Neo-Dhaka on Mars was a marvel of red dust and golden glass. Emon sat in his transparent dome, watching the two moons, Phobos and Deimos, track across the charcoal sky. He was now the Grand Chancellor, a man who had conquered death and space. But as he looked at his reflection in the glass, he saw something that shouldn't be there. Behind his reflection, a tall, shadowy figure with eyes like dying pulsars stood in the corner of the room. When he turned around, the room was empty.
"Maya, run a full diagnostic on my neural link," Emon commanded, his voice cold. "I'm seeing glitches." But Maya's voice didn't come back from the speakers. Instead, a series of binary codes flashed across his vision, forming words in ancient Sanskrit. The message was chilling: "The debt of the stolen energy must be paid in blood." Emon realized that the energy core he used to terraform Mars wasn't just 'free energy' from the vacuum; he had inadvertently tapped into the life-force of a sleeping civilization in the Andromeda galaxy.