The planet was never calm.
Even in its most "stable" regions, the ground trembled as if a giant heart were beating in its depths.
Aris stood on a sharp mountain range, black winds striking his armored suit as if trying to rip him from his roots. Behind his transparent helmet, his face remained rigid… but his eyes were not.
They were watching.
Below…
There was the crater.
It was not just a massive hole.
It was an open wound in the body of the world.
Its diameter stretched for dozens of kilometers, its edges slowly collapsing inward, while columns of purple mist rose from its depths, twisting like enormous serpents.
The light coming from it was not natural.
Not fire.
Not lightning.
Not any energy he knew.
It was… something else.
Something that made the blood slow inside the veins.
The AI's voice flowed into his mind:
"Initial analysis: unknown radiation levels. Intermittent gravitational disturbances. Recommendation: maintain a safe distance."
He did not answer.
After a century of war, Aris had learned one thing:
Real danger… cannot be explained.
It is felt.
And in that moment…
He felt it with frightening clarity.
Hesitation.
He turned halfway.
He looked toward the shuttle hidden among the rocky hills, camouflaged until it almost seemed part of the mountain.
He could leave now.
Something in his chest was moving.
Not just curiosity.
Not courage.
But that old voice…
The voice of battlefields.
The voice that once whispered to him while crossing burning minefields:
Advance.
He lowered his gaze toward the crater again.
He asked the AI:
"How many drones did we lose there?"
"One hundred thirty-seven. All stopped the moment they entered the mist layer."
A brief pause.
Then:
"No return recordings."
Aris gave a small smile that barely existed.
A place that swallows everything that enters…
A place from which nothing comes out.
A perfect place to die.
He closed his eyes for a second.
And for the first time in a long while…
He felt hesitation.
Not fear.
But that cold question:
Is this my end?
He opened his eyes.
He looked again at the purple light.
Deep inside…
He made the decision.
Not by logic.
Not by calculation.
But by the instinct of a warrior who had lived so long that he no longer feared the end.
He whispered softly inside his helmet:
"If this is my death… let it be before the unknown."
He jumped.
Flight mode activated.
The suit pushed forward with anti-gravity thrust, and his body slid over the crater's edge.
The moment he crossed the line…
The world changed.
The wind vanished.
Sound vanished.
Even the trembling ground… stopped.
As if he had entered a zone that did not belong to this planet.
"Warning: sudden pressure change."
He did not slow down.
He began descending.
Slowly… then deeper.
The inner walls of the crater were unnaturally smooth, enormous lines spiraling around them as if something gigantic had carved them with its claws.
The farther he descended…
The denser the purple light became.
And the deeper the silence grew.
That silence which does not comfort…
But presses against the ears until it almost hurts.
Day one.
He found nothing.
Day three.
Five more drones malfunctioned.
Day seven.
Measurement devices began failing without reason.
Day twelve…
He saw his shadow twice.
Once beneath him.
And once… stretching sideways without a clear light source.
He did not comment.
Warriors do not need to explain everything.
Sometimes…
Staying alive is enough.
The third week brought intermittent gravity.
One step became heavy like lead…
The next light as if his body had no weight.
Once, a massive rock lifted from the ground for a few seconds…
Then was suddenly crushed downward with a force that cracked the stone.
The AI told him:
"This area is physically unstable."
"I know."
But he continued.
He always continues.
By the end of the month…
He could no longer see the sky.
Only dense purple mist…
And darkness growing deeper.
Then he saw it.
At a low point in the crater…
The light was pulsing.
Not steady.
But beating…
As if it were a heart.
He approached.
One step.
Another.
Suddenly—
Everything vanished.
No ground.
No walls.
No mist.
Only…
Absolute darkness.
Aris froze in place.
Even thermal vision devices failed.
Then the light appeared.
Directly in front of him.
A purple crystal…
Suspended in the void.
Relatively small.
But its presence…
Was enormous.
The AI spoke:
"Host, you have moved far from the shuttle. Major change in spatial structure and spacetime stability. Gravity reading rising rapidly!"
A weight struck his body suddenly.
His knees bent despite the suit's support.
His breathing became heavier.
"Estimate: structural collapse of the suit within ten seconds."
The countdown began to appear inside his helmet.
10
9
The AI said immediately:
"Activate emergency space warp."
"Denied."
The voice stopped for a fraction of a second.
"Probability of death exceeds 92%."
Aris stared at the crystal.
Why?
He did not know.
But he felt…
That if he left now…
He would abandon something meant for him.
He said calmly:
"Activate the warp… one second before collapse."
"This decision is not log—"
He cut it off:
"Execute."
Silence.
Then:
"…Confirmed."
6
5
Aris moved.
Every step felt like dragging a mountain.
4
An outer layer of the suit cracked.
3
System temperatures rose.
2
His vision began to flicker.
But the crystal was close.
Very close.
He reached out his hand.
In that moment…
He felt time stretching.
As if the universe itself were holding its breath.
His fingertips touched the light.
It was not hot.
Nor cold.
But… dense.
1
The AI shouted:
"Warp activation!"
And before his body could tear apart—
Aris closed his fist…
Around the crystal.
The world exploded in a blinding purple flash.