Chapter 243: The Originless Anomaly
The first report came from Sector 12, deep in the Crystalline Wastes where reality grew thin and the laws of physics became mere suggestions. Captain Vera Ashworth had been leading a routine patrol when her team encountered something that shouldn’t have existed—a girl, no more than eight years old, sitting alone in the middle of a zone where the atmospheric pressure should have crushed any unprotected human in seconds.
She wasn’t just surviving. She was thriving.
"Command, we have a situation," Ashworth’s voice crackled through the communication array, carrying the kind of controlled bewilderment that came from encountering something that challenged every assumption about the nature of existence. "I’m looking at a child who’s existing outside every environmental protocol we’ve established. The scanners can’t get a reading on her. It’s like she’s not really here."
Commander Thane felt his enhanced senses parse the implications with the kind of analytical precision that had kept him alive through countless impossible situations. After Reed’s warning about the boy—about Lio—the discovery of another anomalous child sent alarm signals through every monitoring system on the station.
"Are you certain it’s a child?" Thane asked, though his consciousness was already reaching out to encompass the darker possibilities. "Not some kind of projection or—"
"Negative, sir. She’s real. She’s..." Ashworth paused, and when she spoke again, her voice carried the kind of hollow recognition that suggested beings who had encountered something that transcended the categories of measurable reality. "She’s looking at me. Through the visor. Through the armor. Like she can see something I can’t."
The transmission flickered, and for a moment, Ashworth’s voice seemed to fade, as if the communication equipment was struggling to maintain a stable connection to someone who was becoming increasingly difficult to perceive.
"Sir, she’s speaking. But I can’t... I can’t remember what she’s saying. The words just... slip away."
That was when Thane knew they were dealing with something that went beyond mere anomaly. The girl wasn’t just existing outside the established frameworks of reality—she was existing in a state that made her impossible to properly document, impossible to remember, impossible to classify.
Just like Lio.
"Captain Ashworth, begin immediate extraction protocols," Thane commanded, his voice carrying the kind of professional urgency that came from recognizing a pattern that transcended simple concern. "Do not engage with the subject. Do not attempt communication. Maintain visual contact and await—"