Captain Manuel's ship. Orbit of Mercury.

  Outside, there is the vast emptiness of space, silence, it feels like something dense and insurmountable. The ship, under the control of Emma's onboard intelligence, slowly makes orbital turns. The bridge is engulfed in semi-darkness, and only dim indicators blink in time with the breathing of the machine. In this space, time does not exist - it seems to have stopped. Pietro and Maria sit motionless, their eyes closed, their bodies relaxed in meditation, immersed in an invisible flow, it carries them far from reality.

  Darkness. Weightlessness. No sounds. As if space is silent.

  “God Khanaris,” Pietro says, his voice barely audible, as if he were speaking in a dream, “why are we in darkness and weightlessness?”

  The answer comes not as a voice, but as a vibration felt in the very depths of his consciousness. It is not just an answer, it is a feeling that penetrates his mind.

  “It’s not necessary,” a calm, deep voice sounds. “Imagine any place you would like to be, and you will be there.”

  Pietro closes his eyes even tighter, trying to concentrate. He imagines a city – streets flooded with bright light. People rushing about their business, alive, realistic. He smells, hears conversations, feels movement all around him.

  Open eyes.

  It stands on a wide sunny street. People pass by, some are in a hurry, some are laughing. Somewhere a dog is barking. Everything is like on Earth, but something in this city seems ideal, flawless. Order in every detail, as if the place was created by a mind in which there is no chaos and accidents. Everything is perfect. This is not a city, this is a world created to be perfect.

  “How do you like this setting?” asks a familiar voice.

  Pietro turns. There is a man next to him. A middle-aged man with piercing eyes, his face ageless, as if he were not just a man, but something much older. He is unfamiliar, but there is something eternal about him. It is Khanaris.

  "It's... amazing." Pietro looks around, stunned. "Everything here is so real."

  “More real than you think,” Khanaris replies, his voice calm and confident. “It is not an illusion. It is your projection. Your consciousness can create reality. You give it an image, I give it a form. We are co-authors of the world.”

  Pietro looks at Hanaris thoughtfully. Everything around him seems so alive that he almost forgets about reality. But there is one question he cannot help but ask.

  “Can I meet Maria here?” he asks, his voice filled with a desire to share this new, wonderful world with someone else he is close to.

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  Pietro imagines her - her voice, her face, her smile. He feels her presence.

  And she shows up. Just shows up. Without warning, like she's always been there.

  Maria flinches, her eyes wide as she looks around in confusion, as if she doesn't understand how she got here.

  “Where am I?” Her voice is full of anxiety, uncertainty can be heard in it. “Pietro? Is this you? Is this… reality?”

  Pietro smiles, his face lights up, he comes closer, almost not believing what he sees. His heart beats faster with excitement.

  “It’s really me,” he says warmly, trying to reassure her. “We’re in Terma. We're inside… the mind.”

  Maria slowly takes a step forward, her expression still worried. She is unsure how to react to everything that is happening, her steps are cautious, as if she is afraid that it will all disappear as soon as she makes the wrong move.

  “But how did we get here?” she asks, her voice quiet, almost on the edge of panic as she slowly looks at Pietro, trying to understand what’s going on.

  Khanaris's voice comes again, this time like an echo from the heavens. It sounds both within and without, an invisible force that reaches into the very depths of their beings.

  — Your world is in chaos. Here you can find an order. But to understand the meaning of what is happening, you will have to ask yourself not only the question "where", but also "why".

  Pietro looks out at the street they've just created, where everything seems too perfect. People pass by, their movements synchronized, as if they weren't just people, but parts of a carefully tuned system.

  “Everything that surrounds us is a figment of my imagination,” he says, looking thoughtfully at his surroundings. “I just thought about it… and we found ourselves here.”

  Maria is overcome with admiration and can't help but laugh with joy. She claps her hands like a child at an amusement park for the first time.

  "Cool!" she laughs, her eyes shining with delight. "So we can change locations? Create our own?"

  Pietro nods, his gaze fixed on the void, as if trying to understand the depth of this new world. But then a stranger appears, whom Maria has not yet noticed. His voice is soft, but it sounds confident and something immeasurable - a power that needs no explanation.

  - Yes, you can create something in common if you voluntarily unite your consciousnesses. There is nothing complicated about it. Think - and unite. If the other accepts your mental message, a fusion of consciousnesses will occur.

  Maria looks at Pietro. He nods slightly, as if to let her know that she should try.

  She closes her eyes, trying to focus. Pietro is in her thoughts. She feels him, his emotions, his sensations. And suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, there is an explosion of sensations. Thoughts, images, fragments of memories, smells, fears, dreams, feelings - all of it crashes down on her in a stream so powerful that she literally drowns in it.

  A strong impulse breaks her from her meditation. She opens her eyes and finds herself sitting in a chair in the ship's cabin again. Around her is a familiar reality. The ship hums quietly in the depths of space. To the right is Pietro. He looks pale, confused.

  He looks at her with amazement, his eyes full of misunderstanding and admiration.

  “It was…,” he says, struggling to find the words. “It was incredible.”

  Maria is silent. There is anxiety in her eyes. She glances around quickly, as if checking to see if the world around her has changed. Everything is too real. Too thought out. The metallic shine of the walls, the fabric of the chairs, the slight sway caused by gravitational adjustments.

  And then a doubt appears in her head.

  What if this is also an illusion? - her thoughts pierce this world like a knife. The ship, Pietro, Captain Manuel, even the war... What if all this is just scenery generated by Khanaris to introduce us to the game?

  The pause drags on. Time seems to drag on forever.

  “It’s a very interesting experience,” Pietro finally says, as if emerging from the silence. His voice still sounds slightly shaken.

  - Yes... - Maria answers, still not fully back in reality. She looks at Pietro, but her thoughts continue to rush, and her eyes are full of hidden questions. - It's interesting. But not everything in this story is clear.

  Pietro nods, understanding her doubts. He meets her gaze, and it is clear in his eyes that he himself is not yet able to find the answers to all the questions.

  "I agree." He looks at her again, his face serious. "We have a lot to figure out."

  Maria is silent, but her gaze is directed into space, beyond the ship, where chaos and order intertwine in unknown forms.