The hangar was vast. A cathedral of light and steel, carved into the heart of Zavren's launch station. Thousands of fine energy-lines traced glowing veins along its curved walls—pulsing slowly in rhythm with the flow reactor beneath their feet. Every few seconds, the air trembled with the hum of containment fields adjusting, calibrating.
And yet, within the colossal space, the team stood still. Silent. Ten figures in final-stage deployment gear, surrounded by crates, support bots, and the soft glow of auxiliary interface screens. Technicians moved like ghosts beyond the launch barrier, keeping their distance, as if they knew this mission—this one—was sacred.
Arron stood at the center. Not leading. Not speaking. Just… there.
His crystalline pupils flicked across their faces. One by one. Faces he had built this project beside. Faces etched with memory, trust, loss. Lira adjusted her belt without looking up. Korr ran final checks on a thermal stabilizer, hands steady despite the subtle flicker in his core plasma veins. Sera lingered in the shadows—her eyes unreadable beneath the shimmer of her Umbral form.
They were ready. Every signal said so. But the goodbye hadn't been spoken.
Not yet.
---
The final checklist floated before Arron in translucent blue. He dismissed it with a slow blink. The data didn't matter now. Not really. They had checked it all. And still—still—he felt the weight in his chest.
A soft tone pinged behind him.
"Kael," came a quiet voice. Neutral. Flat. It was Dr. Evessa, one of the last remaining Door scientists who hadn't been reassigned after the political pivot. She held a slim crystalline drive, humming faintly with encoded memory.
"You're sure about this?" she asked, not as a question.
Arron nodded once. "We're beyond doubt."
She pressed the drive into his hand. "This holds your parental channel archive. Quantum-safe copy. They wanted you to have it now."
Arron didn't move at first. Then he swallowed, barely. Took the drive. "Thank you."
"They recorded it a cycle ago. Said they knew this moment would come."
He nodded again, slower this time. "Of course they did."
---
The team gathered near the primary staging ramp, crates being sealed, suits synced, helmets magnetized to their backs. The Door—a swirling veil of starlight suspended within an obelisk-shaped containment gate—stood ahead of them, humming like a living thing. It wasn't open yet. Not fully. But it pulsed. Breathing.
Arron tapped the drive gently, activating the projection.
A soft, blue-white sphere of light bloomed midair.
His mother's voice broke the silence.
"We always knew."
Her image appeared—static-glitched but unmistakable. Pale, elegant, eyes sharp with love.
"You were always building something. We just… didn't want to break the dream by naming it too early."
Arron's breath hitched.
"Your father says hello. He's listening. He just doesn't want to record this part. Too emotional, he says." A small laugh.
The image flickered, then stabilized again.
"You're not leaving us. You're completing us. Wherever that Door leads—remember this: you are not alone. You carry all of us."
Silence. Then the image faded.
Arron closed his eyes.
For the first time, he let it land.
This wasn't for science. Or salvation. Or legacy.
This was a gift to them.
---
"Okay," Lira said softly. "Time for the introductions."
Arron opened one eye. "What?"
But Lira turned away from him, straight toward the invisible reader.
And smiled.
---
[FOURTH WALL – ACTIVATED]
LIRA: "Hi. I'm Lira Ven. I'm… well, I keep everyone alive. Not medically. Not technically. Just emotionally. If Arron ever punches a hole in the universe, I'll be the one rolling my eyes and fixing his jacket."
VEL: "Vel Marrek. Dravarn. Former general. I carry armor, regrets, and the occasional joke. Don't get used to the jokes."
TEYRA: "Teyra Lom. Felari. Systems expert. Tactical biologist. One part brilliance, two parts danger. I'm not here for small talk, but I'll make you smarter just by proximity."
KORR: "Korr. Ignis. I tune frequencies, calibrate energy, and stop explosions. That includes emotional ones."
SERA: "Sera. Umbral. I track shadows. I understand silence. You'll never hear me, unless I want you to."
VAEL (soft voice from above): "Vael. Aetheria pilot. I see what's coming before it arrives. I don't need to stand with them to—"
[CRACK.]
[The air freezes. Static crawls along the edge of reality. A deep voice cuts through.]
---
[FOURTH WALL – BREACH DETECTED]
AUTHOR (cold, calm, disappointed):
Vael.
VAEL (caught mid-sentence):
Uh… hello?
AUTHOR:
Were you speaking to the reader?
VAEL (cracking instantly):
Yes! But—but it wasn't my fault! It was Lira! She said you gave us permission!
(Everyone turns slowly toward Lira.)
LIRA (coolly):
Did I?
VAEL (pointing, desperate):
You did! You said, "He won't mind, I cleared it already!" Then everyone jumped in! Vel! Teyra! Korr! Sera! I was just going along with it!
TEYRA:
Wow. No spine at all.
KORR:
It's impressive, honestly.
SERA:
I'm deleting this from my memory.
VEL:
Told you not to go last.
AUTHOR (to Lira, sharp):
You lied.
I never gave you permission.
(Lira doesn't respond. Just folds her arms and looks away.)
AUTHOR (to all):
You broke the fourth wall.
You dragged the reader in.
You made a mess.
(To the reader):
You're not supposed to be here.
Next time they pull this?
I rewrite all of them.
Starting with the one who lied.
LIRA (quietly):
Worth it.
AUTHOR:
And Vael goes second.
VAEL:
This is wildly unfair.
AUTHOR:
So is narrative control.
[Scene snaps shut. Glitch fades. Light resumes. The team stands still, quiet. The Door pulses—waiting.]
---
The final checks completed in silence.
Each team member sealed their suit, checked their sync bands, touched the alloyed plates that held their flow-threaded patches.
No one needed to be told to get into formation. They just did.
As they walked, the light from the Door grew stronger.
Not blinding. Just… impossibly present. It cast no shadows, and yet it illuminated everything. It hummed with a thousand futures.
Arron reached the front.
Lira placed a hand briefly on his shoulder, then let go.
No words.
They faced the Door together.
A team member—Korr, maybe—broke the silence.
"Arron… I know I should've asked earlier, but… you discovered this place, didn't you?"
Arron blinked.
"Yeah."
"What did you call it?"
The team stilled.
Arron looked into the light.
A long breath. Then:
"Zarconis."
And just like that... the real story begins.
Thanks for reading up to this point. From here, everything changes.
Let me know in the comments—did you enjoy the fourth wall break?
Should I let them try it again in the future?
Or should I hold them to their contracts and rewrite the loud ones first?
See you on the other side of Zarconis.
—M.R.Synn