Maxine wasn't just in a place called the Cerebral Vault; it was like her whole being.
She trekked through this weird forest of frozen lightning. Think big, branchy nerve things, all lit up blue-white, above and below. The air felt like it was buzzing with static – not from electricity, but from leftover thoughts. The Echo here wasn't just a sound; it WAS the air. Memories floated like fog, turning into quick, super-real images before fading away. Like seeing a galaxy being born, or the first rain on a bone mountain, or a gentle touch from something ancient on a new star.
Her suit groaned, working hard to make a safe space around her. Moving was like walking in slow motion through thick syrup. It took so much effort, not really physical, but mental. The Wardens kept bugging her, asking, WHAT ARE YOU? over and over, like a deep hum in everything around her.
She answered the only way she could: by copying them. The thing in her spine took in the brain waves around her, and her suit sent them back, a perfect copy. She was like a ghost in this god's head, a fake signal that was being mistaken for real.
*Warning bells* Something's not right. The thought was hers, cold and clear. The memory of being whole from the Silent Sea felt stronger here, a faint gold thread in the blue-white pain. It pointed deeper, to the middle. To the Lobe.
So, she went after it. The frozen lightning got thicker, making a kind of tunnel over her head. The visions got personal, not so big and spacey: like feeling a certain solar wind, or knowing what a lost moon tasted like, or the sadness of a song no one hears.
These aren't just memories, she thought. They're from someone's life, like a diary. Her brain was recording all this as her soul shook. This wasn't just data. It was a life story.
Up ahead, a new wall showed up. But it wasn't made of stuff, it was made of feeling. A thick fog of light, amber in color, pulsed with a mix of feelings: like, a deep, protective, sad kind of love. The god was showing its emotions.
To get past, she had to feel it too. Not just copy it. Actually feel it.
No way around it. She turned off the safety on her suit.
The feeling hit her hard.
It was like the love a creator has for its creation, huge and without end. But mixed in was the sharp pain of being betrayed. The love was hurting itself, wanting to protect what was left, even as it was being taken apart. It was like a parent being eaten by their kids, still hoping that if they just loved enough, they'd stop.
Maxine screamed in her head. Her suit went nuts. Her pain defenses cracked. This wasn't just something to remember. It was like being the god. For a scary second, she WAS this god. She loved the hungry things in her ribs, wanting to hold them, feed them, make them understand. But they just kept taking.
This isn't me! she thought, holding onto her own self. I'm Maxine Sharpe. I watch. I take apart. I don't feel.
She pushed on, step by painful step, through the amber fog. The love-rage tried to pull her in, to make her part of the god's feelings. The thing in her spine burned as it carried the strange feeling.
And then, she was through it.
The fog cleared. She was in the middle of the Vault.
In front of her was the Core Memory Lobe.
It wasn't what she expected. Not a beating organ or a light-up crystal. It was a tear. Black as night, smooth, the size of her fist, hanging there. Everything around it was still. The frozen lightning didn't go near it. The light bent away. It was a hole. But not into nothing, into *before*.
This was where the gold thread came from. The memory of being whole came from this… missing spot.
Lucien's voice came through her comm, weak and messed up. Sharpe… readings… can't explain… is it… real?
It's a space that isn't there, she said, no longer sounding so calm. A memory so strong it made a hole in reality when it was lost.
You have to… get it…
That was the order. Just take it. How do you take a hole?
As she looked, the Lobe… changed. The black surface shimmered, and for a moment, she saw something else: a quiet, dark room made of stone. A person lying on a bed. Her son. Benny Rhodes. He was drawing on the floor, and he looked really scared.
Then, it was gone.
The Lobe showed her that. Why? Was it trying to scare her? Throw her off?
Then, the gold thread from the Silent Sea memory touched the Lobe. And the Lobe answered. A burst of info, not in sound or light, but in a sudden knowing of one fact, flooded her:
THE FINAL DIGESTION WILL OCCUR AT THE NEXT HEARTFORGE SYZYGY. IN NINE DAYS.
It wasn't a whisper. It was an order. The god's mind knew. It saw what they had, felt the Heartforge being set up. It knew it was going to die.
With that info came something else. A plan. Not for a weapon, but for a switch. A way to disconnect the Heartforge from the god safely. To stop the reaction before it started. It was a drawing of mercy, written with regret.
The data burned into her mind. The Lobe gave her both the poison and the cure, all at once.
Her comm came alive again, with Wilder's voice, clear and strong. He was using something to make the signal better from outside. Carver! The scan is going crazy! Did you find the Lobe's frequency? Tell me!
He didn't want the Lobe. He wanted its sound—the key to break the Wardens from far away.
Maxine looked at the black tear. It showed her Benny. It gave her a way to stop the world from ending. It wasn't something to take. It was someone who saw. A last point of view.
I have the frequency, she said into the comm, sounding calmer than she felt. Sending it now. She sent a fake signal, built from background noise, a little bit wrong. Good enough to work for now, but not really right.
Great! Wilder was so happy. Get out of there. What you did is priceless.
I'm out.
She looked at the Lobe one last time. The black surface shimmered again, and for a second, she saw herself. Not in her suit, but as a tiny, beautiful thing within the huge, dying brain. A unique thought. A self.
It was saying goodbye.
Maxine Sharpe turned and began the long walk out of the god's head, carrying two things in her brain: the date the world would end and how to stop it.