Kai leaped, reaching for the grip point above him. His fingers curled around it, and his smile widened.

  He had spent the last ten minutes trying to clear this one section of the overhang with no footholds. Eliana had glided through it effortlessly, using her flexibility to her advantage. Kai, on the other hand, had no idea how she managed some of those moves without dislocating something.

  In the end, brute force had been his solution. It wasn’t the most elegant approach, and now he dangled in midair, swaying slightly in the simulated wind as he reached for the next hold. But it had worked.

  Looking up, he saw that Eliana was already several sections ahead. He needed to pick up the pace.

  Kai climbed faster, moving with the agility of a primate. He smirked—a primate. That was a word he had learned just days ago from the encyclopedia.

  Monkeys — A strange, intriguing animal that had once lived on Earth, and according to the encyclopedia, the closest biological relative to humans, just less intelligent. The more he read, the more fascinating it became. Apparently, humans had once been monkeys themselves, evolving beyond their ancestors to become the species they were today.

  Isaac had finally given him a fully translated version of the encyclopedia, and with the plugin now working properly, Kai could read every entry in English.

  Most of what he read about human evolution matched what the Archive had depicted. The key difference? Their version of early humans wasn’t based on primates living in forests. Instead, their supposed ancestors had always been humans —beings who only discovered tools after migrating due to a climate shift on Aurelia Prime millions of years ago.

  Kai was both impressed and disgusted. The way history had been rewritten, entire narratives altered to support the idea that human life began on Aurelia Prime—it was convincing, meticulous, and well-executed. The fabricated truth so seamless that people never questioned it.

  He shook the thought away, focusing back on the climb.

  Raising his leg, he found a foothold in a narrow crack. This time, instead of relying purely on strength, he studied the next section carefully. Following Eliana’s example, he planned a route that suited his own build, making calculated moves instead of wasting energy.

  He climbed steadily, catching up to her with a controlled rhythm.

  Eliana knew that once Kai got the hang of something, he always pushed for the win. She glanced down and saw he had cleared the overhang and was closing in fast. Then she looked up—she was near the top.

  She pushed herself harder, stretching her body to its limits, overextending to take small skips where she could.

  A small, amused smile crept onto her face. She tried not to be the competitive type—or at least, not after her teenage years. But when it came to Kai, it was hard not to be. The man was just good at everything.

  Ever since she was young, Eliana had never been the kind to roll over and accept defeat. Whenever she picked up a new sport or challenge, if someone was better than her, she trained harder, practiced more until she surpassed them. Over the years, she had learned that winning wasn’t everything.

  But Kai had awakened something in her. The part of herself she had almost forgotten.

  And she loved every moment of it.

  A large hand reached past her, gripping onto a ledge. With a powerful pull, Kai vaulted upward, his feet gaining solid purchase on the rock face. He stopped briefly to reapply chalk to his hands.

  Eliana gritted her teeth. "Oh, no you don’t." She wasn’t going to let him win that easily.

  She reached up, stretching onto her toes, trying to skip a grip point or two. Her fingers brushed against the rock—just a little more and she’d have it.

  But then, her left foot slipped.

  A jolt of panic shot through her as she felt all her strength leave her at once. Her body dropped, momentum pulling her downward. She wanted to cry out, but the air caught in her throat. Damn it, she cursed internally. She had pushed too far and did the thing she told Kai not to do.

  At least it was just a simulation.

  Eliana tilted her head back, expecting to see Kai already at the top, claiming his victory.

  Instead her fall came to an abrupt halt.

  Kai’s hand gripped her wrist, stopping her midair. But he was only holding on with one hand—and the strain was too much. His grip gave out, and before either of them could react, they were both falling.

  The simulation room flashed red, accompanied by a sharp alert sound. The rocky terrain faded and replaced by the grey of the simulation room.

  Kai landed first, but instead of hitting the hard floor, he felt as if he had fallen onto something soft, like an air cushion.

  Eliana was wrapped in his arms, her face buried against his chest.

  She slowly lifted her head, her golden-hazel eyes meeting his.

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  "Next time, just take the win," she murmured, shaking her head. "You didn’t have to save me. But… thank you."

  Kai smiled sheepishly, his face burning with embarrassment. "To be honest, the simulation felt so real that I thought you were actually falling… I didn’t want you to get hurt."

  Eliana chuckled, pushing herself up from his chest. "I love how cute you can be sometimes." She leaned down, kissing him softly.

  Kai opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, the ship’s announcement system cut through the moment.

  "All on-duty personnel, report to the bridge immediately."

  Kai and Eliana exchanged puzzled looks. They weren’t due for another jump yet. But it was Commander Grayson’s voice. That meant something was up.

  Neither of them questioned it. They quickly got to their feet and headed for the bridge.

  They hurried, jogging through the corridors of the Black Swan. The ship’s expanded design meant the journey took longer than before, and by the time they reached the bridge, a solid minute had passed. The small lift leading down was a tight fit for both of them, but they managed to squeeze in, hugging each other in the cramped space.

  As soon as they stepped onto the bridge, Kai took his seat. "What’s the situation?"

  "Distress signal," Commander Grayson said simply. "We’re moving in to investigate and lend help if we can."

  Kai hadn’t expected to encounter another vessel so soon into their expedition, let alone one in distress. But it made sense—if they were going to find a stranded ship, it would be near human space rather than deeper into No Man’s Land.

  He pulled up the ship’s data on his display, scanning for details.

  A slight shift in gravity signaled that the Black Swan had entered a short STL jump. They were only a few light-seconds away from the signal, meaning they’d arrive in no time.

  The distressed vessel appeared to be an older-model cargo ship, one Kai wasn’t familiar with. When he checked the ship’s logs, he found… nothing.

  "Strange," he muttered into his headset.

  "You noticed it too?" Eliana’s voice came through. "No logs, no flight path, no record of its last resupply station. It’s like it just appeared here."

  "A pirate attack?" Kai suggested.

  "Not likely. We’d see clear signs if that were the case," Teresa chimed in over comms. "There are multiple reasons why a ship might have no logs, but until we get a closer look, it's all speculation."

  Another gravitational shift signaled their drop out of the jump, the crew collectively gasped.

  The cargo ship before them was… unnatural.

  It looked like something had stretched it, as if an invisible force had warped the entire vessel. The hull was elongated in ways that defied logic, its once-massive rear thrusters now grotesquely extended into long, thin tubes.

  Kai felt a chill creep down his spine.

  "Yeah, this is officially in uncanny territory for me as well," Teresa muttered.

  Kai glanced at Robert, who had lowered his headset slightly, his eyes narrowing. "See anything from the turret feed?"

  "Not much," Robert said. "Just some debris floating around the ship. Looks like we’re the first ones to find it." He paused before adding, "I really don’t like the look of it, though."

  "And they’re not responding to our connection requests," Teresa noted. "Looks like the only way to figure out what happened is to go in ourselves."

  Eliana turned to Kai and smirked.

  Kai smirked back. He knew exactly what that meant—it was time to go outside.

  ----------------------------

  Kai and Eliana suited up in their EVA gear, preparing for the spacewalk. The two of them had come a long way since their first attempt. Under Teresa and Commander Grayson’s training, they had practiced extensively in exploration, rescue, and even combat in zero gravity.

  Kai secured Eliana’s suit, checking for airtight seals and system integrity. His gaze briefly flickered over how well the suit fit her, and he had to actively push those thoughts aside.

  Eliana caught his hesitation and smirked.

  Kai quickly gave her a thumbs-up and turned to the airlock.

  A moment later, the two of them stepped inside as the doors sealed behind them. The chamber depressurized, and the outer hatch opened, exposing them to the silent void of space.

  Outside, the Black Swan had positioned itself alongside the derelict ship, matching its speed and slow rotation. Since the cargo ship had never fully stopped, their own ship had to mirror its drift to allow for boarding.

  Kai took a steady breath, then pushed off into the void, gliding toward the warped vessel with Eliana close behind.

  Kai made the leap first, his body rotating midair as he crossed the space between the two ships. His boots braced for impact, and as he landed on the ship’s hull, he immediately shifted his weight to soften the force.

  Something felt… off.

  The hull beneath his feet didn’t feel solid. Instead, it had a strange give to it, bending slightly under his weight, almost like stepping onto thin sheet metal rather than reinforced plating. The sensation sent an uneasy shiver through him, but structurally, it didn’t seem like an immediate threat.

  He turned and gave Eliana a thumbs-up. She nodded and made the leap. Her form was perfect, and as she neared, Kai extended his arms, grabbing hold of her to stabilize her landing beside him.

  Together, they drew their pistols and prepared to enter the ship.

  Kai took one long look at the hull and already knew—there was no way anyone inside was still alive.

  The ship’s exterior was riddled with thin, irregular gaps where material seemed to be missing. With his enhanced vision, he peered through one of the gaps and saw into the cross space. If the hull was this compromised, there was no chance the crew had survived without oxygen.

  He quickly located the entrance hatch and reached for it. As he pulled, the entire door detached from the frame, crumbling apart in his grasp like brittle paper.

  Kai froze, staring at the handle still clutched in his hand.

  Eliana gasped, her voice sharp through the earpiece in his helmet. "What happened here?"

  Kai shook his head. He had no answer. Whatever had caused this wasn’t just decompression or structural failure—it was something else.

  Gripping the outer hull for stability, he carefully pushed aside the remaining fragments of the airlock and entered. The moment he reached for the inner door, it collapsed under his touch as well.

  He activated the small thrusters on his suit, gliding forward with controlled bursts, making sure no stray debris punctured his suit as he entered the derelict vessel.

  Eliana followed right behind him, her movements careful and precise. He could tell by the way she was scanning their surroundings—she was just as disturbed as he was.

  Kai turned on his helmet light, the powerful beam illuminating the eerie interior. The ship’s insides were just as warped as the outside.

  They had entered the cargo bay. Stacks of containers lined the walls, seemingly untouched. At first glance, it looked as if the cargo had been left perfectly intact. But when Kai reached out to touch one of the metal crates, the entire surface disintegrated beneath his fingers, collapsing into a fine, crumbling dust.

  He jerked his hand back, eyes wide.

  Eliana gave him a wary look. "Don’t touch anything else," her voice echoed in his earpiece.

  Kai nodded in agreement.

  They exchanged a silent glance before he motioned toward the bridge. Whatever had happened here, they needed to get answers.

  Carefully, he propelled himself forward, using only his thrusters to move without making direct contact with anything. The less they disturbed, the better.

  As he reached a corridor leading toward the bridge, he slowed his momentum, cautiously rounding the corner.

  A humanoid figure appeared right in front of him.

  Kai cursed, barely had time to react before colliding with it.