The situation was not looking good.
From an outside perspective—
A super-ancient red star had just gone supernova.
And at its very edge—
A small transport vessel hovered at the Event Horizon.
The explosion blinded every system in the quadrant.
For what would feel like a thousand-year rotation.
The core condensed.
Expanded.
Collapsed.
And the mist—
That strange, ever-present substance blanketing the quadrant—
Was pulled inward.
Like a whirlpool collapsing into its center.
Inside the ship—
Everything was failing.
Just… slower.
The walls bent and stretched unnaturally.
Like molten metal rippling across the surface of a lake.
Heat from outside clashed violently against the ship's life support systems—
Both fighting to maintain stability.
The trainees couldn't move.
Strapped into their harnesses—
They endured crushing gravity, radiation, and something else—
Something unknown.
Energy from the star.
Ancient.
Unstable.
This shouldn't have happened.
A star like this—
Doesn't just collapse.
And certainly not because of a refueling vessel stabilizing its orbit.
But it had.
And now—
They were caught in it.
A supernova begins with collapse.
Then detonation.
Then silence.
And what remains—
Becomes something else entirely.
A black hole.
A tear in space.
A boundary where time and reality distort.
And beyond that—
Unknown.
Waking up—
I was hit instantly.
Gravity crushed down on me.
Distortion twisted everything.
Particles vibrated violently in the air.
The ship fought to stay alive.
Its hull—
A reactive metal—
Grew stronger with heat.
The hotter it got—
The more it resisted breaking.
The generator fed on solar energy.
As long as there was energy—
It would survive.
That was the only reason we weren't already dead.
The walls looked like liquid silver.
Breathing.
Rippling.
Alive.
The others—
Still strapped in—
Gritting through pain I could now fully feel.
But something else was there.
Energy.
Flowing.
Circulating.
Watching.
Searching.
Or protecting.
The mist—
That same bloody orange-red—
Drifted through the cabin.
Still.
Like a frozen river.
Until—
I breathed.
The moment I inhaled—
It moved.
My heart spiked.
It rushed toward me.
The particles in the air began to synchronize—
Faster.
Faster.
The mist touched my legs.
And entered.
Pain.
Liquid fire crawled through my body—
Rising.
Spreading.
No sound escaped me.
I tried to scream—
Nothing.
Panic hit.
Hard.
No one could survive this.
How long was I out?
When did this start?
The others—
They should be dead.
The mist had been still.
That only happens when—
Haggard breathing.
'!!! ???'
I moved—
Flinched—
And felt something.
Faint.
Against my back.
Rising.
Falling.
A heartbeat.
Hope.
Relief crashed over me.
I closed my eyes—
Just for a moment.
And everything—
Stopped.
The particles froze.
The mist stilled.
The walls went silent.
I opened my eyes slowly.
My vision blurred.
Split.
I was seeing something else.
A sphere formed around me.
Expanding.
It passed through the others—
But something changed.
As it touched them—
They woke.
Violently.
Their bodies stretched—
Distorted—
Pulled.
Their arms jerked—
Leaving afterimages.
One attempt.
Missed.
Another—
Closer.
Then—
Contact.
They grabbed their harnesses.
The sphere accelerated.
Their bodies reacted.
Muscles flexed.
Straining.
The mist inside them ignited.
Their afterimages solidified—
Moving independently—
Trying to stand.
To act.
To survive.
Then—
Shock.
They froze.
Realization hit.
Something was happening to them.
And it wasn't normal.
The sphere reached the hull.
And changed.
It peeled apart.
Launching fragments—
Targeting—
Anyone still alive.
No sound.
No screams.
No impact.
The metal entered them.
Infused.
Skin.
Muscle.
Bone.
Becoming one.
They struggled—
Fought—
Adapted—
But escape was impossible.
Then—
My harness released.
Gone.
I blinked—
And lost focus.
Arms wrapped around me.
Two at my waist.
Two across my chest.
Holding me steady.
Strong.
Controlled.
Bodach.
He moved with precision.
Every action deliberate.
A low grunt escaped him—
The only sound in the silent chaos.
Then—
They turned.
Nine distorted figures.
Their heads elongated.
Eyes wide.
Red.
Orange.
Flames shifting within their gaze.
Each pattern—
Different.
They saw us.
Snap.
The sound echoed unnaturally.
Then—
They moved.
All at once.
Six arms each.
Crawling.
Climbing.
Rushing over twisted metal and seats.
Toward us.
They didn't attack.
They wrapped around us.
Layering.
Protecting.
Locking themselves together.
No gaps.
No weakness.
The mist vanished.
Darkness followed.
Then—
Silence.
The gravity—
Gone.
Zero.
We didn't drift.
They held us in place.
Anchored.
Together.
Sleep came next.
Pain faded.
And something formed.
A connection.
Deep.
Between all of them.
Between us.
A link.
Not fully stable.
Not yet complete.
But real.
We drifted into unconsciousness—
Unaware of what waited beyond.
Outside—
The ship remained intact.
Hovering.
At the edge of something new.
A newly formed black hole—
Roaring silently in the void.
And within it—
Something moved.
Something that should not exist.