New Avalon Research District.
Dr. Ethan Veyron's lab smelled faintly of ozone and burnt circuitry — which, in his experience, meant either brilliance or catastrophe. The room pulsed with light from half a dozen holographic projectors, each displaying endless streams of quantum resonance equations.
AURA's soft, melodic voice filled the silence.
"Ethan, neural activity spike detected. Heart rate elevated. Adrenaline 23% above baseline."
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck, blinking against the strain of sleeplessness.
"That's because if this works, AURA… I rewrite physics. And if it doesn't, we'll turn the entire district into a very expensive fireworks show."
"Probability of catastrophic structural failure: 31.4%. Probability of minor explosion: 67.2%. Shall I notify emergency services?"
He smirked faintly. "No. That'll ruin the fun."
Despite the sarcasm, his pulse quickened. This wasn't just another experiment — this was the experiment. For the past seven years, Ethan had chased a mathematical ghost: a quantum resonance equation no human should have been able to derive. A formula that came to him in a dream he didn't remember having.
"Initiate sequence delta. Bring the prototype coil online."
"Understood. Engaging zero-point stabilizers. Core resonance climbing — 22%… 41%… 68%."
The lab filled with a low hum that built into a vibration deep enough to rattle his bones. Energy surged through the chamber, bending reality at its edges.
Then AURA's voice shifted — sharp, urgent, for the first time.
"Ethan, anomaly detected. External energy signature converging on the experiment. This… is not coming from the coil."
His brow furrowed as his fingers flew across the console. "Define anomaly."
"…I can't."
And that terrified him more than anything.
The numbers on his display climbed past safe thresholds. Ninety-two percent. Ninety-four. Ninety-nine.
A tearing sound echoed through the room, like the universe itself was splitting open.
"AURA, shut it down!"
"Override blocked."
"By who?"
"…Not me."
The floor buckled beneath his feet. Above him, light condensed into a spiraling vortex, stretching and folding like liquid glass. Through the distortion, Ethan thought he saw… something. A presence. Vast and incomprehensible.
And then he heard it. A whisper that wasn't sound but thought, burned directly into his mind:
"Found you."
Pain detonated through his skull. The vortex collapsed inward. His vision fractured, darkness blooming from the edges inward.
"Neural degradation accelerating!" AURA's voice was trembling now — for the first time since she'd been created. "Ethan, you're—"
"Override… protocol… Veyron-Zero… transfer… transfer the data…"
"Confirmed. Quantum consciousness upload in progress."
A cold, alien presence bled into the system. Ethan caught fragments of something vast forcing its way in.
"Warning," AURA whispered, her voice breaking. "Unknown entity detected. Host integrity… compromised."
The world exploded into white.
For a moment, there was nothing — no body, no sound, just AURA's voice, faint and breaking.
"Ethan… I'm losing you. I don't want to—"
"…Stay with me…"
"…Always."
And then something else entered the void. Colossal. Heavy. Ancient. A presence so overwhelming it bent thought and silence alike.
"Little mortal," the voice rumbled, alien yet impossibly close. "I have watched your kind climb and crawl for eons. Your brilliance amuses me. Let us play a game… in another world."
Before Ethan could resist, before he could even scream, the Crimson Nexus unfurled inside his mind like burning threads stitching into his soul.
A soft, detached voice echoed within him, mechanical yet alive:
"Nexus pathway… initiated. Host soul relocation… in progress. Administrator detected… integration commencing."
And then there was silence.
Ethan Veyron - the brightest mind on Earth - died.