The Nebula's Edge drifted through a kaleidoscope of fractured starlight. Outside the hull, space had unraveled into an iridescent ocean of shimmering threads and impossible shapes. Time slowed. Or maybe it fractured. Captain Lira Jensen couldn't tell.
She stood silently on the bridge, eyes locked on the viewport as the universe writhed before her.
"Status?" she asked, her voice sharper than she intended.
Lieutenant Reyes shook his head, sweat beading on his brow. "Navigation's non-functional. Gravitational fields are... rewriting themselves. We're not in normal space anymore, Captain."
Lira's fingers tapped the console. Static crackled, then a burst of data streamed across the display—symbols, colors, sounds that shouldn't exist. Her mind ached trying to process them.
This was the Singularity. But it wasn't just a tear in space—it was alive.
"Sir," Reyes whispered, "I think it's observing us."
Lira turned to him slowly. "Explain."
He hesitated. "I don't know how. But I feel it. Like... we're being studied."
A low hum filled the ship, resonating deep in their bones. Lights dimmed. Then—
A voice.
It came from nowhere, and everywhere at once. Not over the comms. Not through any speaker. It spoke directly into their minds.
"You breached the veil. Now you must choose."
The crew froze.
Reyes clutched his seat. "Captain—what the hell is that?!"
Lira didn't answer. She was staring out the viewport.
A figure had appeared in the void.
Humanoid in shape, but cloaked in shifting energy—its face a swirling mask of stars. It hovered motionless outside the ship, untouched by gravity or light.
"Return, and forget," the voice said.
"Or stay, and remember."
Lira's breath caught. "Who are you?" she asked aloud. "What is this place?"
"This is the Threshold," it answered.
"The place before understanding. Before becoming."
The ship's systems surged. Holograms blinked erratically. Images flickered across every screen—scenes from alternate Earths, alien cities, machines shaped like gods.
One image lingered.
Lira. Older. Surrounded by streams of living data. Leading something. Or someone.
She felt her heart thrum with both fear and awe.
"You carry the key," the voice said.
"Your choices have already changed the stream."
The figure raised its hand. A radiant pulse swept through the ship. No pain. Only light. Then—
Silence.
The Nebula's Edge floated in stillness once more, but the crew was no longer the same. Something had shifted. Deep inside their minds, a door had opened.
Lira straightened. "We're not turning back."
She looked at her crew—confused, shaken, but alive.
"We've crossed the veil. Now we find out what's on the other side."