Daniel's scream echoed across the crystalline hall, but the sound wasn't just his—it was amplified, distorted, carried by the walls as if the entire chamber were crying out with him.
The alien figures advanced in unison. Not walking, not gliding, but appearing closer with each pulse of light, until they surrounded him in a perfect circle. Their forms were solid yet unreal, a paradox of presence.
The crystal in Daniel's chest blazed, its light tearing through his suit. His body arched, suspended above the ground. His eyes rolled back, and a new voice—not his own—spoke through his mouth:
The seed is bound. The vessel is chosen.
Hayes raised his rifle instinctively. "Step away from him!" His voice cracked with both fury and fear.
"They're not touching him," Marquez whispered. She took a hesitant step forward, torn between terror and awe. "They're… awakening him."
"Awakening him into what?" Hayes barked.
---
The Communion
Inside Daniel's mind, the chamber was gone.
He stood on a barren plain under a sky of burning red. Before him stretched legions of the crystal-armored figures, their faces hidden behind veils of light. A single one stepped closer, towering, ancient, radiating power that crushed his very thoughts.
You carry our memory, it spoke—not with sound, but with pure will. Our war, our fall, our seed. The heart called you across the void because only through you can it rise again.
Daniel tried to speak, but his mouth formed words not his own. "I'm… not one of you."
The figure's gaze pierced deeper. You are more than human now. You are inheritance made flesh. The war is not over, Vessel. The shadows still hunger.
Visions tore through him—creatures of endless night consuming stars, gods of bone and flame rending entire worlds. And at the center of it all, a crystal—his crystal—shining like a beacon of resistance.
---
The Return
Daniel collapsed back to the glassy floor with a thud. His visor fogged from heavy breathing. When he finally opened his eyes, the alien figures had vanished, their circle broken.
But the chamber was different now. Every pillar glowed brighter, humming a steady rhythm that matched his heartbeat.
Okafor stared at him as if seeing a ghost. "Daniel… your eyes."
Daniel blinked. His reflection in the mirrored floor stared back—pupils now glowing faint blue, faint cracks of light spider-webbing from the crystal outward into his veins.
Hayes swore under his breath. "This is it. This is where it starts. He's not Daniel anymore."
Marquez crouched beside the boy, defiant. "He's still human. Still one of us. But whatever's inside this planet chose him for a reason."
Daniel whispered, voice trembling. "They showed me… a war. Not just Mars. Bigger. Beyond anything we've seen. And it's not over."
---
The hall shuddered, dust falling from unseen heights. Somewhere deep below, the planet growled like a beast stirring in its sleep.
The doorway behind them sealed shut.
They were trapped.