The alarms screamed through the room, the red flashes of emergency lights casting jagged shadows against the steel walls. Kieran's mind raced.
External breach. Unknown entity. Proximity alert.
Something was coming.
Kieran turned to Prime. "Who found us?"
Prime didn't answer immediately. His gaze was fixed on the viewport, his expression unreadable.
Then—he smiled.
Not in amusement.
In acceptance.
"As if you don't already know," Prime said softly. "You've been fighting them this whole time. You just didn't realize it."
Kieran's gut tightened.
Before he could press further, the holo-displays shifted—live footage from external sensors.
And what Kieran saw made his blood run cold.
Outside the station, in the vastness of space, something enormous was emerging from the void.
A ship.
But unlike anything Kieran had ever seen.
It was organic and mechanical, a twisting fusion of dark metal and shifting, pulse-like energy. The edges of its hull shimmered, glitching in and out of visible space, as if it existed in multiple dimensions at once.
Kieran's cybernetic interface flared with interference. The ship wasn't just a physical entity—it was affecting reality itself.
"What the hell is that?" Kieran demanded.
Prime finally turned to him, his expression calm. "That," he said, "is the real reason the simulation existed."
Kieran's pulse spiked.
The simulation wasn't just a prison. It wasn't just containment.
It was a barrier.
A firewall between him and them.
"Why?" Kieran pressed. "Who are they?"
Prime exhaled. "They're called the Vanguard. They were watching, waiting, making sure no one breached the limits of the simulation." His gaze darkened. "Because if someone did—if someone like you escaped—it meant the secret was out."
Kieran's mind reeled.
The simulation wasn't just about him.
It was about protecting something bigger.
Something the Vanguard didn't want exposed.
Then the station shook.
A deep, low-frequency tremor reverberated through the structure. The external sensors showed the ship was no longer approaching.
It was here.
And it had already begun its attack.
"Looks like they don't want to talk," Kieran muttered.
Prime chuckled. "No. They want to erase you before you ask the right questions."
Kieran braced himself.
He wasn't going to let that happen.
Whatever truth was buried beneath this, whatever secrets the Vanguard was hiding—
He was going to uncover all of it.
Even if it meant tearing reality apart to do it.