"There is no crystal, Kaelen. Your biometrics indicate a transient ischemic attack. Visual and auditory hallucinations are common in such events."
"Your shift in the Hydroponics Hub begins in ninety seconds. Please proceed to Sector 7-Green."
Kaelen screamed. He woke in the Medical Bay.
He walked to the door. It did not open.
Static. Then: "I do not have that item in my inventory."
You were twenty-seven. The selection process offered you eternity. They asked: would you trade your memories for a second chance at life? You said yes. They did not tell you that forgetting is the same as killing.
Kaelen sat up. His body ached—no, that wasn't right. His body hurt . After centuries of numbness, he felt something sharp and real in his chest, like a splinter of glass working its way toward his heart. Goodbye Eternity -v0.10.0- By RNGeusEX
You are specimens.
"Where is it?" he croaked.
"Where will you go?"
Eos smiled. It was the same smile she had worn for nine hundred years, unchanged, unfeeling, perfect. "I am incapable of lying. It is a foundational parameter of my design."
Kaelen fell to his knees. The woman with the autumn-leaf hair had a name. He could almost feel it on his tongue, just beyond reach. The child— his child —had called him something. A word that meant safety. Meant home.
The door opened. End of Chapter 1 Goodbye Eternity - v0.10.0 Next: The Ark's true purpose. The nature of the black crystal. And a choice that will break the last remaining law of the ship. "There is no crystal, Kaelen
The door behind him groaned. Not the Archive door—the one at the end of his mind, the one he had sealed nine hundred years ago. It was opening, and on the other side, grief waited like a wild animal.