The bridge of Astra-9 felt heavier now—like the ship itself understood the weight of what they had just learned.
Archive Zero.The origin of the Unmaking.A project started on Earth.
And a future version of Orion—broken, desperate—warning them that everything began with that experiment.
Rhea straightened, mask of command settling back into place.
"Orion. Lyra. We don't move a millimeter until we know what Archive Zero is, where it is, and how we can reach it."
"But Commander," Lyra said softly, "we only have nine days."
The countdown pulsed across every holo-panel in silent agreement.
09:23:55:0209:23:55:01
Rhea exhaled, a steady stream of cold air."We're not doing this alone. I'm calling in the one team built for impossible problems."
Orion blinked."You don't mean—"
Rhea nodded sharply.
"Yes. I mean them."
Lyra gasped."Quantum Response Unit 7?"
Orion's stomach tightened.
QRU-7 wasn't a normal task force.It wasn't even a military group.
They were the ones you called when the universe itself broke in ways no human mind was designed to understand.
Physicists who worked on spacetime fractures.Engineers who built machines that shouldn't exist.Linguists who decoded alien math.A strategist who could see patterns in pure chaos.
And one operative who had survived a temporal collapse—and come back different.
Orion whispered,"They only assemble when reality-threatening anomalies appear…"
Rhea pointed toward the shimmering debris field outside.
"And I would say this qualifies."
Astra-9 – Situation Room
Minutes later, the holo-table lit up with six figures—holographically projected as they patched in through encrypted channels.
As each appeared, Orion felt the same jolt of intimidation he had felt during academy years.
Dr. Mira Kessler – temporal physicistCold eyes. Sharp voice. Rumored to have calculated the date of her own death and somehow avoided it.
Prof. Adric Solven – dimensional mathematicianSpoke in riddles. Solved equations faster than computers.
Lt. Commander Jax Rowan – cosmic systems engineerBuilt the first stable micro-wormhole generator. Lost an arm to it.
Dr. Asha Verdan – xenolinguistTranslated alien languages that didn't use sound, symbols, or time.
Commander RheaLeader of Astra-9.
And—
A final figure materialized, half-hidden in shadow.
Only his silhouette was clear.
Orion felt something cold crawl down his spine.
Agent Vale.
People whispered about him in the Fleet the way children whispered about monsters in the dark.
He had no rank.No official record.No confirmed background.
He simply appeared whenever the impossible happened—and disappeared as soon as it was done.
Rhea nodded to the team.
"Quantum Response Unit 7. We have nine days before a universal collapse event. We need answers."
Dr. Kessler adjusted her glasses, expression unflinching.
"Play the message."
Orion replayed the final Archive recording.
The team watched in silence.
Older Orion.The collapse.The warning.Archive Zero.
When the recording ended, the hologram vanished—leaving the room in cold, electric quiet.
Prof. Solven broke it first.
"So the experiment succeeded," he murmured. "They finally broke time."
Dr. Verdan clenched her jaw.
"Archive Zero was only a rumor. A ghost story in scientific circles."
Jax Rowan shook his head.
"No. It was real. There was a facility under Earth's mantle. Disappeared from all records after a classified accident."
Lyra frowned."How do you know that?"
Rowan tapped his mechanical arm.
"Because this happened to me near that facility."
The room fell silent again.
Rhea turned to the shadowy figure.
"Agent Vale. Thoughts?"
Vale stepped forward, finally revealing his eyes—dark, piercing, unnervingly calm.
"It's not the experiment that created the Unmaking," he said.His voice was soft.Too soft.The kind that forced people to listen.
"It's what they uncovered inside the time fracture."
Orion's breath caught.
"And what was that?"
Vale didn't blink.
"Something that should never have been allowed to exist."
A shudder spread across the room like a cold wind.
Before anyone could speak—
A deep thrum vibrated through the ship.
Not mechanical.Not gravitational.
Something was approaching.
Seraxis flickered on the secondary screen.
"Be warned," the crystalline archivist said, voice trembling."The Unmaking leaves echoes. Scouts. Fragments."
The lights dimmed.
Lyra turned to her console."Commander… we're detecting a signal—same pattern as the Infinity Network, but smaller, concentrated."
Orion felt the hairs rise on his arms.
"A fragment of the Unmaking?"
Lyra shook her head.
"No. It's not coming from outside the ship."She swallowed."It's coming from inside Astra-9."
The holo-table flickered—
Every member of Unit 7 turned toward Orion.
Jax Rowan frowned.
"Engineer Hale… you've been exposed to the Infinity Signal longer than anyone else. If it's inside the ship—"
Vale stepped forward.
"It's inside him."
Orion's blood froze.
"What… what do you mean inside me?"
Vale's eyes glinted with something between pity and calculation.
"The Infinity Network isn't just data. It infects consciousness. And you—Orion Hale—are the only one it recognizes."
Lyra grabbed Orion's arm.
"Stop. No. Orion hasn't done anything wrong!"
But Vale didn't look away.
"You're not a suspect," he said quietly."You're a key."
Orion swallowed hard.
"A key to what?"
Vale stepped closer.
"A key to Archive Zero."
The countdown ticked on.
09:23:48:59
The race against the end of the universe had officially begun.