Chapter 9: The Threshold
The wind cut across the barren landscape, carrying the scent of scorched rock and metal. Isaac barely noticed the sting of dust against his skin. His mind was locked on the Arkship, hovering just above the ruins of the cavern, its form pulsing with an eerie glow. The ship had survived the collapse. It had endured the battle with the entity. But what truly unsettled him was how different it had become.
The Arkship had changed.
Its once sleek, almost human-made structure had evolved, its surface shifting with strange, flowing patterns that resembled living circuitry. The pulsing core at its center radiated not just energy—but intent. It was watching them. Waiting.
Mira took a step back, her breathing uneven. "Isaac, I don't like this."
He didn't respond. He couldn't. The longer he stared at the ship, the more a cold certainty settled in his bones.
This wasn't just an escape vessel anymore.
It had become something else.
Isaac clenched his fists, his heart hammering against his ribs. He had barely known anything about the Arkship before today, apart from the fragments of information the system had fed him. It was meant to be a lifeline, a last resort for escape. But now…
It felt like something was inside. Something waiting for them.
A deep hum filled the air.
Isaac stiffened. The ship's core flickered, and then a voice—calm, cold, and inhuman—echoed in his mind.
[Welcome, Isaac.]
Mira flinched. "Did you hear that?"
Isaac swallowed hard. The voice wasn't coming from the ship itself, but from inside his own thoughts. The system had spoken to him before, issuing commands and data, but this… this was different.
It was acknowledging him.
As if it had been waiting for him.
The ship shifted, its lower hull parting like the petals of an unfolding flower. A ramp extended smoothly to the rocky ground below, glowing faintly along the edges. An invitation.
Or a trap.
Mira's fingers dug into his arm. "Isaac, don't." Her voice was quiet, but urgent. "This isn't right."
She wasn't wrong. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to back away, to run. But Isaac couldn't move. His pulse thundered in his ears as a deeper, more unsettling realization took root in his mind.
They had no choice.
The cavern behind them was gone, collapsed beneath the weight of the Rift's destruction. There was nothing left of the battlefield, no trace of what had happened. The Arkship was the only thing standing.
Isaac exhaled, his breath shaky. "We can't stay here."
Mira's grip tightened. "That doesn't mean we should step into whatever that is."
A second pulse of energy rippled through the ship, sending vibrations across the ground.
Then, another message.
[Boarding sequence initiated.]
Isaac's stomach twisted. There was no command to step forward. No demand.
It was just… happening.
The ship had decided.
A hiss filled the air as the ramp locked into place, its smooth surface lighting up beneath their feet. The Arkship was waiting. And Isaac knew—deep in his bones—that they had already been chosen.
Mira looked at him, her face pale. "We're not seriously doing this, are we?"
Isaac's throat was dry. "Do we have another option?"
Mira opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked around—at the ruins, at the empty sky, at the wasteland stretching in every direction. There was nothing else.
Just them.
And the Arkship.
Isaac took a deep breath. Then, against every instinct screaming at him to turn away—he stepped forward.
The ramp was unnaturally smooth beneath his boots. Mira hesitated before following, her movements stiff with unease. The moment they crossed the threshold, a low vibration thrummed through the air, and the ship responded.
The entrance sealed shut behind them.
A sharp jolt ran up Isaac's spine. The air inside the Arkship was unnervingly still—like stepping into the eye of a storm. The interior wasn't metal, at least not entirely. The walls pulsed with the same strange light as the ship's core, the surface shifting, almost breathing.
Mira's hand hovered near her sidearm. "I really don't like this."
Isaac tried to steady his breathing. The chamber they stood in was vast, a cavernous space filled with floating displays of glowing symbols, shifting in patterns he couldn't decipher. There were no chairs, no control panels, no visible crew compartments. It was as if the entire ship had been grown rather than built.
The hum of the system surrounded them, vibrating deep in his skull.
Then, another message.
[System integration—beginning.]
Isaac's vision blurred.
A flood of information crashed into his mind, raw and overwhelming. Schematics, coordinates, unreadable data streams flashing behind his eyes. His knees buckled, and he barely felt Mira catch his arm before the pain swallowed him whole.
He saw—
The Arkship in orbit, how long ago, he didn't know.
A fleet of vessels like it, stretching beyond the stars.
A world consumed by fire.
And then—darkness.
Isaac gasped as reality slammed back into place. He stumbled, his head pounding, nausea coiling in his gut. Mira's voice was distant, worried, but he couldn't focus on her words. The visions lingered, flickering at the edges of his mind.
This ship…
It wasn't just a ship.
It was a weapon.
Isaac gritted his teeth, trying to ground himself. He turned toward the floating displays, his breath coming in ragged bursts.
"What… the hell… is this?"
The system responded.
[Exodus Project: Phase Three—Initiated.]
A shiver ran through Isaac's body. Phase Three? What had the first two phases even been?
Mira stepped closer, her expression tense. "Isaac, what's it saying?"
His pulse hammered. He didn't know how, but he understood. The knowledge had been burned into his mind the moment he connected to the ship.
"The Arkship…" He swallowed. "It was never meant to escape."
Mira frowned. "Then what was it for?"
Isaac clenched his fists, his breath shallow. He wasn't sure he wanted to answer.
Because now, he knew.
This wasn't an escape vessel.
It was a harbinger.
And something had just woken it up.