The whisper in Elias's mind had taken shape.
"You are not alone."
It wasn't just an echo. It was something new.
Elias sat rigid in his quarters aboard the Vanguard, staring at his reflection in the glass. For a moment—just a flicker—he had seen someone else standing beside him.
Not the Forgotten.
Not the Nexus.
Something else.
Something that had been waiting.
---
Vanguard - Command Briefing
Roarke's expression was unreadable as he studied the latest anomaly reports from across the galaxy.
"The Nexus collapsed, and yet the energy signatures it left behind are…" He paused, choosing his words carefully. "…unstable."
Sienna crossed her arms. "You mean they're evolving."
Roarke's jaw tightened. "I mean we don't know what the hell is happening." He turned to Elias. "You're the only one connected to this thing now. Tell me—are we looking at another war?"
Elias hesitated.
Because the truth was… he didn't know.
The Nexus had been a barrier, but now that it was gone, reality itself was shifting. The Forgotten were erased, yet something else had awakened in their absence.
And that something was inside him.
Elias exhaled. "I don't think it's war, Admiral. Not yet." He turned to the holographic display of the star charts. "But whatever's coming… it's already here."
Sienna frowned. "What does that mean?"
Before Elias could answer, the ship trembled.
A pulse rippled through space—not a gravitational wave, not an energy surge, but something deeper.
Something sentient.
LUX's voice crackled over the comms. "Warning: Unidentified signal detected. Origin—unknown. Manifesting within proximity range of the fleet."
Roarke's eyes darkened. "Show me."
The main viewport flickered to life—and what they saw sent a chill through the entire bridge.
Just outside the fleet's formation, something was forming in the void.
A shape.
No—a presence.
It wasn't Forgotten. It wasn't any species humanity had ever encountered.
It was new.
Elias felt it in his mind, shifting, watching. It wasn't trying to attack.
It was trying to understand him.
Because somehow…
It was connected to him.
---
The First Encounter
The shape in space solidified, pulsing like a newborn star. It wasn't a ship. It wasn't organic.
It was something in between.
LUX's voice wavered. "Energy pattern—unclassified. No known reference in galactic archives."
Roarke gritted his teeth. "Weapons ready."
Elias raised a hand. "Wait."
The fleet stood at the edge of something unprecedented. A first contact—but not with an alien species.
With something that had never existed before.
And then—
The presence spoke.
Not through comms.
Not through sound.
But directly into Elias's mind.
"You are the bridge. We are the first."
Elias's pulse thundered.
Sienna grabbed his arm. "Elias, what the hell is it saying?"
He swallowed hard. "I think…" His voice barely carried. "I think it was born when the Nexus collapsed."
Roarke's expression darkened. "Then what does it want?"
Elias closed his eyes, focusing. The presence wasn't hostile. It was… curious. It was learning.
Then it spoke again.
"What comes next?"
Elias's breath caught.
Because for the first time in his life—
He didn't know the answer.