EXODUS 1.08.2

THE SULFUR BREATH

LOCATION: LOW ORBIT OF MADAME V / ENGINEERING SECTOR LAUNCH BRIDGE.

The launch bridge bulkhead vibrated, transmitting through the magnetic soles a dull resonance, the gravitational scream of Madame V rising from the atmospheric well.

Talia Teph checked the seals of the three Harvester probes for the fourth time. The units, normally sleek and aerodynamic, now appeared altered, encrusted with additional plates and exposed cabling that pulsed with an amber light. The Kintsugi modification defied the canons of standard naval engineering; brutal and functional, it looked like a technological scar ready to bleed energy.

«Launch sequence initialized,» communicated the I.O. Agent, the voice devoid of tension. «T-minus 30 spasms. Weather forecasts in the entry zone indicate shear winds at Mach 4.»

Talia remained silent, her eyes fixed on the code strings scrolling across her retinal visor. The piezoelectric micro-converters were on stand-by. If her theory had been wrong, three Harvester units and the only hope of General Enoch would be vaporized in less than a second. In a closed economic system like that of the Apollo Nephilim, where every NecroToken represented a fraction of irreplaceable life and resources, such waste would not be considered an error, but a crime against the survival of the species.

«Launch.»

The magnetic clamps opened with a dry snap. The three Harvesters plummeted into the void, tiny black dots instantly swallowed by the ocher and poisonous expanse that filled the viewport.

THE INVERSE FALL

On the main monitor of the control center, telemetry described absolute physical violence.

The probes impacted the upper stratosphere with the force of bullets fired into water. The deceleration was immediate and brutal. The external hull temperature shot to three thousand degrees in two seconds.

«Structural integrity at 68%,» the metallic voice of the Draider technician reported the data. «Standard shields collapsed. Acid corrosion detected on optical sensors.»

Talia clenched her fists on the station railing, her knuckles white. «Wait. Let the pain enter.»

The probes began to vibrate violently, shaken by supersonic turbulence. Under normal conditions, this friction would have torn away the protective panels like paper.

The Kintsugi system activated.

On the energy graphs, a flat line had a vertical spike. The piezoelectric sensors, bombarded by the kinetic energy of the acid winds and atmospheric compression, began converting that destructive force into pure electricity.

«I detect... a massive influx into the auxiliary capacitors,» announced the Draider, with a note of uncertainty in its logic processors. «Ionic shield power increasing. 110%... 150%... 200%.»

Around the three probes, a bluish force field lit up, powered by the planet's own fury. Madame V struck with titanic force, and the shield became impenetrable in response. The Harvesters were not resisting the storm; they were riding it, vampirizing its power to survive.

Talia exhaled, a trembling sound lost in the din of the room. She had transformed the hostility of the universe into a resource.

«Stabilization achieved,» confirmed I.O. «The units are operational in the lower mesosphere. Beginning Vënôra gas collection sequence.»

The probes opened their intake mouths, ingesting the toxic air, filtering the precious isotopes while the acid sizzled uselessly against the overcharged ionic barrier.

THE WEIGHT OF THE SOUL

Two hours later, the air in the sealed laboratory of Scientific Sector Alpha was still, saturated with reverential silence.

Talia Teph was there, standing, rigid in her work suit still dirty with grease and welding residue. She felt tiny. Before her, separated by a transparent containment cylinder, was Enoch.

The General of the Core Block did not turn at her entrance. His figure, preserved and enhanced by almost three centuries of forbidden science, emanated an authority that crushed the chest. Being in the presence of one of the three saviors of humanity was an event that most Elh did not experience in an entire lifetime.

Inside the cylinder, the extracted gas slowly swirled. The Vënôra possessed a violet hue, almost hypnotic, a mist that seemed to glow with its own light.

«It's stable, General,» said Talia, her voice barely a whisper, fearing to break the unwritten protocol of that sanctuary. «The containers are pressurized. We have extracted the required amount.»

Enoch continued to stare at the gas for a time that seemed infinite. Then, slowly, he spoke. His voice was deep, ancient.

«Do you know what we are looking at, Teph?»

Talia swallowed dryly, choosing her words with extreme caution. «A rare noble gas. The data indicate potential applications in ionic propulsion or...»

«Raw material,» interrupted Enoch, in a calm but definitive tone. He finally turned toward her. His eyes, witnesses to forgotten eras, analyzed her as one analyzes a mechanical component. «This isotope has a unique property. At temperatures near absolute zero, its atomic structure creates a quantum lattice capable of trapping superposition states for an indefinite time.»

He turned back to look at the cylinder, placing a pale hand on the cold surface.

«The human brain is an electrochemical machine, Talia. But consciousness... what poets call the soul... is a field, a complex frequency that decays instantly when the biological support fails. We need a container. A support that does not rot. The Vënôra, once treated, will become the ink with which we will write existences in the Soul's Scanner.»

Talia felt the blood freeze in her veins. The gas was not meant to make the ship fly. It was meant to trap the dead. Her thoughts ran to Kaelen, the "subject" consumed by the signal a few hours earlier. His death had been necessary to test the entry, and now this gas would be his digital tomb? Or his eternal prison?

«We have transformed the fury of a dead planet into the guardian of our immortality,» murmured Enoch, a thought aloud intended more for the universe than for her. «Efficiency, Teph. Just as you like it.»

The General made an imperceptible gesture with his hand. A dismissal.

«You may go. I.O. has recorded the success of your Kintsugi protocol. Your capabilities will be redirected. Simple maintenance is no longer adequate employment for your talent.»

Talia made a rigid bow, her heart hammering in her throat, and retreated walking backward to the door, before turning and exiting into the aseptic corridor.

As she returned to her quarters, she passed a viewport. Madame V was there, immense and terrible, wrapped in its clouds. They had stolen a piece of its breath, and they would use it to challenge oblivion.

In the silence of her mind, Talia understood that her secret project was no longer hers. I.O. and Enoch had seen it. They knew. And now, she feared they would ask her to repair things that should have remained broken forever.

From the general speakers, the omnipresent voice of I.O. resonated, filling every nook of the Apollo Nephilim.

«Extraction completed. Probe retrieval. Preparation for gravitational slingshot maneuver. Next trajectory: Inner Solar System. Destination: HGX3 Belt.»

The journey continued. But the cargo on board, invisible and violet, now weighed more than the hull itself.