The first thing Ember noticed was the silence.
Not the peaceful kind—no, this silence hummed, vibrating through metal walls and artificial gravity. A low, mechanical pulse beat beneath her feet, like the heart of a machine too large to comprehend.
She opened her eyes.
Blue light flooded her vision.
> [Initializing…]
[Avatar Synchronization: Complete]
[Ship Integrity: 73%]
"…What?"
Ember sucked in a sharp breath and immediately regretted it. The air smelled sterile, tinged with ozone and burnt circuitry. She pushed herself upright, her hands meeting smooth alloy flooring instead of the padded VR rig she remembered collapsing into.
This wasn't right.
The last thing she remembered was logging out of Paws & Scales Online, the full-dive VR game she'd sunk an unhealthy amount of money and time into. One second she'd been adjusting her pet loadout—complaining about a lag spike—the next—
A blinding white flash.
And now this.
She looked down at herself.
Her body was different.
Lean, athletic, wrapped in a dark combat suit threaded with glowing circuits. A translucent interface flickered at the edge of her vision, responding to her thoughts with terrifying obedience.
> [Welcome, Ember.]
[System Status: Dormant — Limited Functions Available]
Her stomach dropped.
"A system…?" she whispered.
This wasn't just any game UI.
It was her avatar's interface.
Before she could panic further, something small shifted beside her.
Ember froze.
Slowly, she turned her head.
Curled up against a ruptured power conduit was a creature no bigger than a house cat. It had charcoal-black fur, oversized ears, and faint crimson veins glowing beneath its skin like embers trapped under ash.
A pet.
Her pet.
"…Ash?" she breathed.
The creature stirred at the sound of her voice, cracked golden eyes blinking open. The moment it saw her, it let out a weak, raspy chirp and dragged itself toward her with trembling paws.
Ember's chest tightened.
She scooped it up without thinking, cradling its warm, fragile body. It was injured—burn marks along its flank, shallow breathing, heartbeat erratic.
This wasn't scripted damage.
This was real.
> [Warning: Pet Life Signs Critical]
Her vision blurred.
"No, no—don't you dare," she muttered, hands shaking. "You're just data… you're supposed to respawn…"
But Ash didn't fade.
Didn't glitch.
Didn't disappear.
It clung to her sleeve, tiny claws digging in as if afraid she'd vanish.
That's when the system chimed again—different this time. Heavier.
> [Unique System Detected: Draconic Bloodline Interface]
[Status: Sealed]
[Condition for Activation: Compatible Bloodline Required]
Ember stiffened.
Draconic… bloodline?
Fragments of memory surfaced—late-night grinding sessions, obscure lore tabs she'd skimmed through. In the game's setting, dragons weren't just creatures.
They were origins.
Sources of evolution.
Power.
> [Note: Current Pet — Ash]
[Bloodline Detected: Trace Draconic Residue — Dormant]
[Compatibility: 3%]
Three percent.
So low it might as well have been zero.
> [Dragon Bloodline Awakening: Unavailable]
A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
"So that's it," she murmured. "You're telling me I can't just make any pet a dragon."
The system didn't respond.
Instead, the ship shuddered violently.
Red warning lights flared as alarms screamed to life.
> [Unidentified Hostiles Detected]
[Hull Breach: Deck Three]
Through the cracked viewport, Ember saw it.
A city of neon and steel stretched across a dead planet below—towering spires, flying vehicles, massive docking rings wrapped around orbiting megastructures. Ships of unfamiliar design battled in the void, plasma and railgun fire painting the stars.
Aliens.
Humans.
Machines.
All at war.
And drifting toward the station—toward her—was a mercenary dropship, its hull scorched, weapons hot.
Ember tightened her hold on Ash.
This wasn't Earth.
This wasn't a game.
And whatever universe she'd woken up in?
It ran on blood, contracts, and power.
She swallowed hard.
"…Alright," she said quietly, eyes hardening. "If I'm stuck here—then I'm surviving."
Ash let out a faint growl, a spark of crimson light flickering beneath its fur.
Just for a moment.
Unseen by the system.