Nash's breath came in shallow gasps as the lights flickered on and off in the deep chamber. The tendrils around her team members were tightening, pulling them toward the glowing crystal at the center of the room. Their eyes were glazed over, their faces slack with a mixture of terror and awe. They weren't screaming anymore. They weren't even moving. They were becoming one with the signal.
Voss stood at the edge of the chamber, staring at her — but not like a person anymore. His face was blank, expressionless, his body rigid, as if he were no longer entirely human. He was... something else.
"Nash…" his voice echoed in her mind. She felt it before she heard it, a whisper at the edge of her consciousness. It's too late for us. We have already crossed over.
Her hands clenched into fists, her heart hammering against her chest. "Voss, no!" she shouted, but her voice sounded small and distant. The room was closing in on her, the hum of the signal filling every corner of her mind.
"Don't fight it," Voss said again, but his mouth didn't move. The words didn't come from his throat — they came from the deep, resonant voice that had been inside her head since she stepped foot on Europa. We are one now, Nash. All of us. We will be whole again.
Nash's legs nearly gave out beneath her as she staggered backward. Her mind was on the edge, her thoughts chaotic, struggling to cling to reality. She knew what the Ascended were — they were the first. They were the ones who had sent the signal, the ones who had created the network that spanned the stars. They were the original, ancient beings who had been waiting for a host, waiting for the right moment to assimilate the rest of the galaxy into their fold.
And now, they had found it.
The crystal pulsed again, sending waves of energy through the room. She could feel it vibrating inside her skull, pushing at the walls of her mind. She could hear the voices now — millions of voices, whispering in every language, every thought, every dream that had ever been conceived. They were all there, all connected.
Her hands shook. This can't be happening.
"We are the Ascended," Voss said, his voice clear, but the words weren't his. "You cannot resist. It's inevitable."
The crystal in the center of the room hummed louder, and suddenly, Nash realized the full extent of what the Ascended were doing. They weren't just absorbing the minds of her team — they were transforming them. Changing them, rewriting their very biology, fusing them with the signal until there was nothing left of who they had once been. They were becoming part of the network. They were becoming... them.
And if Nash didn't stop it, she would become part of it, too.
The Choice
Nash stumbled backward, tearing her eyes away from the horrifying transformation. She was running out of time. The signal was growing stronger, pulsing faster, and she could feel its reach extending beyond the walls of the base, expanding into the depths of Europa's icy crust.
She needed to act fast.
Her mind raced, trying to find a solution. She remembered the device she had brought with her — a virus coded specifically to disrupt the Ascended signal. It had been developed in secret by the Terran Defense Network. If she could upload it to the crystal, it might sever the connection. It might shut the signal down. It was a long shot — a desperate one — but it was the only shot she had.
Her heart pounding in her chest, Nash activated her wrist console and sent the virus to the device she'd planted earlier in the base's power grid. The virus was designed to corrupt and break the signal — but there was a catch. It could kill everything in the area, not just the Ascended's connection. It would be a reset, wiping out the network. It might even destroy Europa's atmosphere.
"Voss!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the throbbing hum in the air. "If I do this, it'll kill everything — everyone here! You'll be lost!"
But Voss didn't respond. His eyes remained fixed on her, empty, distant. He was already one of them. And the others — the team she had brought with her — they were already changing.
Nash took a deep breath, steadying herself. She knew what she had to do.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her fingers trembling as she pressed the final sequence into her console.
The Awakening
The virus launched into the crystal, and for a moment, everything went still.
The hum of the signal stopped.
The room was silent. The lights flickered, and then, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, everything went dark.
But only for a second.
Then, the explosion hit.
The walls shook violently, and Nash was thrown to the floor. The blast was a wave of pure energy, ripping through the base's power systems and tearing apart the crystal at the center of the room. The shockwave radiated outward, cutting through the base like a knife.
Nash's head spun as she struggled to stay conscious. She saw the faces of her team, their bodies convulsing as the signal was severed. The glowing tendrils detached from their bodies, retracting into the walls, and their lifeless forms fell to the floor. They were free. But for how long?
She crawled to her feet, her vision blurred, her suit malfunctioning, alarms blaring in her ear.
And then, through the chaos, a single figure emerged from the smoke.
Voss.
His body was glowing with a faint, otherworldly light. His eyes burned with an unnatural intensity. But he wasn't human anymore. Not fully. Not in the way he once had been. He was something... else. Something powerful.
His voice reverberated in her mind, louder than ever before.
"You think you've won? You've only delayed the inevitable. We are everywhere. We are in you."
His form flickered, distorting like a hologram losing signal.
And then he was gone.
The Aftermath
Nash collapsed against a shattered wall, gasping for breath. The base was falling apart around her. The explosion had set off a chain reaction, and the walls were cracking, pieces of ice and debris crumbling down from above. The temperature was dropping fast.
She was alone.
The virus had done its job — the Ascended signal was broken — but at a terrible cost. The crystal, the heart of the signal, was destroyed, but the damage had spread too far. Europa was dying.
Her suit's emergency systems kicked in, and she could see the countdown ticking down. She had no time left.
The blast had been the final nail in the coffin. The signal was silenced for now, but it was only a matter of time before the Ascended found another way. They always would. It was in their nature.
And Nash… Nash knew now what had to be done.
Europa couldn't be saved. But Earth could.
She stood, looking toward the shuttle, the icy path ahead. There was still hope, but it was fleeting. She would get the information back to Earth. She would warn them.
But would they listen? she wondered.