In the cold silence of Titan's underbelly, the lab stood as a fortress of human ingenuity. Built deep beneath the surface, it was a place where the brightest minds of the Citizens of Earth gathered to unlock the mysteries of the universe. And now, it housed the greatest discovery in human history—the alien artifacts from Planet X.
Dr. Amara Singh had been working tirelessly since our return, driven by a passion that bordered on obsession. There was something in those artifacts that called to her, something she was determined to understand. But as I would later learn, some mysteries are better left unsolved.
#### The Lab
The lab was quiet that night, save for the low hum of machinery and the occasional beep from a monitor. Most of the team had gone to rest, their minds and bodies exhausted from days of intense analysis. But not Amara. She remained at her station, her eyes locked on the strange, iridescent objects that lay before her.
The artifacts pulsed faintly, their surfaces shifting in a mesmerizing dance of colors. They were beautiful, alien, and unknowable. Amara had tried everything—scanning them with every piece of equipment the lab had to offer, running simulations, even attempting to communicate with them through primitive code. But they remained silent, enigmatic, refusing to yield their secrets.
Until they didn't.
It happened without warning. One moment, Amara was examining a faint fluctuation in the energy readings, and the next, the artifacts began to glow. Not the soft, ethereal light they had shown before, but a fierce, electric blaze that filled the lab with a blinding brilliance.
Amara stepped back, shielding her eyes, but she couldn't look away. The artifacts—whatever they were—had come alive.
A surge of power erupted from the objects, a current of pure energy that arced through the air like lightning. It struck the first computer terminal, the screens flickering wildly before going dark. The energy spread with terrifying speed, leaping from machine to machine, turning the lab into a chaotic storm of crackling electricity.
The scientists, those who had stayed behind to work through the night, didn't have time to react. The current engulfed them, a deadly wave of energy that stopped hearts and seared flesh. Monitors exploded, sparks flying, wires burning out in a cascade of fire and smoke. The lab was a deathtrap, and there was no escape.
But in the eye of the storm, Dr. Amara Singh stood untouched. The energy swirled around her, a living thing, a force that seemed to recognize her, to connect with her. Her eyes, wide with shock, reflected the blinding light of the artifacts as they pulsed in sync with the storm they had unleashed.
Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. The energy dissipated, the light faded, and the lab fell into darkness. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the soft crackle of burning wires and the distant, dying beeps of the lab's systems.
Amara was the only one left standing.
#### The Aftermath
When the emergency teams arrived hours later, they found the lab in ruins. The bodies of the scientists lay scattered across the floor, their faces frozen in expressions of terror and pain. The computers were fried, their circuits melted beyond repair. The artifacts, however, were untouched, sitting in the center of the destruction like malevolent gods, their surfaces dark and still.
The official report would later describe it as a tragic accident, a freak occurrence caused by an unexpected surge of energy from the artifacts. But the truth was more complex, more terrifying. The artifacts hadn't just killed the scientists—they had infected the lab itself. The data, the records, even the simplest systems, all were corrupted, twisted by whatever had been unleashed. The infection spread quickly, reaching into Titan's network, threatening to take over the entire station. That was when the order came: evacuate Titan.
No one asked questions. No one wanted to know what had really happened in that lab. The station's leaders issued the command, and the people obeyed, fleeing the moon before whatever had taken hold could reach them.
#### The Stowaway
As the *Erebus* sped away from Titan, I couldn't shake the feeling that we had left something behind. Or perhaps, that something had followed us. My mind kept returning to the artifacts, to the strange events that had led to the evacuation. I tried to push the thoughts aside, to focus on the safety of my crew, but it gnawed at me, a quiet dread that wouldn't let go.
It was late when I finally left the bridge and made my way to my quarters. The corridors were quiet, most of the crew resting or busy with their duties. I passed by the med bay, pausing for a moment at the door. Something didn't feel right.
I stepped inside, the lights flickering on as I entered. The med bay was empty, or so I thought, until I saw her. Dr. Amara Singh was sitting on one of the cots, her back to me, her posture rigid. My heart skipped a beat. She wasn't supposed to be here. She was supposed to be on Titan, with the rest of the evacuees.
"Amara?" I called out, my voice echoing in the stillness.
She didn't respond, didn't even move. I walked closer, a sense of unease growing with each step. When I finally reached her, I stopped, my breath catching in my throat.
She turned slowly to face me, and I saw her eyes. They were glowing—a soft, eerie light that pulsed in rhythm with a heartbeat that wasn't hers. The same light I had seen in the artifacts, the same energy that had killed her colleagues and torn the lab apart.
"Mark," she whispered, her voice distant, hollow. "It's…alive."
I stepped back, my mind racing. This wasn't Amara—not anymore. Something had happened in that lab, something that had changed her, infected her. The same force that had corrupted the lab, the computers, the station itself—it had taken her, too.
"What have you done?" I whispered, more to myself than to her.
She smiled faintly, but it wasn't a smile I recognized. It was something else, something foreign, something terrifying. "It's only just begun," she said, her voice echoing with a resonance that wasn't human.
Before I could react, the lights in the med bay flickered again, and the ship shuddered as if something had gripped it from the outside. The alarm systems came to life, blaring in a cacophony of warnings, but they were drowned out by the sound of Amara's voice—her real voice, the one I remembered—calling out to me, somewhere deep inside that glowing shell.
"Mark," she pleaded, "help me."
But I didn't know how. I didn't even know what we were up against. All I knew was that whatever had taken hold of Amara, whatever had activated those artifacts, wasn't done with us yet. And as the *Erebus* hurtled through the void, far from Titan, far from Earth, I realized that the true nightmare had only just begun.