The air on the bridge of the Odyssey became thick and electric, charged with a new, terrifying urgency. The beautiful, swirling colors of the Gate of Anteverse no longer looked mesmerizing; they looked like a cruel, mocking countdown timer.
Every slow, majestic rotation of the rings of light felt like a tick of a clock, bringing their doom closer.
"Scarlett, give me updates," Ryan said, his voice tight with concentration as his mind wrestled with the temporal rings of the lock.
He could feel the past and future of the Gate mechanism fighting against his will, a puzzle that resisted being solved.
"It's still cloaked, but it's accelerating," Scarlett reported, her eyes narrowed to slits as she stared into the void. She wasn't just looking anymore; she was feeling the space behind them with her Void Weave sense.
"It's moving like a predator closing in for the kill. I estimate three minutes until it's in optimal firing range."
