Light wrapped around Aiden like a living storm He couldn’t tell if he was falling or rising Colors bent until they had no names The noise of the Gate became the pulse of his own heart He reached out but his hands stretched into fragments like reflections on water Nara’s voice broke through static barely holding form I am here stay conscious

He gasped pulling his mind together The spiral around him was a tunnel of frozen moments faces places the entire history of humanity turning in slow motion He saw the launch of the first colony ship the rise of the Federations the wars the collapse all stacked in layers of light Each rotation dragged him deeper

Kael shouted somewhere nearby his voice distorted I hate time travel Cross you said it would be simple Aiden tried to answer but his mouth made no sound Only his thoughts echoed back amplified by the Gate The machine wasn’t just moving them it was reading them It pulled memories from his head like threads weaving them into the storm

Nara appeared beside him flickering She reached out a digital hand and their fingers met solid for a moment impossible She said Focus The system is rebuilding pathways We can direct it If you think of the right coordinates we might land somewhere stable He forced his mind to remember the Belt the ship the stars He focused on home

The spiral twisted tighter light turning into lines then into a single point A force hit his chest throwing him through that pinhole He screamed and then there was quiet He slammed into metal the impact knocking air from his lungs He lay there gasping feeling real gravity again

The room was dark walls humming faintly Aiden opened his eyes to see Kael sprawled beside him groaning Nara’s voice came steady Systems rebooting We are alive Aiden laughed half madness half relief That’s a start

He stood and looked around The room was familiar the same lab from Erebus but not destroyed intact Machines gleamed lights flickered like before the catastrophe He turned slowly whispering We’re back before the explosion

Kael blinked confused That can’t be Aiden touched the console It responded to him welcoming interface restored He said This is the moment before everything went wrong The Gate’s still stable Nara calculated Temporal position verified pre-collapse phase

They were inside the past but it didn’t feel right The air was thick like walking through a dream Figures moved beyond glass panels blurred shapes repeating the same actions over and over Marin among them giving orders his lips forming silent words

Aiden pressed his hand against the glass Marin froze as if sensing him Their eyes met through the distortion Marin’s face twisted with shock He whispered Aiden then the entire lab flickered splitting into layers The two timelines overlapping at once

Nara shouted Temporal breach incoming stabilization failing Kael yelled We have to leave now Aiden shook his head No this is our chance If I warn him maybe we can change it

He reached for the interface forcing synchronization Data poured across the screens numbers equations raw time coordinates The system screamed warning of paradox He ignored it typing faster Marin’s echo shouted across the divide You can’t rewrite this Cross you’ll destroy both lines Aiden yelled back Then let them merge maybe something better comes out

The Gate core erupted blue light spilling across the floor The spiral returned swallowing the lab again The last thing Aiden saw was Marin reaching toward him before both realities folded into one