The water rippled softly around Elena's fingers as the system's calm, emotionless voice echoed in her mind.
> [System Log Playback: Origin Report]
Subject: Dr. Elena Carter
Event Timestamp: "Arrival"
Elena straightened, droplets sliding from her skin. "Playback?" she repeated softly. "You mean… you saw what happened to me?"
> [Affirmative.]
Would you like to view your arrival record?
She hesitated, heart drumming. "Yes."
The air shimmered faintly above the bathwater, and a transparent screen flickered into view. The soft sound of wind filled the room — the kind that carries dust and blood.
The vision unfolded.
---
Playback initiated...
The world outside the Valley was dark that day — skies painted in copper and ash. Beyond the massive energy wall that guarded the sanctuary, the land was barren, haunted by the creatures that had once been human.
A group of armored soldiers moved through the wasteland — silent, precise, their weapons humming faintly with blue light.
At the center of the group walked him — the Sergeant.
His name, the system whispered, was Aren Voss — commander, warrior, and founder of the Valley. The one who built safety out of ruin.
He was tall, armored in obsidian black trimmed with glowing silver circuits that pulsed with his heartbeat. His eyes burned with a faint blue light — like condensed lightning — the mark of a first-generation evolution.
The patrol had been returning from a border purge, clearing out infected zones when one of the scouts froze.
"Commander," the man called quietly. "Movement. Near the ridge."
Aren lifted his weapon, scanning the horizon. Dust swirled. The scent of blood and iron mixed in the air.
And then they saw her.
A woman, lying on the ground near the gate, her white dress torn, her skin pale. The valley's border sensors hadn't triggered — which was impossible. No living thing could approach without being detected.
One of the soldiers swore softly. "Could be a mimic."
"Or a trap," another muttered. "Those things sometimes take human form. Remember last month's ambush?"
Aren raised his hand for silence and stepped forward. His aura burned through the dust, forcing the ground to hum under his boots.
"Stay back, Commander," one of his men warned. "She doesn't look like us. Her energy signature is… blank."
That word caught everyone's attention.
Blank meant unknown.
Everything in this world emitted an energy frequency — even the monsters. But she had none.
Aren approached slowly, weapon ready. Her head turned faintly. She was still breathing. Barely.
Her eyes fluttered open — dazed, glassy — and for a moment, their gazes met.
Her voice was soft, broken by exhaustion.
"Help… me."
A murmur ran through the soldiers.
"She spoke!"
"No monster speaks like that—"
"Could be mimicry—don't get close—"
But before anyone could stop him, she reached out. Her fingers, trembling, brushed Aren's armored hand.
And something snapped.
A pulse of golden light burst between their palms — brief, blinding, and gone before the others could react. The air hummed with static, the scent of ozone sharp and clean.
Aren staggered half a step. For the first time in years, his heart skipped a beat.
"She's… warm," he murmured.
"Commander, leave her!" one soldier barked. "It's a trap. Let me finish it."
But Aren was already kneeling, cradling the woman's limp form in his arms. Her heartbeat was faint, but steady. She wasn't decaying. She wasn't mutated.
"She's not infected," he said flatly.
"How can you tell?"
"Because," Aren said, lifting his gaze to the horizon, "my instincts aren't wrong."
The others hesitated. He was their leader, their savior. The one who had built the valley from nothing after the first outbreak. They'd seen him destroy monsters stronger than tanks — if he believed she was human, no one dared defy him outright.
Still, unease spread like smoke.
"She doesn't look like us," someone whispered.
It was true. Her features were soft, too normal, too human. She lacked the faint glow that marked all evolved beings — no shimmering hair, no luminous veins, no aura. She looked like the ancient photos they studied in the archives — fragile and perfect.
A relic from before evolution.
"Commander," his second-in-command urged quietly, "if she's from outside… she can't survive here. You know the rule. No outsider allowed inside the valley."
Aren looked down at the unconscious woman. Her head rested against his arm, her breathing shallow. For some reason, the sight ignited something deep inside him — recognition, fierce and inexplicable.
"Then I'll change the rule," he said simply.
The entire squad froze.
"Sir?"
He stood, lifting her effortlessly. "She's coming with me. Inform the labs to prepare a containment scan. If she's infected, I'll take responsibility."
"Commander, please—"
"That's an order."
---
The next memory flashed — the lab chamber, filled with white light and humming machines. The soldiers stood behind observation glass as scientists examined her.
One technician gasped. "Her biology is… pure. Untouched by mutation. She's human. Fully human."
The room fell silent.
"That's impossible," murmured another. "Humans went extinct a century ago."
Aren stood still, his eyes never leaving her form. She looked small on the examination table, breathing peacefully now.
The lead biologist turned to him. "Commander, she's not like us. She carries none of the markers. She can't survive outside controlled space. The council will demand she be expelled."
"I'll deal with the council," Aren said quietly.
And when the council gathered that night, he did.
The chamber was filled with powerful voices — elders, generals, scientists — all arguing that the stranger must be banished.
"She's a threat."
"She's an anomaly."
"She's not one of us."
Aren listened to them in silence until the last man finished speaking. Then he rose from his chair.
"I found her at our gate," he said. "Unarmed. Alone. She asked for help. We exist because someone once helped us."
One of the elders leaned forward. "You risk the entire valley for one woman?"
Aren's expression didn't change. "No. I claim her under my protection."
Murmurs swept the room. "You can't—" "She's an outsider—"
He raised his hand. The table shook. The lights flickered. His power rolled through the air like a storm.
"Then I'll make it official," he said.
"I will marry her."
The room fell deathly silent.
"You can't mean that!" shouted one of the governors. "You're the Valley's leader — its king! You must take a partner who equals your strength, your evolution!"
"I have already chosen."
"But she's human—"
"And I am not," Aren cut in coldly. "So tell me, which of us should be afraid?"
No one spoke. The firelight from the center ring reflected in his pale eyes, sharp as ice.
"You will let her stay," he said. "Or I will shut down your sector's access to the energy core. See how long your children survive without power, without shelter."
That silenced them completely. The threat was not shouted; it was fact. No one wanted to test it.
Finally, one of the councilwomen spoke softly. "You would risk your throne, your people, for her?"
"I already have," he said.
---
The playback flickered, and the screen faded.
Elena sat motionless in the water, her heart pounding.
Her voice came out as a whisper. "He… married me? To protect me?"
> [Affirmative.]
You were found outside the Valley perimeter in a state of partial consciousness. Subject: Aren Voss authorized your integration. Status: Protected. Title Assigned: "Queen of the Valley."
Her mouth went dry. "Queen?"
> [Confirmed.]
She sank deeper into the water, the warmth no longer relaxing — it felt like the air had turned too heavy to breathe.
The system's voice softened, almost like compassion:
> [He declared you his equal. Without that, you would have been destroyed.]
Elena closed her eyes. Her mind was a whirlpool — flashes of memory, her hospital, her death, his face in the video.
"The man from the recording," she whispered. "It's him… the time traveler."
> [Affirmative.]
Her hands trembled under the water. He had saved her life before they ever met. Built this valley for her. Declared her his queen in front of an entire world that didn't want her.
But why her?
She looked at her reflection in the rippling water — same eyes, same face, same soul.
And far beyond the glass window, somewhere in the valley below, a figure stood atop one of the glowing towers, watching the horizon. His armor caught the sun. His gaze lifted, sensing something — perhaps the faint pulse of the woman now awake within his home.
Their fates were already intertwined, even before she knew his name.
The system's voice broke the silence.
> [End of Playback.]
Would you like to send a message to Commander Aren Voss?]
Elena hesitated, her heart pounding harder.
"No," she whispered. "Not yet."
Because she wasn't ready.
Not to face him.
Not to understand what fate had already decided.
The fire flickered softly beyond the doorway, painting the walls in blue light as the system's hum faded.
Outside, the towers glowed brighter — as if answering a signal neither of them had spoken aloud.