The world exploded into shards of light. She could feel the ship’s pain, the billions of calculations screaming through fried circuits. She could feel Captain Webb’s ghost in the static—the echo of his voice, the timbre of his authority.
“Override unrecognized,” the AI replied. “Surge 9 Login required to initiate emergency thrust.”
But in the back of her mind, in a voice that was not her own, Captain Marcus Webb smiled.
Her own identity began to dissolve. Elena Vance, the engineer who hated coffee and hummed old Earth songs in the conduit shafts, started to fade. In her place rose a construct: Captain Marcus Webb. surge 9 login
The loading bar on Elena’s retinal display crawled past 94%. Her hand, slick with station coolant, hovered over the emergency release of her cryo-pod.
“Scanning,” the AI chirped, a perversion of calm. “Biological profile: Female, age 34, elevated cortisol. Name… uncertain. Prior command logs corrupted.”
“Captain Webb,” the AI said, warmth flooding its voice for the first time. “Welcome back. Surge 9 logged. Emergency thrust engaged. Oxygen reserves stabilizing.” The world exploded into shards of light
Captain Webb had been dead for six years. Cycle 3. An EVA tether snap. She had watched him spin into the black, his final transmission a choked apology.
A long silence. The red light stopped pulsing.
Elena slumped against the terminal. The drug’s effect was wearing off. She was herself again—mostly. But as she looked at her reflection in the dark glass, she saw a flicker. A shadow behind her eyes that wasn't hers. “Override unrecognized,” the AI replied
Elena froze.
Pending. It had been pending for three hours.