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As Sienna's footsteps fade into the corridor, Dr. Korr remains motionless at the console, their fingers still poised over the holographic interface. The lab settles into an unsettling quiet, broken only by the gentle hum of equipment and the distant whisper of air circulation.
For a moment, they simply stand there, watching the data streams cascade across the display -Sienna's neural patterns, the Red Spark's molecular signatures, the mounting evidence of something far beyond their understanding. Their jaw tightens as they process the implications.
Dr. Korr moves with sudden purpose toward the far corner of the lab, where a section of wall appears identical to the rest -seamless metal panels reflecting the sterile light. They press their palm against a specific point, and the wall responds with a soft hiss, sliding away to reveal a narrow alcove lined with dark, non-reflective surfaces.
Inside, a single interface waits: not holographic like the lab's main systems, but something older. Something more fundamental for their need. A simple black console with a single key pulsing with a faint, rhythmic light -matching the heartbeat thrumming in Dr. Korr's chest. This is technology that predates the station's current systems, something built into the very bones of the Regenesis.
Dr. Korr's hand hovers over the key, hesitation flickering across their features. They glance back at the lab, at the evidence of what they've discovered. At the samples that could change everything. The weight of a profound choice settles on their shoulders.
They press the key. A blank interface materializes, cursor blinking in the silence like a patient listener.
The words feel strange in the sterile quiet: "Dr. Walder."
Dr. Korr stares at the blank screen, their voice barely above a whisper as they speak to the blinking cursor. The words come slowly, weighted with centuries of history:
"It's happening again. After all this distance, after a millennium of running... it followed us here. I'm watching something wonderful and terrible unfold in these children -the same gift, the same fear, the same hatred that tore your world apart. This moment... It’s nothing, the mirror of what you fled, and now it is staring back at us across the void."
Their voice breaks slightly: "I know what you carried during the Unmooring. The weight of keeping them safe when the world turned mad with fear. I need you to carry it again. Please... not for me, but for what they could become. What humanity could become, if we don't repeat the sins of Earth."
The cursor blinks once more, then vanishes. Silence.
Dr. Korr stares at the empty screen, waiting. Nothing. No acknowledgement. No sign the message was even received. They close the interface and seal the alcove, returning to the lab with heavy steps. The evidence must be covered, the samples hidden, the hope buried deep.
Only hoping.
Then, the first droplet hits the biodome's transparent ceiling far above, barely audible but unmistakable. Another follows. Then another.
Rain.
Dr. Korr's eyes drift upward, watching as the artificial precipitation begins to fall across the impossible garden that crowns the station. In a place where every molecule of moisture is calculated, controlled, and accounted for, the rain falls like tears from a mechanical sky.
The building shudders -not violently, but deeply, as if something immense is stirring to life in its depths. The vibration travels through the floor, up through the walls, a resonance that speaks of massive systems awakening. Somewhere in the station's core, quantum fields begin to align, processing power beyond human comprehension coming online.
Dr. Korr closes their eyes, feeling the building's pulse synchronize with their own heartbeat. They know what they've done. They know what they've awakened.
"Thank you," they breathe, their voice barely audible above the whisper of rain and the growing hum of the awakening god beneath their feet.
They take a deep breath, feeling the weight of the decision settle into their bones. The Regenesis is no longer just a research station. It has become something else entirely -a consciousness stirring from its slumber, ready to reshape reality itself.
The rain continues to fall, each drop a countdown to an uncertain future7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUslrtGYTrk
