The Rustfang plunged into the crimson nebula, its hull groaning as if it might splinter under the strain. Kael Voss gripped the controls, his knuckles white, his mind reeling from Aria's words: StarCore isn't just a game. It's real. The alien ship's shadow loomed through the nebula's haze, its rune-carved hull pulsing with a sickly green light that made his holo-device spark erratically. The interface's red warning still burned in his vision: [System Anomaly Detected. Admin Lockout Initiated.]
"Real?" Kael snapped, swerving the Rustfang to dodge a stray asteroid. "What do you mean, real? This is a sim, right? VR, holo-tech, some fancy tech I got zapped into when that reactor blew?"
Aria's hologram flickered in the co-pilot seat, her violet eyes scanning the cockpit like she expected it to dissolve. "StarCore's a simulation, yes, but it's not human-made. The Architects—aliens who built this place—use it to harvest human minds. Every player's neural data fuels their weapon, some kind of galactic doomsday machine. And you, Kael, you're glitching their system."
Kael's stomach lurched, not from the Rustfang's wild maneuvers but from the weight of her words. "Harvest minds? That's insane. I died in an explosion. How am I even here?" His voice cracked, memories of Asteroid K-17 flashing—his crew's screams, the reactor's roar, his body burning away.
"Respawn protocol," Aria said, her tone steady but laced with something softer, almost like pity. "The Architects pull dying humans into StarCore to keep the simulation running. Your consciousness was uploaded the moment you died. But that glitch in your system…" She pointed to his sparking holo-device. "It's like you hacked their code from the inside. You're not supposed to have admin access."
The nebula's interference scrambled the Rustfang's sensors, but the alien ship was closing in, its weapons charging with a hum that rattled Kael's teeth. His holo-device glitched again, displaying: [Debug Mode: Access Memory Fragment – Kael Voss, Asteroid K-17.] He hesitated, then tapped it. A flood of images hit him like a plasma bolt: the reactor room, his hands on a strange device not listed in any mining manual, a cold alien voice whispering, "Subject viable. Transfer initiated."
Kael shook his head, forcing his focus back to the controls. "So I'm a lab rat in an alien game. Why are you telling me this, Aria? You're part of their system." He glanced at her, her silver hair glinting in the cockpit's dim light, her expression too human for an NPC.
Aria's hologram flickered, and for a moment, her violet eyes held a flicker of fear. "I'm a glitch, too. An NPC who… feels things I shouldn't. I've seen players die—really die—when their avatars are destroyed. If we don't break the system, you're next, Kael."
A pirate ship locked onto them, its lasers grazing the Rustfang's shields, sending sparks across the cockpit. Kael swerved, his miner's instincts kicking in—dodging cave-ins on K-17 had taught him to think fast. "Fine. How do we break it?"
"Find the Core Nexus," Aria said, her voice urgent as she pulled up a holographic map on the cockpit's display. "It's a hidden server in the simulation's heart. Shut it down, and you free the trapped minds—yours included. But it's guarded by the Architects' enforcers… and players like Zorak who profit from keeping the system running."
The interface pinged, updating his objective: [New Objective: Reach Nebula Outpost Beta. Reward: 500 StarCredits, Access to Tier-2 Ship Upgrades.]
Kael smirked, his hands steady on the controls. "Let's crash their party, then." He activated the Plasma Overcharge from his glitch menu, the Rustfang's cannons glowing white-hot. He fired, blasting two pirate ships into glowing debris, their explosions lighting up the nebula like fireworks.
Aria's hologram leaned closer, her voice a mix of awe and worry. "You're rewriting the simulation's rules. That's dangerous."
"Danger's my day job," Kael said, dodging a missile that screamed past the viewport. The nebula parted, revealing Outpost Beta—a massive station orbiting a black hole, its spires glinting like knives in the void. But before Kael could plot a course, a sleek silver ship cut them off, its tag flashing: [Commander_Zorak – Rank #3].
A comms channel crackled, Zorak's voice dripping with smugness. "Nice moves, Novice. That glitchy ship of yours is worth a fortune to the right buyer. Hand it over, or I'll scrap you myself."
Kael's jaw tightened. "Try it, hotshot." He gripped the controls, ready to dive, but Zorak's ship fired a missile, its trajectory locked on the Rustfang's engines.
Aria's hologram flickered, her hands moving over an invisible console. "He's got a Tier-5 destroyer. We can't outgun him, Kael."
"Then we outsmart him." Kael's holo-device sparked, revealing a new option: [Debug Mode: Rewrite Enemy Targeting AI.] His heart raced—messing with another player's ship felt like stealing ore from a rival crew, but he was out of options. He tapped the command, and lines of code flickered across his vision. The missile veered off, slamming into a pirate ship instead, the explosion blooming like a star.
Zorak's voice roared over the comms. "You cheating little—!" The channel cut as Kael dove toward Outpost Beta, the Rustfang's engines screaming under the strain. The black hole loomed ahead, its gravity tugging at the ship, warping the stars into streaks of light.
Aria's hologram stabilized, but her voice was faint, like she was fighting to stay present. "Kael, the Architects… they're watching. Your glitch is drawing their attention. Every time you use it, you're painting a target on us."
The station's docking bay opened, a beacon of safety in the chaos. Kael guided the Rustfang toward it, his mind racing. "If they're watching, let's give them a show." But as they approached, his holo-device flashed red, the text searing into his eyes: [Warning: System Admin Detected. Lockout Imminent.]
The black hole rippled, and a massive shape emerged from its shadow—an Architect enforcer ship, ten times the size of Zorak's destroyer, its hull glowing with runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. Aria's voice dropped to a whisper, her hologram flickering violently. "Kael… they're coming for you."
Kael's hands froze on the controls, the docking bay so close yet impossibly far. His interface sparked one last time, displaying a cryptic message: [Memory Fragment Unlocked: 'You're the key, Kael.'] The words echoed in his mind, a ghost from a life he couldn't remember.