Light poured through Kael’s body until he couldn’t tell where his skin ended and the stars began The Second Gate’s energy coiled around him threads of gold and blue weaving through his veins He could hear Nara’s voice somewhere far away shouting warnings data streams overflowing He could hear Aiden too calm as ever saying Hold steady Kael just hold

He tried to answer but the words came out as light instead of sound His consciousness stretched beyond the ship beyond the Gate He saw the nebula from above an ocean of color folding around the station like silk He saw timelines like rivers splitting and merging thousands of them looping back into themselves

At the center stood a single point burning white the wound in time the heart of everything He felt its pull like gravity dragging him closer Aiden appeared beside him or inside him maybe both Their forms blurred together between flesh and code Aiden said We’re almost there This is what the Gate was always meant to do

Kael forced a laugh Or maybe this is what kills us Aiden smiled That too

The light thickened forming bridges of glass between fragments of reality Kael saw flashes of other lives versions of himself scavenger pilot soldier sometimes dead sometimes happy All of them converging toward the same moment this one He realized the Gate wasn’t just a machine It was memory all of them stacked together trying to agree on which version deserved to live

Aiden raised his hand pointing toward the white center See that That’s the anchor If we stabilize it everything will collapse into one final timeline Kael squinted through the glow And if we don’t He said Then it collapses anyway but slower

They floated toward it together pushing through waves of force The closer they came the more violent the pull became Fragments of the past spun around them The old Erebus station the Federation ships Marin’s face Nara’s first activation The images clashed melted rewrote themselves Kael shouted over the chaos This isn’t working It’s rewriting faster than we can fix it Aiden shouted back Then we give it something to hold onto

He grabbed Kael’s arm pressing his palm to the core Light erupted The Gate screamed The timelines froze for a heartbeat Kael saw everything at once The world before the wars the collapse the rebirth the endless cycle of failure and hope

Then he saw something new darkness cracking open beyond the light something waiting ancient and patient watching from outside the loop He whispered Aiden what is that Aiden looked and his expression changed It’s what comes after us

The light shattered The Gate imploded pulling everything inward Kael felt his body tear apart and reform in the same instant Then silence

When he opened his eyes he was standing on solid ground under a black sky filled with unmoving stars The air smelled of rain The horizon was lined with broken towers half buried in sand He turned slowly realizing he wasn’t alone A figure stood ahead cloaked in light Aiden but older calm peaceful

Kael said So we did it right Aiden nodded For now The timelines are one The cycle is closed Kael frowned And that thing outside the loop Aiden looked at the sky It’s still watching but that’s someone else’s story He smiled faintly You finally made it out Kael We both did

The world began to fade again dissolving into light Aiden said Go live whatever’s left of it He turned walking into the horizon until only light remained

Kael whispered See you in the next lifetime then closed his eyes