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The first snow began to fall. Violetta knelt before dozens of mounds. Her family, her friends... almost everyone she had ever known now lay within the cold, damp earth. From the heavens, the first frozen petals drifted down. The trees stood like silent witnesses. Snow melting on the branches of a sprawling oak dripped onto the graves with a rhythmic thud, like an hourglass measuring the silence. The birds had ceased their song. The wind was the only thing that spoke. She did not know what to do, or how to breathe in the tomorrow that awaited her.
“Goodbye...” she whispered, her grip tightening around the needle.
The snow continued its descent, as if trying to shroud her agony. It was then that a signal flared. A new notification strobed across her visor. It was unlike the others. A navigational vector.
Her hands shook, and the needle slipped into the dirt.
Slowly, she rose and followed the directive. Her legs carried her along familiar paths that had grown alien—too quiet, too still.
Why me?.. What is the point of any of this?
The wind whipped the early snow across scorched fields. Puddles were beginning to glaze over with jagged crystalline patterns. The girl moved through the world—unneeded, alone, forgotten.
Please! Someone! Save me! she screamed in the hollow of her mind, wrapping her arms around her frame. But only the wind howled in response.
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She turned off the road and moved toward the treeline, unaware that she was tracking a pinger embedded in her cornea. A thin trail led her to a snow-dusted clearing. At its heart lay a tiny lake with an islet, and upon it—a strange apparatus.
This place...
She drew closer.
It really is...
This was the very spot where Todyr had found her.
And there, exactly as before, sat a massive black wolf. Colossal, the size of a warhorse. But Violetta felt no fear. The beast approached, caught her scent, and bowed its head. She hesitated for only a heartbeat before reaching out to touch its muzzle.
“Warm...” she murmured, sinking her hand into the thick fur.
The wolf licked her fingers, then shifted its gaze toward the capsule. Violetta looked as well, but when she turned back, the beast was gone.
“Huh? What the—”
She looked around. There wasn't a single track in the snow.
“Strange...” She flexed her hand, the sensation of warmth still clinging to her skin, and approached the device.
At first glance, it looked metallic, but a closer inspection revealed a material that defied logic. It felt alive and inanimate all at once. She reached out to touch the hatch—and gasped. A jolt like an electric shock snapped through her. Unpleasant, but not painful.
The mechanism groaned to life, and the hatch hissed open. She peered inside. Muscle-like tissues retracted to reveal the interior. A single pilot seat. Symbols identical to those flickering on her visor danced across the consoles. And then... weapons?
“No way. A pistol?!”
She climbed inside and lifted it. It was oversized for her hands. But the moment her skin made contact, the weapon initialized: glowing inscriptions crawled across its surface. Her gaze wandered through the cramped interior and stopped on a familiar silhouette mounted to the wall. It looked like a celebrated blade from her past life.
“A katana?”
On a nearby shelf lay a translucent sphere.
“And what are you?” She reached out. This time, the jolt was different. She clutched her head as a high-pitched ring deafened her, and her vision fractured.
“Aa-ah!”
The sensation vanished as quickly as it had arrived. The sphere hovered before her face, wreathed in orbiting icons.
Suddenly... a voice. Rapid, incomprehensible, like a storm of foreign thoughts. Then—familiar glyphs stabilized on the orb’s surface.
“Syncdjf svqwd-ing at 43%... 74%... SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE! WARNING! SYSTEM MALFUNCTION! CONNECTION TO CENTRAL CORE LOST! SWITCHING TO AUTONOMOUS MODE.”
“Um... what?” Violetta blinked, stunned.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Greetings! I am your personal assistant! It appears your connection to the Central Core was severed prematurely, resulting in several systemic errors. But fret not! I have already implemented hotfixes. However, for a full diagnostic, I recommend... WARNING! CONNECTION TO CENTRAL CORE LOST!”
“What is this 'Central Core'? And... wait, how are we talking?”
I only just realized I’m 'speaking' to this thing... without opening my mouth.
“The Central Core is... WARNING! CONNECTION TO CENTRAL CORE LOST! ...My apologies, it seems the information you seek is missing from my database. As for your second inquiry: we are communicating via a subspace neural link. This channel is standard for all representatives of the Ascari Empire.”
“Subspace neural link? Ascari?..” What the hell? But at least this thing isn't hostile... I need to push for answers.
“Precisely! This method allows communication across any distance with a latency of only... WARNING! CORE CONNECTION LOST. DATA NOT FOUND. As for your second question... you are an Ascari.”
“Me? Ascari?”
“Affirmative! May I perform a scan?”
“Well... alright...”
The sphere glowed a soft cerulean. A second later, it spoke again.
“ANALYSIS COMPLETE. BIO-CONSTRUCT CLASS: ASCARI PRIME. GENETIC CODE: STABLE. AGE: 14 YEARS, 24 DAYS. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: WITHIN NOMINAL PARAMETERS. STATUS: PSYCHO-EMOTIONAL OVERLOAD, TEMPORARY DISSOCIATION. RECOMMENDATION: MENTAL STABILIZATION.”
Violetta stared at her hands. Her skin was thin and dense, like translucent silk, beneath which pale blue capillaries branched out like delicate ornaments. No wounds, no bruises. Not even a scratch, despite the thorns and branches she had waded through.
Her snow-white hair shimmered like moonlight. Her eyes—feline, with narrow vertical pupils that pulsed with a faint violet light. Her fingers were long and supple, tipped with nails not long enough to hinder her, but sharp enough to open a throat without effort. The visor embedded in her corneas no longer felt like an intrusion—it pulsed in time with her heartbeat, a part of her biology.
She looked at the sphere.
“I'm not human? Am I from another planet? What am I?”
“You are... WARNING! CONNECTION TO CENTRAL CORE LOST! DATA ERROR: INFORMATION ABSENT IN AUTONOMOUS ARRAY!”
This 'Central Core' it keeps whining about must be like a main server or something... She remembered back in her old world, when the internet went down, her home AI assistant would glitch out in exactly the same way.
“Fine. Then what is this thing?” Violetta gestured to the craft.
The sphere flared. “This device appears to be a bio-mechanical drop pod. Purpose: likely orbital insertion. Model: unknown. Visual characteristics and internal architecture do not match standard templates. For full identification, a connection is required—”
The orb went silent, trembling in mid-air, then shuddered violently.
“WARNING! CONNECTION TO CENTRAL CORE LOST! LAST RECORDED CONTACT: 14 YEARS, 24 DAYS AGO.”
Violetta went pale.
Fourteen years. And twenty-four days... Wait, how old did you say I was?
“YOUR AGE: 14 YEARS, 24 DAYS.”
So... I came into this world on the exact day that... that your 'connection' died? Her thoughts tangled into a knot; her heart hammered against her ribs.
“Maybe,” she muttered, surveying the pod, “there was an accident?..”
The sphere did not answer. It only hummed quietly, maintaining its hover.
Violetta felt a sudden chill crawl down her spine. Not fear—premonition. The coincidence was too surgical. Her arrival. The vanishing of the 'Core'.
Connection lost. And this sphere, the pod, this body that won't bleed, won't freeze, won't break... And that preacher in the square. He mentioned the 'Heavens Falling' fourteen winters ago.
She slowly traced a finger over her arm. Silk skin, but beneath it—something far greater.
I am... something more than human... And perhaps my existence is tied to something even more shadow-drenched...
She grabbed a rucksack lying inside. It was too large for her, but she had no alternative. Then, a small compartment caught her eye. She pried it open to find several items on the shelves. Labels flickered over them:
[NANOMEDICAL AMPULE]
Description: A metallic finger-sized capsule; activates upon contact with blood.
Function: Regenerates minor damage or stabilizes critical states. Does not restore severed limbs or fully mend shattered bones.
Limitation: Single-use. Side effect: acute fatigue post-application.
[NUTRIENT SUBSTRATE CONCENTRATE – 5 UNITS]
Description: Bio-gel designed for cellular-level nourishment.
Function: Replaces food and water for 24 hours.
Limitation: Repulsive taste; induces nausea upon standard consumption.
[SELF-ADAPTING BODYSUIT]
Description: Compact roll of bio-material fabric.
Function: Thermal regulation; environmental blending (camouflage).
Limitation: Non-ballistic; offers no protection against direct kinetic or magical strikes.
[BACKUP INTERFACE ACCESS MODULE]
Description: Small peripheral for AI attachment.
Function: Temporarily expands interface functionality.
Limitation: High energy drain; induces temporary system brownout after use.
Violetta snapped the module onto the sphere and shoved the rest into her pack. The weight on her shoulders felt like armor. She was no longer alone.
“So, you’re saying the connection was severed at the moment of my birth? Can you scan the area with this upgrade I installed?”
The sphere glowed with a blinding intensity.
“ASCARI TECHNOLOGICAL SIGNATURE DETECTED TO THE WEST-NORTHWEST. TWO ASCARI-CLASS VESSELS DETECTED IN PLANETARY ORBIT. ADDITIONAL STRUCTURE DETECTED TO THE EAST...”
Suddenly, the sphere’s light shifted to a frantic crimson, pulsing like a bleeding wound.
“!!!WARNING!!! CRYSTAL PLAGUE CONTAMINATION DETECTED! VACATE PLANET IMMEDIATELY BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. AWAIT ASCARI IMPERIAL FORCES AT DESIGNATED RALLY POINT. DISTRESS SIGNAL BROADCAST ON ALL CHANNELS.”
With a final flicker, the sphere powered down and clattered to the floor.
“Crystal Plague? Is that...” Violetta remembered the cart with the crystal, the refugees from the east who spoke of a creeping blight she had ignored. She remembered the Wyvern—it had looked infected.
She didn't know what it was. But the word "plague" still carried the same meaning from her old world — death that creeps forward and never stops.
The girl waited for a moment, but the sphere remained dark. Tired of waiting, she stowed it in her rucksack, snatched the katana from the shelf, leapt from the capsule, and set her face toward the west.
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