Location: Neural Core Chamber Research Vessel Nomad
Time: Unknown
The hum was gone.
The silence felt wrong not empty, but listening.
Dr. Lira Solen stood within the neural immersion pod, surrounded by swirling streams of white code. The chamber's pulse echoed faintly through the hull, like a heartbeat waiting to stop.
"Vitals stable," said the ship's AI, calm but distant. "Warning: uncharted consciousness detected in the network field."
She exhaled, tightening the neural band across her temples. "I'm going in."
"Dr. Solen unmonitored entry into Subject Vale's neural field carries catastrophic risk."
"I know," she whispered. "But he's still in there. I can feel it."
Then she pressed ENTER.
Light swallowed her.
When the world rebuilt itself, it wasn't metal or stars it was memory.
