Chapter V: Analyse

Sasha's eyes darted across her tablet, devouring every word of the email with anticipation. Her stomach fluttered with excitement, a blend of disbelief and pride tightening in her chest.

As she strolled through the open sprawl of West End Park, the air was alive with anticipation. Halloween night loomed, and preparations for the NIX Polytechnic Festival buzzed around her. Even the trees seemed to hum with quiet energy, the leaves whispering secrets on the breeze.

Attached below was an information regarding the CMR:

The CMR ranks terrestrial and extraterrestrial phenomena based on incomprehensibility, existential threat, and their potential to induce madness. Inspired by Earth’s atmosphere, the classification descends from Exosphere to Troposphere.

Reserved for incomprehensible entities capable of breaching reality itself. Encounters induce catatonia, amnesia, or instant death. There are known—hold this rank.

Assigned to elite agents and reality-breaking entities. Exposure often leads to psychosis, dissociation, or memory collapse. Missions involving Thermosphere subjects are classified at the highest levels.

Signifies high intellectual and psychic aptitude. Entities in this class cause hallucinations, sanity erosion, and existential discomfort. Reality appears distorted; logic begins to unravel. Containment protocols are highly complex.

Average Quasars. Exposure causes short-term fear, paranoia, and subtle perception shifts. Dangerous, but not yet existentially corrosive.

The realm of novice recruits and low-threat Voids. Effects are mild, often limited to unease or brief psychological disturbance.

The CMR helps predict the mental strain a recruit may encounter and guides the protocols needed to manage such anomalies.

***

A holographic projection of the cosmos spun slowly overhead as the NIX Lecturer’s voice filled the darkened room.

“The NIX Corporation defines cosmos as a frequency-driven force—part energy, part illusion, fuelled by subconscious archetypes. It is simultaneously psychic, hallucinogenic, and extraterrestrial.”

The class leaned in, captivated.

“Cosmos enables Voids to manifest in our reality, just as it powers Quasars, whose abilities—called Constellations—are anchored in the pineal gland.”

Sasha raised her hand.

“Um… Excuse me, Lecturer. I heard something about constellations. What exactly are they?”

The room hushed.

“Good question,” the Lecturer replied. “Constellations are innate psychic programs encoded in the Quasar’s subconscious. They are activated by channelling cosmos in one of two ways: Orbit and Axis.”

Orbit (“Forward Rotation”): The default activation state. Constellations function like limbs—extensions of will, guided by flowing cosmic energy.

Axis (“Illusion × Illusion = Reality”): Rare and dangerous. Axis allows Quasars to generate real effects—even healing—by layering illusions upon illusions. Only a few can perform it. Risk of mental collapse is significant.

Most Quasars only possess one constellation. A rare few develop up to three. Any more would fracture their minds.

“In essence,” the Lecturer concluded, “a constellation is a self-contained language of thought, reality, and will. A private code—uncrackable, and impossible to replicate.”

Eva and Sasha knelt beside a spread of pumpkins beneath the fluttering festival banners. In the distance, Dani stirred a steaming pot of stew at the community table.

Sasha frowned.

“I still don’t get it. Can you explain Constellations again—but like I’m really, really dumb?”

Eva smiled, adjusting a pumpkin’s crooked stem.

“First of all, you’re not dumb. But I’ll try.”

She lifted the smallest pumpkin.

“This pumpkin is like a Quasar. The knife—cosmos energy. The hand that guides it? That’s the constellation. It's not the tool. It’s the intent behind it. All the nerves, bones, muscles—working together. Make sense?”

Sasha squinted, then shrugged. “Kinda…”

“Honestly? I don’t fully get it either,” Eva admitted. “Because I don’t have one.”

“What?! But you’re ranked first in your class—how can you not have a constellation?!”

“I never developed one. My Psychometric Data says I’m a Quasar, but I’ve never accessed cosmic energy. Never needed to. No hallucinations. No resonance. It’s like... I’m immune to madness.”

Sasha’s eyes widened in awe and confusion.

“Then how did you fight the Voids?”

“Hard work. Skill. And a lot of luck,” Eva said, her tone quiet, perhaps even unsure.

Sasha suddenly gasped.

“Wow! Where’d you learn to carve like that?!”

Eva blinked, glancing down. In her hands was a perfectly carved totem—shaped like a curled cat, adorned with tiny clockwork etchings. Every detail was intricate, beautiful… and unfamiliar.

“I… I carved this?” she thought. “Since when?”

“Here,” she said, handing the totem over with a faint smile. “Happy Halloween.”

Sasha clutched it to her overalls pocket. “I’m gonna help Mom! Be right back!” she chirped, running off.

Eva remained.

She checked her phone again.

“Tetsuo… where are you? I can’t do all this alone.”

No answer.

She finished the carvings herself. The last gourd was shaped into a sleek, slitted Void face. Sweat clung to her brow as she checked her phone one last time, irritation rising.

“What on Earth are you doing, Tetsuo…?”

And then—

The air changed.

Particles—infinitesimal and glowing—began to rise from the trimmed grass like static dislodging from the earth. Eva’s gaze snapped upward.

She froze.

Tearing through the sky like a blade across fabric, a colossal tower spiralled downward from nowhere, a jagged silhouette trailing glitching pixels and reality-tearing ripples behind it.

It wasn't descending.

It was forcing its way in.

Like a corrupted file being dragged into a stable system.

And the sky cracked open.

***

Tetsuo’s brown eyes flickered, vacant yet laser-focused. His fingers moved in rapid, fluid gestures—flicking and swiping mid-air like a conductor weaving invisible code. Before him, ethereal circuits and fractal pathways unfurled—holographic, prismatic, shifting through impossible geometries.

Then, amidst the complexity, something clicked. The formations twisted inward, coalescing into an intricate keyhole mechanism suspended in light.

Behind him, Lucy stood alert near the corner of the brightly lit corridor. Her posture was tense but composed, eyes flicking from shadow to shadow. She was their early warning system while Tetsuo did the unlocking.

They were deep inside the Research Sector of NIX Polytechnic—trespassing. Their target: Bartholomew Buchanan, the missing Administrator of NIX’s Research Division. Their mission: uncover the truth and secure evidence that could exonerate Felix.

***

Inside the office, the air was thick with dust, tension, and suppressed history. Lucy flipped through documents with practised speed, her expression hardened into focus.

Tetsuo sat cross-legged, poring over a sealed file marked “CONFIDENTIAL: EYES ONLY.” His brow furrowed.

“Devastating Onslaught at Alpha Centauri Mansion — Alleged Rebel Hideout Targeted in Upper East Side Assault.”

He read aloud from the top line, confusion curling in his voice.

“October 4th, 2203 – 1:26 A.M. — Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side. Alpha Centauri Mansion, suspected headquarters of a rebel faction, was attacked by a lone masked figure believed to be affiliated with NIX suppression teams. Witnesses described the intruder as ‘more terrifying than a Void.’”

“Gunfire erupted. Security systems were bypassed. The mansion was leveled in an explosion that caused a district-wide blackout. By dawn, the attacker had vanished, and all known rebel agents were confirmed dead.”

Tetsuo looked up, shaken. “How come I never heard about this?”

Lucy peered over the file. “I haven’t either,” she said. “This wasn’t just hidden—it was scrubbed. If you hadn’t found that stray article, we’d still be in the dark.”

She continued her search. Her hand brushed over a folder with a strange texture—aged paper amid sleek modern files. She drew it out.

Inside was a photograph.

Four people stood in a garden outside the NIX Polytechnic campus. All wore white lab coats. Three were instantly recognisable: Dr. Arachne Masters, Dr. Paul Krendler, and Dr. Bartholomew Buchanan.

But the fourth figure was unfamiliar.

She was striking—a composed woman with brunette hair pulled into a half-bun, strands gently framing a delicate, unreadable expression. Her dark eyes locked with the camera’s lens. Something about her set Lucy’s teeth on edge.

“Tetsuo… do you know who she is?” Lucy asked, her voice oddly hushed.

Tetsuo stared. “I’ve… seen her before. I know I have.”
He flipped the photo over. Four names were handwritten on the back:

A. Masters
P. Krendler
B. Buchanan
A.E. Starling

His pulse skipped.

***

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Lucy asked, arms crossed as she kept watch.

“I’m positive,” Tetsuo replied. “I got this blueprint from someone who used to work with my father—a NIX technician. He could hack into anything.”

Tetsuo stepped to the holographic lock and inserted the final code sequence. The swirling glyphs clicked into place. With a soft shhhk, the door to Buchanan’s private office slid open.

They stepped inside, and begins to explore the Administrator office.

The screen lit up on the office desk with static, then stabilised.

“This is Dr. Bartholomew Buchanan. Recording date: October 10th, 2203.”

He looked haggard. His eyes were red, his voice trembled with fatigue.

“If you’re watching this… then I’ve already gone.”

“I’m leaving. I’m going to bring her back.”

The feed flickered. Distortions rippled across the screen.

“I didn’t steal it—I swear. It appeared here. A cube. I call it Athena’s Cube. There was a note with it. It read: ‘Lead her down the rabbit hole, Bugs.’” He chuckled bitterly.

“She was always here. Hidden from me by my colleagues. My friends. Why did they lie to me? What are they afraid of?” His voice cracked.

Another flicker. His image warbled, then returned.

“They thought they could control it. They thought they could tame the anomaly. They were wrong. And now… it’s coming.”

He leaned forward.

“Save yourselves. Save whoever you can. No one will be able stop it—no one but her.”

The screen went black.

Tetsuo and Lucy sat in stunned silence.

That’s when they heard it.

The door slid open behind them.

They turned to see Paul Sievernich, flanked by armed NIX Security. The cold glint in his amber gold eyes said it all.

“That’s far enough,” Sievernich said.
“You two have seen more than you were meant to.”