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The satisfaction of victory, immediately followed by something alarming—pain, disorientation, darkness spreading like ink through water. Something had gone wrong.

I moved without hesitation toward the section of perimeter where the shield was failing, all senses alert for danger as I raced to reach her.

ZARA

The perimeter fence hummed with energy, its shield a barely visible shimmer against the night sky. The sound vibrated through my teeth, a high-pitched whine just at the edge of human hearing.

I pressed myself against the rough exterior wall of the compound, counting seconds as I waited for Ravik’s diversion. The metal was cool against my back, patched with mismatched salvage from The Seraphyne.

The junction box sat ten meters away, its access panel glowing faintly with status lights—green, amber, red—a simplistic display for a complex system. Through our bond, I felt Ravik’s steady presence, his focus, then a spike of tension followed by satisfaction.

The diversion was set. I began counting down, each second precise in my mind—my internal clock had always been accurate, a gift for engineering work.

When the explosion came, it was far larger than we’d anticipated. The ground beneath my feet trembled, sending small stones skittering down the wall.

A brilliant flash lit up the sky above the drilling operation, followed by a thunderous boom that I felt in my chest cavity.The shock wave hit seconds later, carrying the scent of burning insulation and superheated metal.

Perfect. I sprinted to the junction box, my feet finding secure purchase despite the uneven ground, my fingers already reaching for the tools in my pocket.

The box’s security latch yielded easily to the pry bar, the metal groaning in protest. Inside was a mess of salvaged technology—Hammond’s people had cobbled together components from the ship with ancient tech scavenged from the ruins.

Exposed circuitry glowed with blue-green energy, conduits pulsing with power. Normally, this would require specialized equipment to bypass, but my markings gave me another option.

I took a deep breath, the air tasting of ozone and smoke from the distant explosion. In the compound behind me, alarms wailed and voices shouted orders.

I placed my palms directly against the main power conduits. The metal was warm, vibrating subtly with contained energy.

The reaction was immediate—pain lanced up my arms as my markings interfaced with the energy flow. The sensation was like plunging my hands into electrical current while simultaneously having information injected directly into my brain.

I bit my lip to keep from crying out as data flooded my consciousness. Shield configuration. Security protocols. Override commands.

The data streamed directly into my mind, my markings translating the energy patterns into something I could understand. The silver lines beneath my skin spread visibly, crawling up my arms like growing circuitry, branching and connecting in new patterns.

I’d never attempted to interface with a system this complex before, but we had no choice. Sweat beaded on my forehead, running down my temples.

My heart hammered against my ribs, too fast, too hard. I sensed Ravik had reached the rendezvous point through the bond.

His concern flickered at the edges of my awareness, but I pushed it aside, focusing entirely on the task. The junction box’s components became extensions of myself, my consciousness expanding into the system.

“Override sequence,” I whispered, my fingers dancing across the control pad as I input commands. My voice sounded distant, disconnected from my body.

“Security protocol delta-nine-six...” The glyphs and symbols in my mind translated to keystrokes and adjustments, my engineer’s understanding merging with the marking’s intuitive interface.

The system resisted, sending a surge of energy back through my connection. Pain exploded behind my eyes, a white-hot pressure that threatened to split my skull.

My vision flickered, static creeping in at the edges. Still, I pushed harder, forcing my way through its defenses.

The silver beneath my skin spread further up my arms and over my chest as they absorbed more energy. “Almost there,” I gasped, feeling something building within the system—and within me.

Too much power, channeling directly through my body. The taste of metal flooded my mouth, my own blood from biting my lip too hard.

The smell of burning circuitry filled my nostrils, though whether from the junction box or my own overloading markings, I couldn’t tell. A final command sequence, and I felt the shield section beginning to fail.

The shimmer in the air flickered, dimmed, then disappeared entirely along a ten-meter stretch. But the backlash was immediate and overwhelming.

Energy surged through my markings, up my arms, directly into my brain. My vision flashed white, then gray, then... nothing.

Darkness. Complete and absolute. No shadows, no shapes, no hints of light.