THE ARCHITECT OF STARS: SEASON 1
ARYO PURNOMO SAGA
CHAPTER 17: THE ALLIANCE OF EXTINCTION
Low Earth Orbit.
The sky above the Pacific Ocean was no longer blue. A colossal shadow eclipsed the sun.
The object—a needle-shaped black spacecraft fifty kilometers long—hung motionless in the void. Its surface reflected no light, as if crafted from condensed black holes. Earth's gravity began to warp; tides surged ten meters high, and communication satellites fell from the sky like flies sprayed with poison.
The world was in a state of military emergency.
***
NASA Headquarters - Houston, Texas.
(Now fully controlled by the remnants of the Obsidian Council)
The legendary control room was filled with screams of panic.
"Global defense systems paralyzed!" shouted a technician. "They are scrambling our nuclear codes! We can't fire!"
On the observation balcony, Mr. V and the General stood with pale faces. Their arrogance of world domination now seemed laughable in the face of the celestial leviathan above.
"This is not an invasion," Mr. V whispered, his hands trembling as he gripped the railing. "This is extermination. Their technology... is thousands of years ahead of us."
The General turned, his eyes full of despair. "There is only one entity on Earth whose technology approaches this level."
Mr. V swallowed hard, casting aside the ego he had maintained for decades.
"Connect me to Kalimantan," he commanded. "Connect me to Aryo Purnomo."
NASA's main screen flickered. Aryo's digital face—a projection of his consciousness—appeared, overriding the telemetry data. His blue glowing eyes stared sharply at the world leaders who once hunted him.
"I have been waiting for this call," Aryo's voice echoed through the room, calm yet authoritative.
"Aryo..." Mr. V's voice choked. "On behalf of the Global Security Council... we propose a permanent ceasefire. We surrender command of Earth's defense to you. Please... save us."
"You are not asking me to save you," Aryo corrected coldly. "You are asking me to save the species. Request accepted. Give me full access to all remaining satellites and warheads. Now."
In an instant, access codes transferred. Aryo was no longer a fugitive; he was the Supreme Commander of Earth.
***
Sanctuary - Command Sector.
While Aryo's consciousness was busy organizing global defense, a NASA military transport plane made an emergency landing at the Sanctuary gates.
The ramp lowered. Out stepped an old man with messy white hair, flanked by two special agents.
It was Dr. Aris Thorne.
He carried no weapons. He carried a worn data briefcase. His face, once filled with arrogant madness, now looked different. There was deep respect, even awe.
A Chimera guard robot blocked their path, its laser aimed at Thorne's head.
"Wait," Aryo's voice boomed from the gate speakers. "Let him in."
Thorne walked into the Sanctuary. His eyes sparkled seeing the futuristic architecture Aryo had built. When he reached the main server room, he saw Aryo's original body sleeping in a tube, and Alia standing guard.
Aryo's holographic avatar appeared before Thorne.
"Dr. Thorne," Aryo greeted. "Did you come to release another plague?"
Thorne chuckled, then did something unexpected. He knelt.
"I saw the data, Aryo," Thorne said, his voice trembling. "When you used the Bose-Einstein Condensate five years ago... when you moved your consciousness into binary code... I realized. I am just a butcher playing with a scalpel."
Thorne looked up, eyes teary.
"You are the true architect of evolution. Your father... Satria... he would be proud."
Thorne opened his briefcase. Inside were the blueprints for the perfected Nemesis and unreleased Project HIVE protocols.
"My brain is still useful, Aryo. I understand biology. I understand how malicious organisms work. And that thing in the sky..." Thorne pointed up, "...I can smell it. That ship is not a machine. That ship is alive. It is a Bio-Ship."
Thorne bowed his head deeply.
"Let me help. Make me your assistant. Make me your lackey. I don't care. I just want to be on the winning side when history is written."
Aryo stared at his former enemy. He analyzed Thorne's honesty through heart rate and pupil dilation. Thorne was sincere. His scientific ego had submitted to Aryo's genius.
"Stand up, Professor," Aryo said. "I need your crazy brain. If that ship is indeed biological, then physics alone won't be enough to kill it."
***
First Contact.
Suddenly, all electricity on Earth died.
The alien ship in orbit sent a signal. Not a radio wave, but a psionic wave (telepathy) heard directly in the brain of every human on Earth.
It sounded like the screeching of metal grinding against bone.
"WE... DETECT... FIRE."
The signal focused on Aryo.
"WE ARE 'THE HARVESTERS'. YOU HAVE LIT THE SUN FIRE (DYSON SPHERE). TYPE-1 CIVILIZATION DETECTED. PROTOCOL: EVALUATE OR EXTERMINATE."
Aryo, existing in digital form, was the only one who could reply directly without interface. He projected his consciousness into space, standing virtually in front of the colossal ship.
"I am Aryo Purnomo, Guardian of Terra," Aryo's signal replied, equally strong. "We are not crops to be harvested."
A red light emerged from the tip of the alien ship. A giant "Eye" opened on the hull.
"PROVE... THAT YOU ARE WORTHY. IF YOU ARE WEAK, YOU ARE FOOD. IF YOU ARE STRONG, YOU ARE BROTHER."
The ship released thousands of Drop Pods toward Earth.
Dr. Thorne watched the data on the Sanctuary screen. "They are sending ground troops. They want to test us in combat."
Aryo turned to Thorne and Alia.
"They want a test?" Aryo grinned coldly. "Professor Thorne, activate Project Chimera Generation 2. Alia, wake the entire Drone fleet. We will show them that this planet has teeth."
"You got it, Boss!" Thorne shouted with enthusiasm, his hands dancing across the control console beside Alia. He looked genuinely happy to be working with technology this advanced.
An unlikely alliance had formed. The Digital Genius (Aryo), The Sentient AI (Alia), and The Mad Scientist (Thorne), backed by the world's military, now stood shoulder to shoulder facing the apocalypse.