A searing jolt ripped Elaine from oblivion. Light—not the sterile fluorescence of her lab, but a pale, unnatural glow—cut into her vision like shards of broken glass. Her head throbbed with a pain that felt... wrong. Not a migraine, but a pressure that pulsed along alien fault lines in her skull.
She opened her eyes to an unfamiliar sight: rough stone walls, etched with faintly glowing runes that flickered like dying embers.
"Error… Error... Substrate Stabilization Failed. Standby for Cognitive Calibration."
The voice wasn't hers, but it was inside her head. It was flat, mechanical, and disturbingly cold. A floating interface—translucent, golden—blinked before her eyes.
[VEILSHARD NEXUS: STATUS]
SUBSTRATE: Caldara Vess
CLASS: Unassigned
HEALTH: Critical (12%)
STAMINA: Depleted (3%)
DIVERGENCE TIER: Inapplicable
Elaine flinched, clutching her chest. The interface followed her gaze, shimmering faintly. "What... is this?" she whispered. Her voice was hoarse, unfamiliar.
Her memories clawed for coherence. She remembered the lab, the experiment—a delicate lattice of quantum strands meant to simulate multiverse intersections. And then... an explosion.
This wasn't her body. That much was clear. Her limbs felt spindly, weak, her hands scarred and calloused in patterns she didn't recognize. Her chest heaved as panic set in.
"Identify yourself, substrate," the voice demanded.
"I—" she started but froze as the door to the chamber slammed open.
A gruff man in battered armor stepped in, his eyes narrowing at her. "Vess," he barked. "You're awake."
Elaine blinked. "I—who?"
The man's face darkened. "Don't play coy. You're Caldara Vess, alchemist and traitor. Don't think that pretty little act will fool me." He slammed the butt of his spear against the ground. "The magistrate's been waiting."
Elaine's mind raced. Caldara Vess? Traitor? No. She wasn't Caldara—she was Dr. Elaine Kastor, theoretical physicist. She opened her mouth to protest, but the floating interface glitched, and text scrolled rapidly:
[DIVERGENCE MANDATE ASSIGNED]
OBJECTIVE: "Attain Freedom Without Direct Violence."
REWARD: Nexus Stability
FAILURE: Permanent Substrate Collapse
The words burned into her vision, and her breath hitched. Freedom without violence? That meant—
The guard yanked her to her feet. "No tricks, Vess." His grip was iron, dragging her from the room before she could fully process the implications.
They emerged into a long corridor lit by flickering torches. Shadows danced across the stone, twisting into grotesque shapes. Each step Elaine took sent a pang through her frail body. Her knees threatened to buckle, but the guard hauled her along without sympathy.
"Where are we?" she asked, her voice cracking.
The guard sneered. "You're in the depths of Hallowkeep, where filth like you belongs. And soon, you'll be where traitors go to die."
Lovely, Elaine thought bitterly. She focused on the interface, trying to will it into cooperation. If she could only—
Her vision filled with new text:
[NEXUS INTERVENTION: INITIATE SUBSTRATE QUERY?]
(Y/N)
"Yes," she whispered.
The guard glanced at her. "What was that?"
"Nothing," she lied quickly, biting her lip as the interface responded.
QUERY ACCEPTED.
SUBSTRATE ANALYSIS: Host possesses rudimentary alchemical knowledge. Emotional volatility high. Physical condition deteriorated. Host's last known actions included sabotaging a royal alchemical cache.
"Sabotaging what?" she muttered under her breath.
The guard's grip tightened. "Quiet, Vess."
Her mind reeled. Whoever Caldara Vess had been, she had enemies. But why was her body deteriorating? And what was the "Nexus Stability" tied to this impossible mandate?
As they turned a corner, Elaine's gaze fell on an open window. For the first time, she glimpsed the world beyond the keep: sprawling hills bathed in an eerie silver light, a faint aurora rippling in the sky. It was both beautiful and unnerving.
But Elaine had no time to admire the view. The guard shoved her forward, and the heavy oak doors of a chamber loomed ahead. Beyond them lay judgment—and, perhaps, answers.
The doors creaked open.
Inside, a circular room buzzed with magic. A glowing crown hovered above a pedestal, surrounded by robed figures whose faces were obscured.
The guard shoved her to her knees before the pedestal. One of the robed figures stepped forward, their voice distorted by an enchantment.
"Caldara Vess," they intoned, "you stand accused of treason against the Crown. How do you plead?"
Elaine's mind scrambled for a response, but the Nexus interjected, flashing another notification:
WARNING: Lying to the "Crown of Truth" will result in Immediate Substrate Collapse.
Her pulse quickened. The crown pulsed ominously, its light growing brighter.
"Plead," the figure repeated, their tone edged with impatience.
Elaine's dry lips parted as she searched for the right words. The room seemed to close in around her, the weight of the Veilshard Nexus pressing down with unrelenting force.