Elias wakes up in the medicae bay — alone, uncertain how he got there. The others say he collapsed during extraction from the derelict, but no one remembers carrying him back. Bit swears he saw Elias walking the upper decks hours later.
The System has no record.
Elias's chakra signature is out of sync with the current time.
Something — or someone — brought him back.
And now, he's not the only one wondering who exactly Elias Mercer is.
-----
It was the light that woke him.
Not the white medicae fluorescents overhead, but the one in his chest.
The flame burned steady — for the first time in what felt like hours — soft orange, the shade of heat withheld.
His eyes opened slowly.
White ceiling.
The low, rhythmic hiss of auto-scrubbers.
Clean air. Too clean.
Medicae bay.
He was back.
Elias sat up.
No pain. No restraints.
Just a gap.
Five seconds. Ten. A minute.
And still — no memory of the return.
The door hissed open.
Bit stood there.
Wide-eyed.
Silent.
Holding a stim-fruit in one hand like it might explode if handled wrong.
"I didn't think you'd wake up," he said.
Elias blinked. "How long?"
"Seventeen hours since the beacon. Nine since the shuttle."
Elias stood.
The flame didn't flicker. But the System was quiet.
No scan data. No chakra diagnostics.
Just ambient presence.
As if even it didn't trust this reality.
"Where are the others?"
"Debriefing. Volst said to let her know if you—"
He paused.
"—if you woke up right."
Elias tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Bit stepped inside.
Shut the door.
"I saw you."
Elias waited.
Bit didn't blink.
"I saw you three hours ago. Walking past the top rail of Deck Two. Past the shrine alcove. You didn't look up. You didn't speak. But you had your coat on. The same coat you're wearing now."
"I've been here since the shuttle."
"I know."
Silence stretched between them.
Only the hum of filtered air and the slow buzz of something electronic failing in the ceiling light.
Then Bit added:
"You were humming."
Elias frowned. "Humming?"
Bit nodded.
"I followed you. Down to the end of the corridor. Then you were just... gone. Vanished behind the service door. But it was sealed. Still sealed."
The System flickered once:
> Temporal Marker: Out of Sync (4.3 hrs)
> Location Trace: Incomplete
> Consciousness Gap: User-Null
Elias exhaled slowly.
Not fear. Not confusion.
Just a low weight settling into his ribs like a second heartbeat.
"I didn't walk back," he said aloud. "I remember the bridge. The signal. Then… nothing."
Bit didn't flinch.
Instead, he handed Elias the stim-fruit, already half-peeled.
"You should eat. You're pale. Or paler than usual."
Elias took it. Bit sat across from him on the edge of the other cot.
They didn't speak for a while.
Just shared space.
Quiet.
When the door opened again, it was Volst.
Fully armored. Expression unreadable.
Her voice was firm, but quieter than usual.
"You're not confined," she said. "But you're being observed."
Elias nodded. "That makes two of us."
Volst didn't smile.
She stepped forward.
Laid a sealed data-slate at the edge of the cot.
"Medical scans say you're fine. But your signature's off."
"By how much?"
"Four hours and change. And you're pulsing with energy"
Elias glanced at the slate.
Then back at her.
"You think I'm a danger?"
"I think you need to tell me if you remember anything. Anything at all."
He hesitated.
Thought of the golden signal.
The second voice.
The journal on the bridge.
The mirror that stopped reflecting.
The walk he didn't remember.
And Bit — sitting beside him now, arms crossed on his knees — just quietly watching.
Elias met Volst's eyes.
And said:
"I didn't come back alone."
Volst didn't speak.
Didn't move.
Just looked at him for a long, long time.
Then she turned, walked to the door—
And before it closed behind her, said:
"Start writing it down."
Elias turned to his journal.
It lay on the cot.
Already open.
The first line had already been written.
In his hand.
In his voice.
In the same black ink.
"We both needed to come back.
You just got here first."
[END OF PART 1: Return Without Witness]