The "something" watching Leo from the spaceship's carcass wasn't large. It was small, fast, and metallic. As Leo approached on his scooter, the creature scuttled out of its hiding place. It looked like a thin lizard made of scrap metal, with cables for muscles and shards of glass forming a crest on its back. Its eyes were two glowing red camera lenses that focused on Leo with a hungry intensity. His aura scanner identified it with a new tag: Construct - Low Threat Level.

The creature, a Scrap Scavenger, opened its gear-filled mouth and emitted a high-pitched static sound, a territorial warning. The problem wasn't the creature itself, but what it had done. It had woven a massive web of cables, metal beams, and debris across the entire opening in the ship, completely blocking Leo's shortcut. It was its nest.

Leo glanced at his radar. Kael's red dot continued to move steadily along the main path. He was gaining ground. Leo didn't have time for a fight.

TIME TO CORE INSTABILITY: 48:34

He had to get through. He revved the scooter, hoping to startle the creature. Instead, the Scavenger leaped onto its web, its body rattling, and let out another burst of static, this one louder, making the Star's Heart container vibrate on his scooter.

Think, Leo, think. Chaotic.

He looked at the creature. It didn't seem to want to fight. It seemed to want to protect its nest. And its glowing red eyes weren't fixed on Leo, but on something on his scooter. The soft glow of his smartphone. The light from his own radar.

It was attracted to light. To energy. To shiny things.

Leo went through his mental inventory. The [Trueflame Scale] was too valuable. The [Seed of the Elder Oak] was organic; it probably wouldn't be interested. But there was the [Charon's Obol]. A cold, dark piece of metal, but with an ethereal aura. An item from the Underworld. For a creature that lived in the void between realities, maybe it was... interesting.

It was a gamble. He needed the coin; its description said it was valuable. But what was worth more? A coin or the race?

He didn't hesitate. He pulled the coin from his pocket. It was cold to the touch and seemed to absorb the light. The Scavenger's camera-lens eyes locked onto it instantly, its head tilting with a curious click.

"Okay, pal. You want a treasure? Go fetch!"

Leo threw the coin, not at the creature, but off to the side, into the void, away from his path.

The Scrap Scavenger reacted instantly. With a shriek of metallic excitement, it leaped from its web, its scrap-metal legs propelling it into the void after the shimmering coin, completely ignoring Leo.

It was the opening Leo needed. He gunned the engine, his scooter jumping into the opening in the ship. He sped through the rusted structure, dodging hanging cables, and came out the other side, landing on another asteroid.

He glanced back just in time to see the Scavenger catch the coin in mid-air with its gear-mouth, before disappearing back into the shadows of its ship, satisfied with its new treasure.

Leo looked back at his radar. It had worked. His blue dot was now visibly ahead of Kael's red one. The shortcut had put him in the lead.

He navigated the last few pieces of debris and got back on the main path of light, the smooth, safe surface a welcome relief after the unstable rocks. He was in the lead. He could win this.

But the Null Point was capricious.

Ahead of him, the solid path of light began to flicker. With a sound of shattering glass that echoed in the void, a hundred-meter stretch of the light-highway disintegrated into a cloud of golden particles, revealing a dense and chaotic asteroid field below.

A new notification from the disembodied voice echoed.

"Warning: Reality fluctuation detected. Path is unstable. Manual navigation is advised."

Leo braked hard, his scooter skidding at the edge of the broken path. He looked at his radar. Kael's red dot, which had been behind him, didn't slow down. He was approaching fast.

The race was no longer about speed. It had become a test of agility and nerve in a deadly obstacle course. And his rival was about to catch up.