Lira gripped the worn edges of the book, her fingers tracing over the tattered cover as if trying to draw out the secrets it held. The station’s alarms had long since faded into the background—a constant, unsettling hum that pulsed through the metal walls of Zero-VI. Somewhere in the distance, an explosion reverberated, but it felt distant, like a memory she couldn’t quite place.
Her thoughts drifted back to the moment she first learned to read, sitting in her mother’s lap, small hands clutching a children’s book filled with bright illustrations. The light in their home had been soft, golden, spilling in through the narrow windows as her mother turned the pages slowly, patiently. Lira had been so small then, so eager to know the world.
"Why do you love books so much, Mama?" Lira had asked, her young voice full of curiosity.
Her mother had smiled, a sad but knowing look in her eyes, one that Lira hadn’t understood back then. She had brushed a hand through Lira’s hair, a gentle motion that always made her feel safe.
"Books are the only place the world can’t touch," her mother had said softly. "They’re windows, Lira. Windows to everything that came before us and everything that might come after. When you read, you’re not just seeing words. You’re seeing stories—stories that will live as long as someone remembers them."
Lira had frowned at the time, not quite grasping the weight of the words. "But what if people forget the stories?"
Her mother’s hand had stilled for a moment, resting on the open page. "That’s why we hold onto them. That’s why we fight to keep them, even when it’s hard. Because there will always be someone who needs to see through that window, someone who needs to know there’s more than what the world tells them."
Back then, she hadn’t understood the weight of those words. Now, with Nexus threatening to erase the past, she finally did. Books were more than relics—they were defiance, history preserved in ink and paper when all else crumbled under the empire’s grip.
But this book… this one was different.
She’d come across it by accident, tucked away in a forgotten section of the library deep within Zero-VI, hidden beneath layers of dust and disuse. It hadn’t seemed significant at first—just another old text to add to her collection, another reminder of a time before Nexus. But the more she examined it, the more uneasy she felt. The pages weren’t just old; they were encrypted, filled with complex patterns and codes that no ordinary book could contain.
Rae had joked about it, telling her that it was probably just an elaborate puzzle, some scholar’s attempt to hide their thoughts. But Lira couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to it than that. There was something beneath the surface of these pages, something Nexus wanted to bury forever.
And then there was the insignia.
Her fingers traced the faded mark on the inside cover—a symbol she didn’t recognize, a sharp contrast to the elegant calligraphy that filled the rest of the book. She’d never seen it in any of the records she had collected, and no matter how long she stared at it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was important.
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She closed the book, her mind whirling with questions. The weight of it felt heavier now, as if it had grown since she first held it in her hands. What was Nexus trying to destroy? And why had it gone to such lengths to make sure no one found this?
The dim lights flickered above her, casting strange shadows across the room, and for a brief moment, she wondered if she was making the right choice. Maybe Rae was right. Maybe it was just another relic. Maybe the answers she sought weren’t in some crumbling text but in the present, with the people fighting for their lives outside.
But something deeper told her she couldn’t ignore this.
She stood up, pushing back the unease creeping into her chest, and tucked the book into her satchel. There wasn’t time for doubts. Whatever this was, it wasn’t just a puzzle—it was a key. To what, she didn’t know yet, but Nexus was searching for it. That meant she had to find out why, before it was too late.
As she moved through the dimly lit corridors of the station, she found herself thinking about Kaden. He had run off, chasing after something—his instincts always pushing him forward, maybe too quickly sometimes. They had known each other only briefly, thrown together by circumstance, yet there was something about the way he acted that reminded her of herself. Always seeking, always trying to fix things, even when they seemed impossible.
But it wasn't the time for those thoughts. She shook her head and refocused. Kaden had his path, and she had hers.
Zero-VI had seen better days, back when the empire still believed in balance. Now it was a broken shell, caught between its original purpose and Nexus’ corruption. Lira had spent enough time here to know the station had secrets, too, things hidden deep in its core, locked away from prying eyes. She had hoped to find some answers among the ancient books in its forgotten corners, but instead, she’d found this—a puzzle she wasn’t sure how to solve.
Her hand tightened around the strap of her bag as her thoughts drifted once more to the book. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe this wasn’t the key to Nexus’ downfall, but something told her it mattered. Something told her that if Nexus was this desperate to destroy it, it had to be more than just a forgotten artifact.
As she turned the corner, a sudden jolt rocked the station, and the lights flickered violently before plunging into darkness. The hum of the station’s systems faltered, then resumed, slower this time, as though even Zero-VI itself was starting to lose power.
Lira felt a cold dread creep up her spine.
Whatever was happening, it was accelerating. Nexus wasn’t waiting for them to figure things out. The station—Zero-VI—was becoming a war zone, and they were caught in the middle of it.
Another explosion shook the ground beneath her feet, and this time it was closer.
Her breath caught in her throat. She needed to find Rae. She needed to regroup with Kaden. They were running out of time.
A small, sharp beeping from her wrist communicator broke the silence. Lira stopped and glanced at the device, her pulse quickening. It was a message from one of the station’s emergency systems, one of the few that hadn’t been overridden by Nexus yet.
Structural collapse imminent in Sector 12. Evacuate immediately.
Her heart raced. Sector 12 was directly beneath the section she was standing in. If it collapsed, the entire area could go down with it.
There was no time.
Lira bolted down the corridor, her boots echoing off the metal floor. The sound of crumbling metal and the groan of failing infrastructure filled the air, and for a brief, terrifying moment, she thought the entire station would implode around her.
And then it happened—a massive rumble that sent her stumbling forward, barely catching herself on the wall. She could hear it now, the full destruction unfolding below. Nexus was tearing the station apart piece by piece, and they were running out of places to hide.
Lira looked over her shoulder, toward the satchel slung across her back. It didn’t feel like a book anymore. It felt like a ticking clock.
Whatever this was, it was the reason Nexus was tearing everything down.