The sky cracked.
A soundless pulse rippled across the ruins, and nobels earpiece buzzed with static. Above, the black vessel circled lower, casting a wide shadow like a predator stalling its kill.
The girl—still weak from the cryosleep—tugged on his sleeve. "We have to go. Now."
Nobel helped her up, glancing back at the pod chamber. "What the hell is that thing in the sky?"
Her lips were pale. "A Scorch Reaper."
"That's not ominous at all."
They started running, boots thudding through the pulsing corridors of the spiral ruins. The architecture responded to them—doorways opening, walls shifting subtly to let them pass. Like the city itself wanted them to escape.
nobel glanced at her. "You got a name?"
She hesitated. "Sereya."
"That… sounds like something important."
"It was," she said, breathless. "Before the Spiral broke."
"Great. Cryptic and cute. Just what I need during an alien invasion."
Sereya laughed—soft and bitter. "You really don't remember, do you? Not even what you are?"
"I'm a former pilot with debt collectors on three moons, a busted ship, and a psychic rock strapped to my arm. That's all I got."
She reached for his wrist. "That's not a rock. It's a Starshard. One of seven. You and I were part of something bigger—a resistance. We tried to stop them. You… you made me promise not to wake you unless it was the end."
Nobel halted. "Wait. The end?"
Before she could answer, a tremor rocked the corridor.
Behind them, the ceiling split apart.
A Scorchdrone—a levitating biomech of writhing shadows and steel tendrils—descended from the breach. Its red sensors flared.
Nobel yanked his plasma pistol from its holster. "Run."
He fired. The bolt seared into the thing's hide, but it barely flinched.
Sereya reached toward her own shard—and for a moment, her body shimmered.
Then a blade of translucent light unfolded from her hand.
Nobel's jaw dropped. "That's new."
She stepped between him and the drone. "It's not magic. It's memory. The shards remember us… even if we forget."
With one swing, the energy blade sliced through the drone's chest. It shrieked, imploded, and vanished in a splash of violet mist.
Nobel stared. "Okay. We're not dying today."
She turned to him, eyes blazing. "No. But we have to get to the Corespire before nightfall. If the Reaper lands, we won't get another chance."
"Let me guess," he said, helping her down the next corridor. "That's where we learn why I can't remember anything?"
She didn't smile.
"No, Nobel . That's where you chose to forget."