Neonatharis fringe. Eternal Lament megastructure—rusted shell around a dead star. Grav-boots slipped on corroded plates. Drift market junk. Air thick with burnt wiring, ozone. Vance's fuel stink lingered. Sweat burned under helmet seal."Doc, anomaly's spiking bad. We out?" Jax's implant voice cut sharp. Panic buried deep. Kid fresh from academies. Third smoke break I killed."Driftfox standby. Anomalies cover rent." Lie. Rent paid months back. Real reason: itch for Void Dynasty relics. 1,247 cycles lost. One find locks tenure. No more Dominion audits.Torch sliced wall. Dust choked air. Chrome vines hummed warp echoes. Fingers hit glyphs—cold bite, low thrum. "Jax, full scan. Log the—"Vance moved fast. Lanky pilot. Six runs shared. Plasma syringe punched neck seal. Veins lit cold fire. "Dominion bounty beats our take, Doc. Direct orders."Betrayal sank deeper than poison. Sirens screamed. Red strobes bled walls. Warp tore loose. Gravity died. Guts knotted tight. Stars ran crimson through viewport. Black hole edge ripped reality.Fell into core. Obelisk spun slow. Glyphs crawled surface. Implant pulled them in—skull-deep rewrite. Vision cracked. Two voices. Thomas rational: Abort. Override now.Dark one inside growled soft. Time. Blood calls.Implant spiked white. Revolver filled left hand—heavy, barrel hot. Emperor's Lament. 1,247 tallies under thumb. Widowmaker locked hip. Locked and loaded.[VOID RESONANCE SYSTEM v0.1-BETA]
[User sync. Powers live. Stability 0%. Quest active. Seq 0: 1%.]Dark side pulled trigger. Thumb caught—plasma spat true. Vance jerked back. Eyes locked mine. HUD flickered odd code. "Directive received... you're the handler?" Zero-G retreat to airlock. Fist to chest salute.Rage shield kicked. Block debris meant. Threw me through bulkheads instead. Sparks rained. Alloy screamed. Helmet split Driftfox viewport on impact."Handler confirmed." Jax dropped into salute—console sparked under elbow. Ship rolled wild. "Orders, commander?"Target locked. Gun murmured implant-direct. Blade primed. Hip vibrated confirm."Stand down. Truce holds. Viewport repair later." Rational push. Dark slipped: "...enforce standing orders without fail."Jax snapped rigid. "Orders absolute. Driftfox under command." Warp controls slammed. Ship bucked hard.Crates fell. Buried me in scrap. "Dyson vector set. Command throne inbound."Empress ping sliced warp static: [Handler verified. Throne access granted. Proceed.][Seq 0: 2%. Protocol chain active.]Dark certainty swelled chest. Rational Thomas probed cracks. Control spreads. Layer by layer.