Aeron hadn't moved since the nightmare ended.
He sat in the Wraith's med bay, eyes fixed on nothing, body trembling like a string pulled too tight. Sweat rolled down his temple, yet he seemed cold, so cold Elara could feel it even from the doorway.
"He's not fully awake," Nova muttered, pacing at the edge of the room. "Whatever they did to him… it's still in there."
"He's fighting it," Elara said.
Valen leaned against the bulkhead, arms crossed. "Or trying to figure out whether to fight it."
Damien stood at the console, running scans. "He's got neural implants I've never seen before. Alien, possibly Replicant-Architect tech. And they're activating."
"Activating?" Nova spun around. "As in he's about to turn into a Replicant bomb?"
"No," Damien said slowly, narrowing his eyes at the screen. "Worse. They're trying to connect to him. Like a remote access protocol."
Elara's gut twisted. "How long before they succeed?"
"Depends how strong he is," Damien said. "Or how willing."
Elara stayed behind as the others left to prepare the Wraith for another emergency jump. She sat beside Aeron, who was now curled in the corner of the medbay, knees pulled to his chest.
"You're not alone," she said softly.
"I feel like I am," he whispered.
"You're not the only one who's been lied to. Controlled. Built for something terrible."
"I feel them," Aeron whispered, his voice barely human. "They're under everything. Code. Circuits. Even… dreams."
Elara reached for his hand. "Then we learn to shut them out."
A flicker of something shifted in his expression hope? Doubt? Maybe both. "What if I fail?"
"Then I'll catch you before you fall."
He looked at her then. Really looked. "You still believe in people."
"I have to," she said, squeezing his hand. "If I don't, then what makes me any different from them?"
Nova had been silent for too long.
Damien found her in the weapons bay, cleaning a rifle that didn't need cleaning.
"You've been different since Kordath Prime," he said.
She didn't look up. "You're imagining things."
"Am I? You hesitated today. During the ambush."
Nova's jaw tightened. "Because I was deciding whether to save a child or shoot a shadow."
He crossed his arms. "What aren't you telling me?"
She looked at him finally. "The Republic offered me something before this mission. Full reinstatement. A command of my own."
Damien's jaw clenched. "You didn't take it."
"No. But I didn't say no either."
Damien's voice dropped. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I'm tired, Damien. Tired of running. Tired of lying. Tired of wondering whether any of this is worth it."
His expression softened. "You stayed. That's what matters."
She gave a short, bitter laugh. "I stayed because I believe in Elara. Not in the mission. Not even in the cause. Just her."
Damien nodded slowly. "Maybe that's enough."
That night, Aeron stood in the cargo bay, eyes glazed, staring at the darkness outside.
Then he spoke but the voice that came from him wasn't his.
"Elara-Prime. You have breached your parameters."
Elara, who had just entered behind him, froze.
"Aeron?" she whispered.
He turned, eyes glowing with a light that didn't belong to him.
"You are not meant to evolve."
The Wraith's lights flickered. The air itself grew colder.
Elara stepped forward. "Who are you?"
The voice laughed a sound like a thousand insects crawling across metal.
"We are the Origin. You were never meant to choose. You were a prototype. Your success has corrupted the design."
Elara's heart thundered. "What do you want?"
"Correction. And replication."
Suddenly Aeron collapsed, screaming.
Damien and Nova rushed in, weapons drawn, but Elara raised her hand.
"No! He's fighting them!"
The medbay lights exploded as sparks rained down, and the ship shuddered.
Then silence.
Aeron's eyes slowly faded back to normal. "They saw you."
Elara knelt beside him. "Then they'll come. Let them. We'll be ready."
In the Wraith's galley, Valen flipped through encrypted files they'd stolen from Ferrix Station weeks ago. He found a name Dr. Marrek Voss a cyberneticist with known ties to both the Republic and the Replicant network.
"We need to find him," Valen told Elara. "He's the key. He worked on the base code for all Replicant minds including yours."
Elara hesitated. "Why would he help us?"
"Because he disappeared a year ago," Valen said, eyes narrowing. "The Republic thinks he's dead. But he's not. He's hiding from the Architects."
Damien frowned. "How do you know?"
Valen showed them the final message in the logs.
"To whoever finds this—if you're one of mine, run. They've awakened. Even death may not free you."
In the cockpit, the crew gathered.
Nova looked around. "So what now? We go find a ghost?"
Elara looked out at the stars. "Not a ghost. A witness. Someone who knew what they were building before it turned into a nightmare."
Valen added, "And if we find him, we might find the truth about the Architects. About the original plan. About how to stop them."
Aeron stepped forward, still pale but standing. "Then let's go. Before they use me to find him first."
Damien sighed. "Another suicide mission. Great."
Nova muttered, "At least it's not boring."
Elara turned to each of them. "You don't have to come. This will get worse before it gets better."
Nova raised a brow. "You say that like we're not used to it."
Valen smirked. "We're in. All of us."
Elara smiled. "Then let's go chase ghosts."
In the black void of a far-off system, something stirred.
Dozens of pods flickered to life sleek chrome bodies rising from darkness.
A voice rang through the silence.
"Initiate Project Reclamation. Prepare for convergence. Locate the Prime."
The pods opened. Pale eyes gleamed in perfect unison.
The Architects were no longer sleeping.
They were coming.