The ARK-003 sliced through the shimmering dimensional barriers like a knife through silk. The air around the ship crackled and sparked as it crossed from the Curtain's twisted realm back into normal space. After weeks of floating through a world where up could be down and gravity played by alien rules, the return to regular physics felt like waking up from a fever dream that had stretched their minds to the breaking point.
Most of the expedition team lay sprawled in their bunks, snoring like bears after hibernation. Their bodies had finally given in to exhaustion that had been building for weeks. These warriors had faced horrors that would give normal people nightmares for years, and now they slept the deep sleep of the truly drained.
Only Alfred and Thorne stayed awake in the control room, their eyes scanning the instruments like hawks watching for prey. Even in familiar space, they couldn't afford to let their guard down. One moment of carelessness could still kill them all.
