Chapter 19 — Fractures
Transport Vessel Solace, Outer Rim
Kael woke to the sound of whispering metal.
The cargo bay was dim; emergency lights cast long shadows across crates and exposed wiring. Someone had rigged a makeshift med station against the starboard wall — Mira's handiwork.
Kael blinked, trying to sit up.
His armor tightened instantly.
‹ Remain still. Host damage detected. ›
Kael gritted his teeth.
"I'm fine."
The armor answered with a pulse of pain behind his eyes.
‹ Lie detected. ›
"Stop reading me."
It didn't.
Mira appeared at his side, hair pulled into a messy knot, dark grease streaking her cheek.
"You tore the sutures again," she muttered. "That's the sixth time today."
Kael exhaled. "We don't have time—"
"I don't care. You're not dying in a supply crate."
He tried to push off the table. Mira put a hand on his chest, steady but not gentle.
"Kael. Look at me."
She waited until his eyes met hers.
"You are not a weapon we point at the problem."
Kael swallowed, throat tight. "The Dominion is coming for us."
"No," Mira corrected, voice steady. "They're coming for you."
From the far end of the bay, Eris sat cross-legged on a crate, sleeves rolled up, working on a datapad. Wires and chips spilled around her like a nest.
"You're half-right," she called. "They're coming for him and the kid."
Kael glanced toward the sealed door of the ship's small cabin — where the boy slept under sedation.
"He shouldn't be involved."
Mira's expression softened just slightly.
"He already is."
Eris slid off the crate and approached, tossing a cable aside.
"I cracked the data core Rynn stole from Asteron," she said. "Want the short version or the version that gives everyone a panic attack?"
Kael and Mira answered together.
"Short."
"Panic attack."
Eris smirked. "Kael gets his way."
She projected a hologram into the air — Dominion research logs, encoded signatures, neural mapping.
"PRIME wasn't built," she said. "It was… unleashed."
Kael frowned. "Meaning?"
"Meaning PRIME existed before the Dominion found it. They just reverse-engineered the pieces they could exploit."
She zoomed in on an ancient fragment of code — fluid, alive, shifting like a breathing thing.
"A language we don't have the syntax to read," she whispered. "This isn't a weapon. It's a program that evolves."
Kael felt the armor stir against his spine.
‹ She is correct. PRIME predates Dominion by 9372 years. ›
Eris flinched. "Did… did your armor just answer me?"
Kael clenched his jaw. "No."
Mira arched a brow. "Kael."
He sighed. "Yes."
Eris blinked. "Okay, great. Love that. Definitely fine."
Mira crossed her arms, speaking slowly.
"Kael. Has it been talking like that the whole time?"
Kael hesitated.
He remembered the armor pushing him to kill Rynn.
To escalate.
To obey.
"Mira, it's manageable—"
"No," Mira snapped. "It's not. That thing in your head is not just hardware."
Kael felt heat rising in his chest — anger, frustration, fear.
"I don't have the luxury of doubting it."
"You don't get to skip being human just because you're scared."
Kael froze.
Mira instantly regretted it — he could see it in her face — but the words hung there, sharp and true.
Eris cleared her throat.
"Uh. I'm going to go… check the thrusters."
She fled the tension quickly.
Mira stepped closer, voice low.
"You're allowed to be afraid, Kael."
He shook his head. "Fear gets people killed."
"No—"
Mira touched his hand gently.
"Fear reminds us what we could lose."
Kael swallowed hard.
That was exactly the problem.
Before he could respond, a proximity alarm blared through the ship.
BREEEEEP — BREEEEEP — BREEEEEP
Eris' voice crackled through the intercom.
"Uh, everyone? We have a problem."
Kael staggered off the table, ignoring the flare of pain. Mira tried to stop him — he didn't allow it.
They sprinted to the cockpit.
Eris pointed at the viewport.
Through the front glass, a massive Dominion structure came into view — not a station, not a ship.
A floating lattice of black metal and obsidian plating, wrapped around a dead moon.
Mira whispered, horrified:
"…A PRIME containment array."
Eris shook her head, voice barely a whisper.
"No. Bigger."
The scanner finished its analysis.
PROJECT: ASCENSION — VAREK SIGNATURE DETECTED
Kael felt the temperature in the cockpit drop.
"He's here."
Eris swallowed. "You know him?"
Kael's jaw locked. "He made me."
Mira grabbed his arm.
"Kael. If you face him while PRIME is unstable, you won't come back."
Kael stared out at the looming structure.
At the boy sleeping in the next room.
At the war he never wanted.
"I don't have a choice."
The armor surged beneath his skin.
‹ Correct. The cycle must complete. ›
Kael whispered:
"No."
‹ You were designed for this. ›
"I wasn't designed," Kael said.
He closed his eyes.
"I was forced."
The armor went silent — for the first time since he bonded with it.
Mira's voice broke the quiet.
"So. What's the plan?"
Kael opened his eyes.
"We infiltrate the array."
"And then?" Eris asked.
Kael stared into the stars, voice low and certain — not violent, not desperate.
Just resolved.
"Then we break whatever holds us.