Chapter 11: The Call Beyond
The Cassiopeia limped away from Alpha-7, its hull scarred, its crew silent. Lyra sat in the cargo hold, staring at her hands, still feeling the shadow's cold touch. The signal was faint now, a distant echo, but it hadn't vanished. The network was alive, waiting, and she was its key-a truth she couldn't escape.
Ren joined her, his mechanical arm wrapped in tape to stop the sparking. "You okay?" he asked, his voice rough but gentle.
"No," Lyra admitted, meeting his gaze. "I started something I don't understand. My mother-she knew about the network. She left me to finish it, or fight it. I don't know which."
Ren nodded, his jaw tight. "We lost Avis, maybe the whole colony. But you stopped it from spreading. That's something."
"Not enough," Lyra said. "The network's still out there. It's calling others, like it called me."
Mara entered, her expression hard. "We're heading to Orion Prime, the central colony. They need to know what happened. And you, Kain, need to explain what this 'Kain Protocol' is."
Lyra swallowed, the weight of her mother's legacy pressing down. "I don't know everything. But it's human-or was. A project to link minds, maybe even space itself. The shadows... they're what's left of its creators, or what they became. And they think I'm the key to finishing it."
Mara's eyes softened, just for a moment. "Then we need you alive. Orion Prime's got archives, maybe answers about your mother. But we've got a problem."
She gestured to a screen on the wall. It showed a faint signal, pulsing from deep space-not Alpha-7, not Echo-9, but somewhere uncharted. The same geometric patterns Lyra had seen before.
"It's calling again," Mara said. "And it's not just here. Reports are coming in-signals from dead stations, colonies acting strange. Whatever you did, it woke the network up for good."
Lyra's heart sank. The Kain Protocol hadn't just activated one crystal-it had sent a ripple through the galaxy, waking others. She remembered the coordinates from Echo-9's data: nodes scattered across the stars, each a potential gateway to the network.
Ren stood, his face grim. "We can't fight this alone. We need a ship, a crew, and a plan."
Lyra nodded, a spark of resolve igniting. Her mother had prepared her for this, even if she hadn't known it. The network wasn't her master-it was her responsibility. She thought of Avis, the child, the glowing eyes. She wouldn't let them become shadows.
"I'll lead it," she said, surprising herself with the certainty in her voice. "Find me a ship. I'll go to the source, wherever it is."
Mara raised an eyebrow. "You sure, kid? This isn't a technician's job."
"It's mine," Lyra said, standing. "My mother called me to the stars. I'm answering."
The signal pulsed again, and Lyra felt it in her chest, not as fear but as a challenge. The network thought she was its key. Fine. She'd use that to find its heart-and decide whether to save it or destroy it.
As the Cassiopeia sped toward Orion Prime, Lyra looked out at the stars. Somewhere out there was the truth about her mother, her bloodline, and humanity's place in the cosmos. And she'd find it, no matter the cost.