Thalyn stirred as the throne lifted her upright, her skull throbbing with a dull ache that echoed the pain of moments before. The chamber sharpened into focus—the hum of machines, the flicker of glyphs on the walls like dying stars. She exhaled slow, then lifted the crown from her head with a groan.
Korr and Elara’s voices sliced through, mid-argument. Korr’s hands fluttered over a device, its screen alive with erratic lines, while Elara jabbed a finger at a larger screen on the wall, the symbols flashing there in angry, alien script.
Elara caught sight of Thalyn, and her voice softened as she stepped closer. Her gaze combed over Thalyn’s face, a crease forming between her brows. “What's the matter?”
Thalyn grunted. “Just… a headache.”
Elara’s expression tightened, her eyes cutting to Korr.
He shook his head. "Not my doing," he defended.
Elara fished a sleek, compact tool from her satchel. The tip glowed blue as she waved it over Thalyn's head, her movements precise. The light danced over her temples, the nape of her neck, bathing her skin in a pale, sterile glow.
“It began when I woke up in a cell,” Thalyn said, her voice rough. “Larek was there too, but they took him first. Then they came for me. Asked if I was connected to him.” She paused, fingers twitching at the memory. “I told them I couldn’t remember. They didn’t care. Just strapped me to a scanner.” She winced. “It was… excruciating.”
Korr leaned in, eyes gleaming like a predator. “And? What’d they find?”
Thalyn’s lips curled in a dry smile. “Nothing. Arvie tampered with the scans, messed with the readings. They couldn’t make sense of it.”
Elara’s eyes widened. “Arvie interfered? That’s… unexpected.”
Korr’s frown deepened, eyes narrowing. “What exactly is Arvie? An AI companion shouldn’t have that kind of autonomy. Manipulating a scan like that... it’s beyond ordinary.”
Elara resumed her scan, her mind clearly somewhere else. “A headache could just be residue from the memory… or something else.” She tapped the tool against her palm, frowning. “Nothing seems wrong, though.”
Thalyn sighed, feeling the ache ebb. “Either way, it’s fading. I’m better now.”
Elara’s tone turned firm. “You should take it slow. Get some air, watch the commander, or the jungle—anything but this.” She nodded toward the throne.
Thalyn nodded, grateful, and grabbed her breather mask. She slipped it over her face and pushed through the doorway to the outside. The air thickened, the ruins dimming behind her as she moved into the open.
The jagged cliffs loomed nearby, towering over the landscape, their peaks swallowed by a veil of mist. Above, Atapalurin dominated the sky, the mother planet a massive silhouette against the dim haze.
She glanced down, spotting the commander’s small figure beneath the plateau’s shadow, drilling rock with rhythmic determination. The sound of metal on stone carried faintly through the thinning fog. The air smelled of damp earth, mingling with something metallic and ancient.
She moved closer, her steps silent on the uneven ground. “Commander.”
He didn’t pause, just grunted, nodding toward his satchel. “Detector.”
She rummaged through the bag, finding the device, its screen a dull glow in her hand. She scanned the rock he was working on, watching the readings flicker across its screen. “You’re on the right track.”
He grunted again, satisfied, and continued to drill, his focus unwavering. She watched for a moment longer, then slipped the detector back into the satchel. “
Careful,” she murmured before turning away.
The jungle breathed around her, unseen things whispering from the undergrowth, the trees stretching high and silent like mourners. She felt the eyes of the MBerthorn trees, their tips, like skeletal fingers clawing at the sky, casting shadows that danced and flickered like the edges of a nightmare.
The miasma parted slightly as she passed through the doorway, back inside, she pulled off the mask and sank down onto her sleeping bag. The faint hum of the machines droned on, a lullaby of another age.
She closed her eyes, let the shadows slip into the dark behind her lids, and felt the edges of sleep creeping closer.74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLWdYlO43l
