"May I show you something?" he asked, sweeping a hand toward the back of the lab.
Classic deflection. But he'd given me more than anyone else on this ship had, so I let it slide—for now.
"Are you going to inject something into me?"
"No."
"Subject me to tests?"
"No."
"Are yo—"
"How about I show you," he said gently, moving toward a crystalline workbench.
"Sure,” I mumbled, following.
He positioned himself before the bench, eyes closed, hands spread. Particles shimmered into existence—drifting across the surface like dust motes caught in cathedral light.
"Come closer," he murmured.
I stepped forward.
"Closer, Doctor Vale. You won't experience the full effect unless you stand beside me."
I swallowed and moved to his side. My shoulder brushed his arm. He towered over me—broad, carved, blue-skinned perfection that should have been terrifying, yet somehow radiated calm.
"Close your eyes," he whispered. "Open your mind to the quantum particles. Become a blank space."
I took a breath and obeyed.
It was difficult—twenty-four hours ago, I had been trapped in a failing habitat unit, dreading the biggest fear of my life: a work dinner with my wildly inappropriate boss.
Let it go—blank canvas.
I shoved Director Voss out of my head and slammed the door behind him. A soothing calm washed in. Something flickered at the edge of my awareness. I reached for it—too fast. It slipped away. I waited, and it returned, a little brighter.
Then—everything opened.
Particles flowed around me, like the first snowfall of winter. Patterns appeared and vanished. Biological life signatures glowed like distant stars piercing dark velvet.
"Your work is not theory," Vaelix murmured. "It is real. I knew it the moment I saw your signal."
I opened my eyes. The crystalline table was alive, mirroring the patterns in my mind.
"Am I doing that?" I whispered.
"We are doing that," he said, his voice low, the air suddenly electric.
A connection was forming—I could feel it. Imperfect, incomplete, but undeniable. An algorithm—my algorithm—came to mind, and it materialized on the table in shining crystalline script.
"The crystals respond to your commands," Vaelix breathed.
"The third variable is off," I said, sliding into the data instinctively. "You got ninety percent of the way there. But if I adjust this—"
The moment the correction locked in, a surge of energy burst across the lab.
It hit me square in the chest—and leapt into Vaelix.
