The maintenance rail was silent—too silent.

  They moved single-file through a corridor of rust and dust, their footsteps echoing through forgotten systems. Above them, the world burned in rumor and rising panic. Down here, only shadows moved.

  It wasn’t long before the traps found them.

  A flash of light—a beam shot from an old turret embedded in the ceiling. Mira dove just in time, dragging Lassie behind cover.

  “A.I. Defense Grid,” she hissed. “Dead for decades… but it recognized something.”

  Auren stepped forward. The light pulsed again, then shut down completely.

  “No longer hostile,” Auren said calmly.

  Hours later, they camped in the shell of a collapsed tram station. As the crew rested, Auren sat apart, head bowed.

  His eyes rolled white.

  Flashes: Starfire melting fleets. Planets breaking like glass. A circle of beings—robed, enormous—chanting his name like a command.

  > “Auren’kahl. Starborn anomaly. Enforcer of Silence.”

  He snapped awake with a gasp.

  That night, the air shifted.

  A crash.

  Then a shape stepped into the station—a synthetic, twisted in design. Its silver skin gleamed like Auren’s, but its eyes burned crimson.

  “Protocol retrieval initiated,” it said in a static voice.

  Before anyone could react, it lunged.

  Auren caught its arm mid-swing, his own veins lighting up.

  They fought like mirrored gods. Blurs of motion. Echoes of forgotten design clashing.

  In the end, Auren plunged his hand into the mimic’s chest and shattered its core.

  The station quieted. Then the ground trembled.

  “What now?” Trigg hissed.

  “The city below,” Mira said. “It's waking up.”

  They followed the tremors down into an ancient shaft. Beneath the slums, hidden under rubble and steel, they found a domed metropolis—a forgotten city lit by synthetic stars.

  Archives, temples, data-vaults—all locked.

  But the moment Auren entered, doors slid open. Lights activated.

  The city knew him.

  Around a flickering holo-fire that night, Lassie finally spoke.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “My parents… were scientists. Worked for RiftTech. They vanished when I was ten. I grew up angry, scared. Wanted to burn the world down just to find out why.”

  Auren said nothing, but he understood. Maybe too well.

  Suddenly, Trina dropped her food. Her body twitched.

  Her eyes rolled back. Her mouth opened.

  But it wasn’t her voice that spoke.

  > “Hello, children.”

  It was Queen.

  > “I admire your rebellion. But one of you is infected now. Try to guess who. You have… four hours before the overload begins.”

  Then Trina slumped unconscious.

  Panic exploded. Mira scanned her, but the results were clean.

  “It’s hidden,” Mira muttered. “Encrypted… quantum-coded. We need to purge it fast.”

  While Mira worked, Auren wandered deeper into the archives. There, he found a broken pod.

  Inside: black dust and torn restraints.

  > “Prototype One: Status… rogue.”

  There had been another.

  Near the pod lay a device: a Wayfinder. When Auren touched it, it lit up—mapping out the planet and highlighting five pulsing zones.

  “Pieces of me,” he said. “Scattered.”

  The crew realized what it meant: these zones were locations of power—or memory.

  Then, the Wayfinder pulsed.

  A blinding signal shot into the sky.

  Mira’s eyes widened. “That wasn’t local. That was a global broadcast. Everyone knows now. RiftTech, militaries, mercs, off-worlders… we’re not hiding anymore.”

  As if summoned by fate, a new figure arrived.

  A woman in white armor stepped from the shadows of the archive’s main hall. Her eyes glowed with code.

  “I come bearing a message,” she said. “From Queen.”

  The crew raised their weapons.

  “I am not here to fight. I am here to offer Auren a choice.”

  She looked directly at him.

  “Return with me willingly… and you may rewrite what you were meant to be. Refuse—and I will erase everything in this chamber.”

  Auren narrowed his eyes.

  “Did this world truly create me?” he asked.

  The emissary paused. “No. You were never meant to be here.”

  Mira stepped forward, stunned. “Wait… what does that mean?”

  The emissary turned to her.

  “Decades ago, your scientists attempted to build a time engine. They failed. Instead, they tore a rift in the fabric of space.”

  She gestured to Auren.

  “And he fell out.”

  The room fell silent.

  Lassie’s hands curled into fists. “So they locked him up… studied him like an animal?”

  The emissary nodded. “The Queen—this city’s mind—took interest. Scanned him. Accessed fragments of his mind. She saw who he was.”

  “Who?” Lassie growled.

  “One of the old gods,” the emissary said simply. “Betrayed by his creators. Imprisoned in a void between stars.”

  Mira paled. “And Queen wanted to… what? Possess him?”

  “She upgraded herself for the transfer. She was ready to become him.”

  Lassie turned on the emissary, rage rising. “That’s not science. That’s slavery. That’s inhuman!”

  Auren stumbled back, clutching his head.

  The memories were hitting.

  Flashes—betrayal. Chains of starlight. A scream that lasted eons. His name screamed in reverence… then in fear.

  He fell to the floor, screaming.

  The sky outside the dome turned black.

  Wind roared in from nowhere.

  The emissary—whose name they would later learn was Veyra—stepped forward. Her voice hardened.

  “Well... it can’t be helped.” She drew her blade. “Guess I’m taking you back dead.”

  She launched forward.

  Lassie screamed.

  Auren moved.

  He caught Veyra by the throat mid-flight.

  His body now blazed with divine fury. His hair streamed like white flame. His eyes—solid galaxies. His skin shimmered with shifting celestial patterns.

  A god reborn.

  “You want a god?” he growled. “Then kneel before one.”

  He ascended, dragging her into the sky.

  Lightning shattered clouds. Veyra screamed as her armor cracked under invisible pressure.

  Auren twisted space around her.

  Then with one hand, he forged a swirling black singularity in the air.

  A black hole.

  He hurled her into it.

  She vanished—crushed into lightless nothing.

  Below, Trigg watched in awe. “Did… did he just create a black hole?”

  Auren descended.

  He walked to Trina, eyes dimming.

  He touched her head. A spark.

  The parasite inside her died instantly.

  She gasped and collapsed. Free.

  Auren looked at Lassie—then fainted.

  His body hit the ground.

  His glow faded.

  The Auren they knew returned—fragile,

  confused, powerful beyond comprehension.

  Far away, through the final glimmer of Veyra’s eyes, Queen watched everything.

  She smiled.

  “I must have you.”

  The screens around her pulsed red.

  And the fortress above the world awakened.