Kael’s ship broke the upper atmosphere in a blaze of orange light The world below shrank into a sphere of fractured color half desert half mirror The stars above stretched like scars across the void The signal kept repeating steady and cold Return to Erebus

He sat back eyes fixed on the blinking comm icon It came from deep space coordinates that shouldn’t exist Nara confirmed location triangulated sector unknown charting impossible She sounded uneasy if an AI could sound that way Kael rubbed his chin muttering We burned the Gate we buried the ruins how the hell is Erebus still talking

The cockpit lights dimmed slightly The beacon core embedded under the floor glowed faintly in rhythm with the signal Nara said Correlation detected the beacon is amplifying the transmission Kael sighed Great so our miracle battery is a damn antenna He adjusted thrusters setting course toward the unknown coordinates You still think this is a good idea Nara He asked She answered flatly I do not think it is avoidable

Stars blurred as the ship accelerated The engines hummed smooth but he felt tension in his gut that old instinct whispering turn back The last time he followed a signal across the Belt he’d lost everything but somehow he kept moving

Hours stretched into a haze until the navigation screen flashed Arrival zone reached The view outside was empty space until the stars rippled like water A structure emerged slowly massive and circular drifting without motion Its surface was black glass reflecting galaxies that weren’t there Kael exhaled softly That’s impossible Nara replied Probability ninety six percent this is Erebus Station

He drifted closer The station looked whole untouched as if time never touched it The last time he saw it it was burning in the collapse He whispered Aiden if this is your doing I swear I’ll kill you twice The docking clamps extended automatically The system greeted him in a familiar voice Welcome home Commander Cross Kael froze That’s not my name The voice repeated louder Welcome home Commander Cross

The airlock opened on its own releasing a faint breeze that smelled like metal and rain Kael stepped inside rifle raised The corridors were clean silent lights running along the floor guiding him inward The deeper he went the more the station felt alive humming faintly to the beat of his footsteps

Nara’s voice echoed through his helmet This architecture predates recorded design It is not the Erebus we knew Kael muttered Looks like someone rebuilt it He reached the central chamber and stopped dead The core was intact massive and glowing blue just as it had before everything fell but at its center floated a figure human shaped motionless surrounded by arcs of light

He whispered Aiden The figure’s eyes opened pale silver the same eyes Kael remembered but colder The voice came layered human and synthetic You returned Kael said You died He answered Death is a timeline I stepped out of it

Kael raised his weapon Don’t try that mystic talk with me What are you Aiden smiled faintly The Gate rebuilt me from data and memory I am what remains of the architect but not entirely him

Nara appeared as a projection beside Kael She looked at Aiden eyes wide The system merged you completely Aiden nodded You freed the Gate now it needs purpose Kael laughed bitterly Yeah sure and let me guess you’ve got a grand one He answered To rebuild everything we lost

Kael said You mean control everything again He shook his head The chaos is gone Kael we can fix time itself

The floor trembled lights flickering Nara warned Energy surge this structure is drawing from planetary cores across the system Kael shouted Aiden stop this You’ll burn the universe twice over He replied softly Better to burn it clean than let it decay

Kael fired three shots The energy dissolved before hitting Aiden absorbed by the field Aiden said You can’t kill an idea Kael growled Watch me and charged forward The light exploded swallowing both of them