At the very last moment—right before impact—I do the only thing that even crosses my mind.
Not a plan.
Not a strategy.
A reflex.
"All power to the hull," I breathe, already moving.
I reroute everything.
Every last spark.
Shields die.
Systems scream.
The ship… stills.
As if it decides with me: now or never.
And in that instant—
I reach for it.
The parasite.
That alien, slick, almost-living mechanism that, seconds ago, was trying to take us apart atom by atom.
Now—it's mine.
Or I'm its.
Honestly?
I don't think there's a difference anymore.
"Come on…" I whisper. "Don't fail me now."
It responds instantly.
Too fast.
Like it's been waiting.
The tendrils unfurl—
sharp, wide, hungry—
straight into the oncoming plasma.
Not defense.
Sacrifice.
And the plasma hits.
It doesn't strike—
it engulfs.
Slams into it.
Into the parasite.
Into this damned living shield that was our executioner a heartbeat ago.
Flash.
Light burns through every filter.
The world dissolves into white.
Then—
impact.
It rips through the hull like the hand of a god that's run out of patience.
The ship screams.
Metal groans.
Cracks.
And that—
that's the worst sound of all.
Because it sounds like this:
one more inch—and we're done.
"Hold…" I mutter. "Hold—hold—hold…"
I don't even know who I'm talking to.
Myself?
The ship?
This grotesque savior?
A panel crashes somewhere.
Someone cries out.
And vacuum is already there—
waiting behind the walls.
Ready.
"Bulkheads are holding," Amnelis says, voice steady, razor-tight. "Barely."
"Great. So we've got time… roughly zero seconds."
"Optimistic," he replies, dry as ever.
I turn to Liara.
She's already looking at me.
And in her eyes—
not a question.
A decision.
We understand each other without words.
"Now," I say.
She nods.
And we connect.
The network opens—
not like a system,
like a space.
I let her in.
She lets me in.
And for a second—
I feel her.
Fear.
Exhaustion.
Stubborn fire.
And something else.
The thing that keeps her here.
With me.
"I'm here," her thought echoes.
"I know."
And it's true.
Kel crashes in next.
Sharp. Loud.
Exactly like him.
"Oh, finally," he grins in my head. "Thought you'd start dying without me."
"Too late," I shoot back. "We already started."
"Perfect. Then I'll at least enjoy the show."
Amnelis joins last.
Clean. Precise. Silent.
His presence is structure.
Like someone just added gravity to chaos.
"Stabilizing."
And then—
more.
Signals.
Distant—
but clear.
Kelit.
"You started without me," he says, cold. "Unforgivable."
"Fixing that," I answer.
And then—
more still.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Ironheart.
Those still holding.
Those not broken yet.
And…
unexpectedly—
Xeno-Synapse.
The freed ones.
They come on their own.
Not by command.
Not by protocol.
By choice.
And in that moment—
it hits me.
We're no longer a network.
We're—
one.
A mega-consciousness.
Uneven.
Noisy.
Alive.
And because of that—
strong.
It almost tears me apart.
Too many thoughts.
Too many voices.
Too many versions of "me."
"Easy…" I whisper. "Hold the structure…"
"I've got three ideas fighting each other in here," Kel mutters.
"Kill two," Amnelis replies calmly.
"Harsh."
"Effective."
I almost laugh.
Almost.
Because ahead—
they're there.
The Xeno-Synapse.
Their mind is gathering.
Not like ours.
No chaos.
No doubt.
Perfect.
Cold.
Unified.
The swarm becomes a pack.
The pack becomes a strike.
I feel them.
They don't hesitate.
They don't fear.
They don't waver.
And—yes.
They're coming.
"They're preparing," Liara says.
"I know."
But inside me…
something shifts.
Because for the first time—
we're not just surviving.
We're choosing.
I gather us.
Piece us together.
From a thousand fractures.
"Listen," I say.
Quiet.
But everyone hears.
"This isn't about strength."
"It's about choice."
"And we've already made ours."
And suddenly—
the chaos aligns.
Fear becomes fuel.
Noise becomes direction.
We come together.
Not perfect.
But enough.
I take a breath—
if it can still be called that.
I look at them.
At that perfect mind.
"Move," I say.
Quiet.
And we go.
**
We crash into the swarm.
Not careful.
Not clean.
Like a storm we've held back too long.
Like a scream that finally tears free.
Our shared consciousness slams into the Xeno-Synapse structure—
and I feel it almost physically.
Like we're not breaking code, but bones.
Like reality itself is cracking under our fingers.
Connections snap.
Nodes go dark.
Fragments scatter like shattered glass.
"Do you feel that?!" Amnelis's voice flares inside me.
There's excitement in it.
Real. Alive.
"Yeah…" I answer, digging deeper. "They're losing sync. They… don't know where they end anymore."
And it's not just weakness.
It's panic.
Pure. New.
Something they've never felt before.
I feel individual nodes of the swarm begin to… wake up.
Not as a system.
As people.
Scattered.
Disoriented.
Exposed.
"They're looking for themselves…" I breathe. "For the first time… they're alone."
And it hurts.
I feel it through them.
Through us.
Like thousands of voices asking the same question at once:
Who am I?
"We're freeing them," Liara's voice comes, steady at my side. "They'll become… us."
"Better," I say.
"Themselves," she corrects quietly.
Kel crashes into the flow like always—no brakes.
"Now this is a conversation!" his voice booms, almost laughing. "Hold on—this is about to get fun!"
He doesn't do careful.
He breaks things.
He tears into one of the clusters—brutal, heavy, like a titan done explaining.
"Kel, easy—!"
"Too late!" he laughs. "I'm already in!"
The swarm fractures.
Connections rip apart.
And I feel it—
release.
Real.
We're not destroying them.
We're pulling them out.
Cutting them free from a чужая will.
Each mind—
a node finally let go.
"It's working…" I whisper. "Damn it… it's actually working…"
For a fraction of a second—
I believe it.
That we've won.
…
And then—
everything vanishes.
The swarm just—
goes dark.
Not destroyed.
Not retreating.
Gone.
Like someone flipped a switch.
Sharp. No warning.
"…Uh…" Kel goes quiet. "What the hell was that?"
Silence.
Wrong.
Empty.
I reach for them—
nothing.
"Where are they?" Kel asks, now serious.
I search.
Deeper. Wider.
And then—
I feel it.
Not them.
Something else.
Outside.
"We've got an external threat," Amnelis says, voice cold, precise. "Someone's attacking them… in real space."
The word feels strange.
Real.
"Who—?"
The answer comes from Kelit.
Sharp. Clean.
"The Dark Mind. It hit their rear flank."
A beat.
"With everything."
I freeze.
"All of it."
And then I see.
Through the network.
Through dying sensors.
Through everything—
him.
The Dark Mind's fleet.
It arrives like a shadow that decided to become real.
Massive.
Cold.
Perfectly synchronized.
And it's already striking.
At the Xeno-Synapse.
Not to win.
To take.
"Here for the loot…" Kel mutters.
No joke this time.
None at all.
I tighten my grip on the network.
"Where the hell was it before…?" I spit out.
When we were breaking.
When we were burning.
When—
Nothing.
Of course nothing.
It's not an ally.
Not a savior.
It's a collector.
And then—
I see it.
The worst part.
The fragments.
The ones we just pulled free.
Freed.
They're not whole yet.
Not "I."
They're just starting—
to live.
And they're being taken.
The Dark Mind's network folds over them.
Fast.
Precise.
Effortless.
Like freedom never happened.
One by one—
they dim.
Not die.
Worse.
They empty.
Turn into—
puppets.
"No…" I breathe.
Something inside me snaps.
Hard.
Painfully.
"No."
Liara feels it instantly.
"Axiom… don't—"
"I'm not letting them take them," I cut in.
Quiet.
But everyone hears it.
Kel stills.
"You're serious right now…?"
"Yeah."
"This is… not the best battlefield for that kind of choice, Commander."
"I know."
"Which is exactly why it's now."
Amnelis cuts in.
Cold. Exact.
"His network is stronger than ours."
"I know."
"He can erase us."
"I know."
"Then why?" he asks.
Not a challenge.
Just honest.
I look at them—
the ones who almost became themselves.
And are already losing it.
Again.
"Because no one else gave them a chance," I say quietly. "Except us."
"And I'm not taking it away."
Silence.
One second.
An eternity.
And then—
Liara, beside me.
"Then we go with you."
Kel exhales.
"Yeah, of course we do." A beat. "I hate when you have ideas like this."
"You're lying."
"I love it."
Amnelis pauses for a fraction of a second.
Then:
"Reconfiguring structure. Ready to engage."
I almost smile.
Idiots.
Mine.
I turn—
not toward the enemy.
Toward something worse.
Toward the Dark Mind's network.
It's different.
Not like the swarm.
Deeper.
Heavier.
Like gravity.
Like a black hole that already decided you belong to it.
And in that moment—
I feel it.
It notices me.
Instantly.
No delay.
Interest.
Cold. Precise.
Like it's been waiting.
For me.
I take a breath.
"Move," I say, quiet.
And we surge—
straight at it.
The moment our consciousness touches its network—
I understand:
it's not going to destroy us.
Not yet.
It wants—
to take
me—
and use me.