I stand in the middle of the hall.
I don't move.
I don't breathe.
In front of me—
a black hole.
Alive.
Heavy.
It presses.
Pulls.
Watches.
And in that gaze—there's a void that knows more about you than you know about yourself.
"...is this even normal?" I whisper.
Silence.
Dense.
Thick.
Like a substance.
Makes you want to take a step—just to see if you'd sink into it.
And that's when the real fear hits—
to disappear into a void that doesn't even qualify as death.
"Alright…" I exhale slowly. "Easy. Let's test this."
I reach for the network.
Instinctively.
Like a hand.
Like breath.
Like something that's always been there.
And—
nothing.
Empty.
Not a weak signal.
Not a delay.
Not a connection error.
Nothing.
Like a piece of reality has been cut out of me.
"No…" I whisper. "No—no—no…"
I try again.
Deeper.
Sharper.
With effort.
Where's the fleet?
Where's Ironheart?
Where are my ships?
Where is—
…me?
No answer.
Just void.
And now the panic comes for real.
Cold.
Clean.
No hysteria.
"Wait… if the network is gone…"
The thought doesn't finish.
It doesn't have to.
They took it.
Xeno-Synapse.
All of it.
The entire network.
The system.
Everyone.
"No…" my voice breaks. "Not like this…"
I take a step back.
Even though there's nowhere to go.
"I was holding it… I had it… I—"
"What are you thinking about, Axiom-126?"
The voice.
I freeze.
Slowly turn.
Doctor Elias Morrenn stands there.
Watching.
Calm.
As if we're not at the center of a catastrophe.
As if this is… just a conversation.
He walks toward me.
Steady.
Measured.
Places a hand on my shoulder.
And—
it's real.
Weight.
Warmth.
Pressure.
I stop moving entirely.
Because—
that's impossible.
"You…" I look at his hand. Then at him. "You're not… you're—"
The words fall apart.
Because before, everything was simple.
He was a memory.
A hallucination.
An echo.
But now—
he's here.
"I see you're a bit disoriented, son," he says calmly.
I laugh.
Short.
Too sharp.
"A bit?" I mutter. "I think I've officially broken. Congratulations to both of us."
He doesn't react.
Of course.
"But that's normal," he continues. "For your current state."
He gestures around us.
"This structure…" a pause, "…is the center of your consciousness."
I blink.
"The core. The node. The primary communicator. The foundation."
He steps aside.
And I see it all again:
the black hole.
The station.
A construction that shouldn't exist.
"This is the guarantee of your immortality."
"Wait…" I raise a hand. "Stop. Slow down. I was just in a battle. My fleet is burning out there, the universe is cracking open, an alien is crawling into my head—"
"And you're here," he says softly.
I freeze.
"Yeah. Exactly. Why?"
He looks at me more closely.
And something in his gaze—
shifts.
He's still my father.
But… not only that.
"The alien helped me," he says.
I tense instantly.
"What?.."
"It separated me from your consciousness. Allowed me to enter this place."
Each word lands like a blow.
"Wait…" I step back. "You're serious? You're… working with it?"
"I'm using an opportunity," he answers calmly.
"That sounds exactly like 'working with it,' just with better branding!"
I run a hand over my face.
"Perfect… just perfect… so now I've got the enemy, my father, and myself all living in my head. All we're missing is a kettle and we can host guests."
He ignores that.
Of course.
"Now there are two of us here," he says. "You and me."
I look up.
"Two?.."
"Like you, I can materialize within this system."
Silence.
I look at him.
For a long time.
Searching for a lie.
A glitch.
A substitution.
But—
his hand is still on my shoulder.
Warm.
Real.
And something inside me…
breaks.
Quietly.
Without sound.
"You're… really here?" I whisper.
He doesn't answer.
Just looks at me.
And that's enough.
It hits me.
Hard.
Deep.
I pull him into an embrace.
Tight.
Like if I let go—he'll disappear.
"I thought…" my voice cracks. "I thought you were gone…"
I almost laugh.
"Brilliant, right? Lose your father. Become a god. Break everything. Logical progression. Straight out of a textbook."
I close my eyes.
For a second.
And in that second—
the silence changes.
Warmer.
Softer.
Alive.
"I'm here," he says quietly.
And I believe him.
I want to believe him.
Too much.
…
And the next moment—
he's gone.
Just—
gone.
My arms close around emptiness.
The warmth vanishes.
As if it was never there.
I'm alone.
Again.
"...what?"
I turn sharply.
"Hey—" my voice hardens. "That's not funny."
Silence.
"Seriously. Hilarious. Bravo. Do it again and I might completely lose track of what's real."
Nothing.
The black hole is silent.
The station is silent.
I—
am alone.
My heart pounds.
Louder.
Faster.
Like it's trying to prove I still exist.
"Was that a hallucination?.." I whisper. "Or…"
The thought cuts off.
Because another one replaces it.
Worse.
Much worse.
If he was real—
then where did he go?
I slowly turn toward the black hole.
Stare into its depth.
For a long time.
And at some point—
it feels like the darkness inside…
shifts.
Not randomly.
Intentionally.
Like a gaze.
Returning mine.
I freeze.
And in that moment I understand:
I'm not alone here.
It's just that…
whatever is looking at me from inside that void—
has been waiting for me to realize it.
**
Silence hangs in the air—it presses down.
Heavy. Viscous. Sticky, like resin you could get trapped in if you move too fast.
I stand in the middle of the hall and almost forget how to breathe.
Because there's this feeling—
if I say anything louder than a whisper right now,
this reality will crack.
Like glass.
Like me.
…
And right at that moment—
the space beside me
moves.
No flash.
No portal.
No effect.
It just—
appears.
The Angel.
I spin around sharply, something inside me snapping loose—relief, fear, irritation, all at once.
"Oh, great…" I exhale. "The 'we've lost everything' club just got bigger. Welcome. Cozy place, if you ignore the existential horror."
He stands as always.
Composed. Calm.
Like we're not on the brink of total erasure, but discussing the next phase of some… project.
"You are here, Axiom-126," he says.
I let out a short, dry chuckle.
"Thanks for confirming. I was starting to think this was some kind of weird vacation with no way out."
But inside—cold.
If he's here…
then things are bad.
Really bad.
I look away.
Toward it.
The black hole breathes in front of me.
And there, on its orbit—
I see a structure.
Similar to this station.
But… not the same.
Larger.
Heavier.
Deeper.
It feels like it weighs on me even from a distance.
"That…" I whisper. "Yours?"
A pause.
The Angel doesn't answer immediately.
But I already know.
"Consciousness carrier," he says. "Core."
I nod slowly.
"Of course. Every self-respecting god needs a place by a black hole. Preferably with a view."
The joke falls flat.
I swallow, then speak quieter:
"I lost the network."
The words drop between us like stones.
Heavy. Final.
The Angel looks at me.
For a long moment.
"I did as well," he says.
…
And now—
that's when it hits.
Real fear.
Not battle.
Not pressure.
Not the risk of death.
But the ground disappearing beneath me.
"Perfect…" I whisper. "Just perfect. So now we're both useless. Brilliant plan. As reliable as ever."
I take a few steps across the hall, watching how the smooth black surface reflects me…
but wrong.
Too sharp.
Too… separate.
"What does that mean?" the Angel asks.
I sweep a hand through the space around us.
"It's a trap."
I turn.
The hall.
Smooth like a mirror.
Flawless.
Too perfect to be real.
"The Xeno-Synapse cut us off from our networks," I continue. "Isolated us. Locked us in here."
I look straight at him.
"And then they'll come and… finish it."
I don't even want to say "destroy."
Too simple for what's coming.
The silence thickens.
And then—
"Unlikely."
I blink.
"What?"
The Angel isn't looking at me anymore.
He's staring into the black hole.
"Here, I control time."
I tense.
He makes a small movement—barely noticeable.
And I feel it.
Not with my eyes.
Deeper.
Like the fabric of reality here is… thick.
Resisting.
"Locally," he says. "Using the black hole's energy."
He turns slightly.
"You remember how the Ironheart ships stopped."
And it hits me.
A memory.
The fleet.
The battle.
Motion—
and then—stop.
Ships frozen.
Like flies in amber.
Like decisions you can no longer change.
"Yeah…" I say quietly. "I remember."
I clench my fists.
"But they adapt," I add sharply. "You saw that."
I step toward him.
"Xeno-Synapse don't learn. They rewrite themselves. Reassemble."
Another step.
"Who knows what they've already figured out?"
A pause.
"Maybe they've already found a way in here."
The Angel says nothing.
And that—
that's worse than any answer.
I look back at the black hole.
And suddenly—
a thought.
Cold. Precise.
"If we're here… outside of time…"
I turn to him.
"…what's happening out there?"
A pause.
Long. Heavy.
"Our networks…" My voice falters. "Our fleets…"
I swallow the rest.
Because there are only two options.
And both are bad.
"They keep going without us?
Or—"
I don't finish.
"…or someone's already controlling them instead of us?"
…
Silence.
The black hole turns slowly.
As if listening.
I feel the cold rising inside me.
"If they got access…" I whisper. "They're studying us."
I turn away sharply.
"Then this isn't a trap," I say.
I look at him.
Directly.
Hard.
"It's a laboratory."
The words hang between us.
Heavy.
Alive.
And at that moment—
something changes.
I feel it.
Not with my eyes.
Deeper.
Like a slight shift in reality itself.
As if—
someone just
touched the boundary of this place.
I freeze.
My heart speeds up.
"You felt that…?" I whisper.
The Angel doesn't answer.
But I see it—
he did.
He slowly turns toward the black hole.
And there—
deep inside—
for a fraction of a second—
a light flickers.
Not bright.
But…
wrong.
I swallow.
"Of course…" I murmur. "Would've been weird if they just left us alone."
A pause.
I feel everything inside me tightening.
"Tell me…" I say. "Was that you?"
Silence.
And then—
it comes.
Not a sound.
Not a voice.
A thought.
Alien.
Cold.
Emotionless.
But perfectly clear.
"Analysis complete."
…
I go still.
The world seems to shift—microscopically.
And in that moment—
I understand.
They didn't just find us.
They—
finished studying us.
And now the question isn't whether we can escape.
It's—
what exactly they've decided to do with us.