Isaac sat on the edge of his cot, hands clasped tightly together. His head still ached from whatever had happened in the cavern, but that wasn't what was keeping him awake. It was everything else.
The system. The gate. The images of destruction that had burned themselves into his mind.
The weight of it all sat heavy on his chest.
Outside his quarters, the colony was still awake despite the late hour. Word had spread about the cave-in, and people were tense. The missing crew hadn't been found, and the discovery of the structure beneath the surface had only made things worse.
Mira had been furious when she heard what happened.
She had stormed into the medical bay after Isaac was dragged back up, demanding answers. He'd given her as little as possible—just that the cavern had an artifact and that something knocked him out when they got close.
It was technically true. But not the whole truth.
And that was the problem.
Mira knew him too well. If he wasn't careful, she'd start asking the kind of questions he couldn't answer.
A notification flashed across his vision.
[Status: System calibration in progress.]
Isaac exhaled slowly. It had been quiet ever since he woke up—no sudden messages, no cryptic warnings. Just… waiting.
But for what?
A sharp knock at his door made him jump.
Before he could say anything, Mira pushed it open and stepped inside. She wasn't wearing her usual lab coat, just a loose sweater and cargo pants, but her expression was as sharp as ever.
Isaac sighed. "I should've locked that."
"You know I would've overridden it," she shot back, crossing her arms.
Isaac leaned back against the wall. "What do you want, Mira?"
"I want to know what the hell happened down there."
He should've seen this coming.
"You already got my report," he said.
Mira's glare was ice-cold. "And I don't believe a word of it."
Isaac rubbed his temple. "Mira—"
"No," she cut him off. "Don't do that. Don't treat me like I'm some clueless scientist who doesn't know what's going on."
She took a step closer.
"I saw the scans, Isaac. That thing wasn't just some old ruin. It was active. It has power. And you were out for almost two hours after touching it."
Isaac clenched his jaw.
She wasn't wrong.
But how was he supposed to explain any of this?
He couldn't just say, Oh yeah, by the way, I have a system in my head that's apparently connected to an ancient civilization and a starship-building program.
So instead, he said nothing.
Mira let out a sharp breath. "Damn it, Isaac."
She paced the room, running a hand through her hair.
"I've spent years trying to figure out what's buried under this planet. Years. And now, we finally find something real, and you just—shut me out?"
Isaac swallowed. He hated this.
He hated lying to her.
But he didn't have a choice.
Mira stopped pacing and fixed him with a look that made his stomach twist.
"You're hiding something."
Isaac forced a tired smirk. "That obvious?"
Mira didn't laugh.
Instead, she stared at him for a long, unreadable moment.
Then, she turned toward the door.
"You're going to tell me the truth eventually," she said quietly. "Whether you like it or not."
And with that, she left.
Isaac exhaled slowly, rubbing his face.
He didn't doubt her.
She would find out.
The question was: would it be too late by then?
The next morning, Isaac was called to the main briefing room.
Hal was already there, along with Captain Reyes and a handful of senior personnel. Mira was there too, standing stiffly near the back, arms crossed.
Reyes didn't waste time.
"We've analyzed the data from yesterday's expedition," she said. "And we have a problem."
She pressed a button on the console, and a holographic projection of the cavern flickered to life.
"The energy readings from the artifact—"
"Gate," Isaac corrected before he could stop himself.
Reyes frowned. "What?"
Isaac hesitated. He'd slipped up.
Mira's gaze sharpened immediately.
"Nothing," he said quickly. "Go on."
Reyes gave him a long look but continued.
"The energy readings are increasing. Rapidly. Whatever that thing is, it's waking up."
A murmur ran through the room.
"That's not all," Hal said grimly. "There's seismic activity down there. Small tremors, but they're getting worse."
Isaac's stomach dropped.
The system's warning from yesterday suddenly felt a lot more urgent.
"The colony's already on edge," Reyes continued. "If we don't get ahead of this, people are going to panic. We need to know exactly what we're dealing with."
She turned to Isaac. "You were closest to it when it activated. Did you see anything we missed?"
Isaac could feel Mira's gaze burning into him.
He hesitated.
If he told them what he saw—the gate, the war, the lost civilization—he'd be opening a door he couldn't close.
And yet, if he said nothing, they'd be walking blind into whatever was coming.
His hands tightened into fists.
"I think…" He chose his words carefully. "It wasn't just a ruin. It was a machine. And I think it was meant to be used for something."
Reyes narrowed her eyes. "Used how?"
Isaac swallowed. "I don't know. But if it's waking up now… maybe something triggered it."
The room fell silent.
Then Mira spoke.
"If that's true," she said slowly, "then we need to figure out what it does before it's too late."
No one disagreed
Later that night, Isaac returned to the cavern.
He wasn't supposed to. The tunnels were under strict lockdown, and the security patrols had been doubled.
But he needed answers.
The gate loomed in the darkness, its symbols pulsing like a heartbeat.
The system had been quiet all day. But now, as he stood before the ancient machine, the voice returned.
[System synchronization complete.]
Isaac braced himself.
[Initiating primary directive.]
A sharp pain lanced through his skull. He stumbled forward, barely catching himself on the gate's surface.
His vision blurred—
And suddenly, he wasn't in the cavern anymore.
He was somewhere else.
A massive chamber stretched before him, filled with machinery so advanced it barely looked real. Massive constructs floated in the air, assembling something enormous—something sleek and metallic, with a design unlike anything he'd ever seen.
A ship.
A voice echoed in his mind.
[Exodus Project: Phase One.]
[Construction of Arkship prototype—initiated.]
Isaac's breath caught in his throat.
This wasn't just a gate.
It was a factory.
And it was about to start building.
He barely had time to process that before the ground trembled beneath him.
The cavern was shaking. The gate was activating.
Isaac's pulse pounded in his ears.
Something was coming.
And he wasn't sure if they were ready for it.