The stars had always been a reminder of something bigger. But today, they felt closer—too close, too angry.
Isaac Valen stood on the rusted balcony of his cramped apartment, staring out at the dying star that hung just above the horizon. Once, the sun had been the heart of the system, a beacon of life and energy, sustaining the planets that orbited it. Now, it was a sickly, bloated red giant, unstable and collapsing in on itself. In a matter of months, maybe less, the entire star system would be consumed by the black hole it was quickly becoming.
His home was located on a low-tier mining colony, one of the smaller moons orbiting the planet of Drevos. The air was thick with the smell of machinery and exhaust. It wasn't the worst place to be, though. People like Isaac didn't have the luxury to be picky. They took what they could get.
Isaac adjusted the dirty goggles on his face, wiping the sweat off his brow. He'd just finished repairing a piece of equipment for one of the mining rigs, but the job didn't feel the same anymore. The rig wasn't going to be operational much longer. No one had the energy to dig into the bowels of the planet when the universe was literally collapsing around them. Still, people kept working, hoping that maybe, just maybe, someone or something would show up with a solution.
The newsfeed on his worn tablet crackled to life, a familiar voice from the colony's AI.
"Isaac Valen, you are late for your shift. The mining operation has been extended for another twelve hours. Please report to the foreman immediately."
Isaac didn't reply. He dropped the tablet onto the workbench beside him. The voice had become a constant presence, like a fly buzzing around his head. Just like the colony's efforts to survive. But there was no escaping it now.
He turned away from the balcony, the fading light of the sun casting long shadows in the cramped room. There was a moment of peace—a fleeting sense of isolation in the silence. That peace was broken when a sharp beep came from the corner of the room. It was his personal comm unit. A message.
Isaac shuffled over and picked up the unit. The message was short and simple:
"It's time. Meet me at the old temple ruins."
He paused, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. The message had come from someone he hadn't heard from in years—Mira, an old acquaintance who had been researching the ancient ruins near the planet's surface. For years, Mira had been obsessed with them. She often talked about how the ruins held secrets beyond their understanding, something that could save them all. Isaac had always dismissed her theories, but as the black hole grew closer, he found himself questioning everything.
He didn't have the luxury of ignoring her anymore.
He grabbed his gear, tossing it into his bag with quick, efficient movements. Mira wouldn't have sent the message if it wasn't important. The old temple ruins were dangerous, and anyone who went there had to be prepared. There were reports of tremors, strange anomalies, and even the occasional report of disappearing people. But the message had come from her, and that meant something.
Isaac didn't waste any more time. He left the apartment and made his way down the narrow corridor, past the other residents of the colony, who looked just as tired and beaten as he felt. Their eyes met his briefly, but there was no conversation. There didn't need to be. Everyone knew what was coming.
Outside, the air was thick with dust, the constant hum of the colony's machinery vibrating beneath his feet. He passed through the main gate, where a few guards stood, their faces hollowed by the constant dread of the inevitable. They didn't stop him. No one bothered to question anyone these days. The entire colony was preparing for an end, and everyone had their own way of dealing with it.
The journey to the ruins was a short one, but the terrain was treacherous. The planet's surface had cracked and split in places, leaving jagged rocks and deep fissures. As Isaac made his way through the debris, the black hole loomed in the distance—a dark, swirling void that grew larger by the day.
The old temple ruins were located near an ancient mountain range, untouched by the colony's miners. The structures were worn and weathered, covered in alien symbols that no one had ever been able to fully decipher. Mira was always obsessed with them, convinced they held the key to saving their world, or at least, to escaping it.
When Isaac arrived at the entrance to the ruins, he found her waiting, her back to him, staring at the distant horizon. She was the same as she'd always been—wild hair, eyes full of ideas and energy, even in the face of doom.
"Mira," Isaac called out, his voice hoarse.
She turned slowly, a smile creeping across her face. But there was something different in her eyes—something more intense, more urgent.
"You're here," she said, as if it had been fate all along. "I've found something, Isaac. Something that could change everything."
Isaac raised an eyebrow, his mind racing. "What are you talking about? The black hole is coming. Nothing can change that."
Mira's gaze flickered over to the ruins, then back to Isaac. "I know," she said softly. "But this… this could be our chance. I'm telling you, Isaac, this is it."
Isaac frowned, unsure of how to respond. Mira had always been an idealist, a dreamer, but this sounded… different. Desperate. He looked past her to the center of the ruins where a glowing object lay half-buried in the sand—something that shouldn't have been there. The faint hum emanating from it made his stomach twist with unease.
"That?" Isaac asked, his voice uncertain. "What is that?"
Mira stepped aside, revealing the artifact fully. It pulsed with an energy he couldn't explain. The closer he got, the more unsettled he became. Something about it felt wrong, as though it were alive and watching him, waiting for something.
"I don't know exactly," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But I can feel it. This is… this is what we've been searching for. It's ancient technology, Isaac. Beyond anything we've ever encountered."
Isaac took a step back, his heart pounding. The artifact seemed to hum louder as he moved closer, sending a chill down his spine. There was a presence in the air now, something invisible but undeniable. It unsettled him, like being caught in the gaze of something far older than he was ready to understand.
"I don't know, Mira…" Isaac said slowly, his voice tinged with doubt. "It doesn't feel right."
But Mira reached out, almost pleading now. "I can't explain it, but it's our only hope. We need to activate it. We need to use it to escape. This could be the only way."
Isaac's gaze darted between Mira and the artifact. His instincts screamed at him to run, to get as far away from it as possible. But the look on Mira's face was enough to stop him. She believed in this, even if he couldn't bring himself to.
Reluctantly, Isaac stepped closer to the artifact. But as his hand hovered over it, something strange happened.
A voice echoed in his mind.
"System activated. Welcome, user."
Isaac froze. The voice was cold, mechanical, and unfeeling, but it was undeniably there—inside his head. He jerked back, his mind racing. The artifact was speaking to him. But how? He looked at Mira, his voice shaky. "Mira… do you hear that?"
She was staring at him with wide eyes, confused. "What do you mean, inside your head?"
Isaac's mind was spinning. He glanced down at the artifact, his hand still hovering above it. The voice hadn't stopped, repeating the same cold message over and over. He stepped back again, shaking his head. "It's… inside my head. It keeps saying, 'System activated.'"
Mira frowned, clearly unsettled but not fully understanding what was happening. "That's… not possible. There's no system here. We've never found anything like that."
Isaac's heart pounded in his chest. The voice was insistent, as though it was waiting for something. "I don't know, Mira," he muttered, his voice barely a whisper. "It's speaking to me, but… I don't understand it."
Mira stepped closer, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the artifact, but she couldn't hear the voice. The tension between them thickened as Isaac's mind scrambled to comprehend what was happening. He wasn't sure what to do next, but he could feel the pull of the unknown growing stronger.
Before he could say anything else, the artifact flared to life, and the world around them began to warp. The ground trembled as if the very fabric of space was being torn apart. The air became thick, and the stars above seemed to shift, swirling unnaturally.
Isaac didn't know if he was ready to face whatever was coming. But there was no turning back now.
With a deafening hum, everything around them shifted, and in the blink of an eye, Isaac and Mira were pulled into the unknown.
And then, everything went black.