thing?” Kael’s voice
broke through the his thoughts.

“I didn’t,” Orin said.

“What do you mean? Then why didn’t you, you know like try to flee?”

There was a silence. Orin did not want to answer that question.

“Why didn’t it attack us then?”

Orin had been wondering that. “Maybe it was trying to protect itself and it
didn’t register us as a threat.”

“Why though?” Kael asked, the confusion evident in his voice.

There was a deep silence as Orin mulled over why. It had to be something
the other prisoners and the dropship had or were doing that he and Kael
weren’t.

“The fusion thrusters,” Kael’s voice broke his chain of thought. “The ones
on the drop ship and our MARS suits. They use a lot of energy. Maybe the
Sphere detected that as a threat and brought out the tentacle. And since we were
the only ones not outputting those massive amounts of energy, it didn’t think
of us as one.”

Orin considered this. “That makes sense.”

Kael nodded. “So, if we avoid using the thrusters, we might be able to avoid
triggering the tentacle again.”

Orin agreed. “It’s going to be hard hiking through this … I don’t know …
‘wasteland’ on foot.”

“What do you say we do, then?”

“We hike,” Orin said, bringing up the 3D model of the Sphere’s surface on
his HUD, displaying it for Kael to see as well. He pointed out several
depressions on the surface. Orin zoomed in and highlighted a large depression

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nearby, resembling a giant canyon with sharp, well-defined edges. “This canyon
is close to where we landed. It's about 100 kilometres away.”

“A hundred kilometres on foot?”

Before Orin could respond, the ground in front of them began to ripple like
liquid. A pit opened up, revealing a dark abyss below. From the centre of the
opening, a spherical object emerged, rising slowly. It stopped for a few seconds
before zipping into space with a breakneck speed.

Orin’s HUD immediately tracked the object, displaying telemetry data. “It’s
heading straight for the Inara Qorath,” he said. The data showed the object's
acceleration at 100G's, calculating that it would reach the Qorath in
approximately five minutes. He shared the data with Kael’s HUD.

“What do you think it is?” Kael said.

Orin shook his head. “I don’t know. A weapon, maybe?”

Kael's mind raced. “Maybe it’s a message beacon.”

“Well whatever it is, that’s for the people in the Qorath to figure out. We
should keep walking before we starve to death.”

“Right.”

They started getting up from the ground when suddenly lights, like tiny
sparks, danced around them. They looked up and saw a massive explosion. The
Inara Qorath, a speck of dust from where they stood, had erupted in a brilliant
flash of light.

The explosion was immense, a bright, fiery blossom that expanded rapidly,
casting a harsh glow across the dark expanse of space. The shockwave was
visible as a rippling distortion, radiating outward from the epicentre.

Orin’s breath caught in his throat. The realization hit him like a physical
blow. His breathing quickened, heart pounding in his chest. Tin’s scream played

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in his head. Small’s helpless whispers. Daffodil’s silence and Haiku’s “we’re
getting out of here alive”. Orin was the only one who got out of there alive.

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Kael

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