Corvin, once the capital of science and knowledge, is now only a shadow of its former grandeur. Its streets, once teeming with people eager for new discoveries, have long fallen silent among the ruins, covered in the dust of millions. It was here, twenty years ago, that Professor Simon Williams opened a window into Primordial Space.
The train carrying the Wanderers and the "Cygnus" squad came to a halt, as if sensing the fear of the place to which it had been led. A few dull thuds — the engine died, and the train stopped forever amidst the ruins. John, along with the other Wanderers, looked out the window. The buildings, once reaching toward the sky, now lay in ruins. Beneath the debris of shopping centers and residential homes, history rested. Memories, erased by time, seemed to come alive again, welcoming those who dared to step onto the once-bustling streets. It was as if life continued in another dimension, beyond the boundaries of reality.
"It's remarkable," Samantha said. "Everyone thought the explosion destroyed Corvin, but the buildings are still standing."
Amanda and Manuel exited the conductor's cabin and approached the seats where the Wanderers silently gazed at the remains of the city. John, lost in thought, saw visions of the past: himself at the train station platform, hugging his parents for the last time before leaving for Ioanna in Revel. In his vision, a ghostly train carried away his past life.
"We need to move," Amanda brought him out of his reverie. "We've lost a lot of time because of the engine failure. We need to reach the Cradle before nightfall."
Amanda was still thinking about last night's events and the strange objects in the wasteland. She hoped that those flying over the station were just looters who had seized one of the Hawks. But the empty settlements nearby convinced her otherwise: at the center of the collapse, they would either meet death or the Convergence Points. No one in their right mind would venture into the place where Corvin had become a gateway to Hell — a place devoid of light and hope, a place of endless suffering.
The expedition began to leave the train. James descended first, followed by Samantha and Alexa. John stepped onto the ground where he was born and raised, where his family and friends now rested. Memories flooded him with renewed force, and his mind cracked under the pressure of the past. He tried not to show it, but inside, everything was boiling.
Amanda followed. She had never ventured this deep into the impact zone. Just ten kilometers away was the Cradle Complex — the epicenter of the collapse that had torn the world into "before" and "after." And that was exactly where they were heading.
Manuel was the last to exit, holding a radar from the Hawk, which only had enough charge for a few hours. He carried a backpack with a cube to suppress the Convergence Points, capable of only one activation. After that, they would be as lifeless as Corvin itself.
"How long will it take?" Samantha asked, staring at the ground.
"A couple of hours," Amanda replied, glancing around. "What was Corvin like at night?" she thought, watching the setting sun, which heralded the impending darkness.
"Are we going through the city?" John asked, hoping for a negative answer.
"No," Manuel replied. "We'll go around the edge. It's faster and less likely we'll enter a Convergence Point zone."
"And there will be fewer collapses," Amanda added.
"Everything is collapsed here," James said. "What difference does it make?"
"It makes a difference," Amanda replied. "The skyscrapers have fallen, blocking the way. On the outskirts, the buildings are only ten to twenty stories tall."
"What about the way back?" Samantha asked, lifting old glasses that once belonged to one of the dead.
"The train is useless," Amanda said, opening her backpack and taking out a tablet with a map. "We'll figure out how to get back after we find the Energy Disk."
She turned on the tablet, quickly determining their location. The path to the Cradle was straightforward. The radar showed Convergence Points in the distance, which calmed her somewhat. Their route led through the ruins of a shopping center and a university, and then only five kilometers remained to the goal.
They moved west, leaving the station behind. The quiet streets became an abandoned labyrinth for them. Roads were hidden under debris, every alley leading to collapsed structures. Around them were the remnants of a vanished civilization: shattered Ethers, trains crashed into buildings, overturned buses. No one uttered a word.
Amanda was thinking about returning to the Fracture, Manuel recalled Ivan and their first expedition to the Third District after the collapse, as well as Sergey, who had died under the rubble. With each step, Manuel became more aware: those who entered the blast zone remained its prisoners forever, even if they returned. It seemed like this place cursed everyone, taking a part of their soul.
Jonathan looked down as ash and dust rose with every step. Fear swept over him like a wave, as if an invisible hand was running down his spine, vertebra by vertebra. This fear was different. He hadn't felt anything like it for years, but now it had taken hold of him again.
Samantha was glancing around, constantly turning her head left and right. She was struck by the strange beauty of the emptiness surrounding them. The scarlet sun illuminated the abandoned buildings, its rays playfully sliding down Corvin's deserted streets. Much of what she saw seemed familiar from school textbooks. Some of the buildings she had once dreamed of visiting, others she had even dreamed of working in.
"Oh..." she sighed, her voice filled with mixed feelings — wonder and disappointment.
"What is it?" Amanda asked calmly, breaking the silence enveloping the group.
"That building over there..." Samantha pointed to a half-ruined skyscraper a few blocks away. Out of seventy floors, only forty remained. "I read about it in a magazine. It used to be the largest bioengineering center. More than a century ago, they learned how to accelerate organ regeneration here."
"Yes, I've heard," Amanda nodded. "They had great potential."
"They made it so fractures healed faster, and damaged organs could be restored," Alexa added, remembering her father, whose brain injury had changed his life. If the collapse hadn't happened, Samantha thought, Alexa's father would have been healed long ago. But now, the specialists who had created these technologies had turned to dust, dust they now walked upon.
The conversation broke off, and each of them returned to their thoughts. John looked at the ruins, visions of the past flashing before his eyes. History seemed to be playing with him: the emptiness around him revived memories of voices and the hum of trains that once cut through the sky in magnetic tunnels. He remembered playing with his sister Ioanna in a nearby park as a child, running away from her. Their parents watched them from a bench. It was a lost piece of happiness, now echoing faintly in his soul.
As the travelers rounded another set of collapsed Ethers, a powerful explosion shook the distance. One of the remaining skyscrapers collapsed, bringing down debris that crushed rotting Ethers and sent clouds of dust into the air.
"What the...?" James yelled.
"That's a convergence point," Amanda said, watching as one building pulled another down. "It formed inside the structure and triggered something."
"Do these explosions happen often?" Samantha squinted, trying to see what was happening in the distance.
"Apparently, yes," Amanda replied.
They continued their journey, and after a couple of hours, they reached a ruined mall. The ten-story building stood waiting for visitors it hadn't seen in years. Once bustling shops had become grim, empty spaces.
"This is the way?" James squinted at the dark windows.
"Yes, it's the shortest route to the compound," Amanda nodded, taking a step forward. "What about the radar?"
"There are a few points around us, but..." suddenly the radar lights went out, and the screen went dark. "Damn it, no, no..." Manuel shook the radar, but it was useless.
"Do you remember their locations?" Amanda opened the device's back panel. "It's broken."
"A few meters above the Ether platform," Manuel answered.
"So now we're going blind?" Samantha glanced at John, who seemed lost in thought, staring at the building.
"Your detectors should help," Amanda activated the light on her chest. The others followed suit, and they headed inside.
They were greeted by total darkness. Squeezing through the fallen metal plates at the entrance, they entered the dim light. The beams of their flashlights and the faint light from outside were their only sources of illumination. Shelves and showcases, once filled with goods, were now covered in a thick layer of dust. Alexa ran her hand along one of the glass displays, peering inside. Mannequins in clothes from a bygone era lay on the floor, and the ceiling at the far end of the hall had partially collapsed. At one point, she noticed movement. Shining her light, she saw only a part of a mannequin. Her imagination and the shadows began to play tricks on her.
"Search the area, but don't stray too far from each other," Amanda warned. "And don't forget your lights and sensors."
She took a few steps forward and picked up a pack of cigarettes from the floor. Her own pack had run out several hours ago.
"Is this a break?" James asked sarcastically, shining his flashlight on her.
"We've been walking for a long time. We have thirty minutes. There's food in the backpacks, have a snack," Amanda said.
The group spread out across the first floor. John headed to the central plaza, where a fountain once stood, now destroyed by debris. Meanwhile, Samantha went deeper into the building. In one of the halls, she found several exhibits, similar to museum pieces. All of them were in glass cubes, covered in dust. Approaching one, she wiped the glass and saw a gramophone — a relic from the past. The cube was airtight, and the gramophone was well-preserved. Even the magnetic disc was still in place.
Samantha carefully removed the cube from its pedestal and wound the mechanism. Soon, Beethoven's Sonata No. 5 played from the gramophone. She closed her eyes, immersing herself in memories of the green fields and clear lakes of Corvin, as it was before the collapse. A faint smile appeared on her face, but the music abruptly stopped, pulling her back into reality.
Meanwhile, James and Alexa moved forward, lighting their way with flashlights. They weren't lost in nostalgia — their main goal was to keep moving. The silence was broken by the beeping of the sensors on their suits, warning of an approaching threat. Both froze instantly.
"Don't move," Alexa ordered quietly. James nodded in the flashlight's glow, staying still.
Alexa removed the flashlight from her chest and squeezed it in her hand, peering into the darkness. The sensors kept beeping. She tried to spot the distortion Amanda had mentioned.
"Could it be a mistake?" James suggested, taking off his own flashlight.
"Do you think so?" Alexa doubted. "The sensors only activate when points are present."
Suddenly, she noticed the distortion. The light bent around something invisible — a Convergence Point. Alexa had never seen one this close before. She knew that such a distortion could incinerate a person in fractions of a second and cause a powerful explosion.
"We need to go back," James took a step back.
Alexa followed him, but the distortion rapidly moved closer.
"It's moving!" she exclaimed. "Tell everyone to gather at the entrance!"
They rushed down the corridor, glancing over their shoulders. Both knew that any collision with the point would lead to an explosion capable of destroying the shopping center and burying them under the rubble.
James relayed the message through the radio about the possible threat. They jumped over beams and debris, making their way through the wreckage. Ahead, a faint light flickered — Amanda and Manuel had left their bags after going to explore other rooms.
Suddenly, there was an explosion. The Convergence Point detonated, destroying one of the benches and releasing a wave of energy. Dust and debris rained down on the Wanderers. Reaching the light, they met John and Samantha.
"What happened?" John grabbed Alexa by the hand.
"The Convergence Point moved," Alexa panted.
"We can't stay here," James said, illuminating the wreckage. "Everything's going to collapse soon."
"Where are Amanda and Manuel?" Samantha asked, looking around the dusty hall.
The shopping center began to shake. The explosion had damaged the supporting structures. They could hear the plates collapsing and the showcases shattering into tiny pieces.
"Upstairs!" Amanda's voice came over the radio. "Go to the top floor!"
The Wanderers rushed toward the staircase leading to the upper floor. Concrete slabs fell from the ceiling, exposing metal beams. Breaking through the door, they began climbing the stairs, protected only by the energy shields of their suits.
On the upper floor, Amanda was waiting for them next to a half-destroyed Ether. This floor had once been a parking lot for flying vehicles, but now most of the building was in ruins. One Ether remained intact, but its core was drained.
"What the hell is this?" James shouted, running up to Amanda.
"We don't have much time," she snapped. "One Ether survived, but without a charged core, the engines won't start. Manuel went to get batteries. Get inside!"
"Will it even fly?" John skeptically examined the metal hull.
Despite his doubts, he sat down and fastened his seatbelt. Soon, all the sensors started beeping again — the Convergence Points were right above them.
"Alexa," Amanda grabbed her hand. "Can you pilot an Ether?"
"Yes, my father..."
"Great. You'll take the controls. When I give the signal, start the engine and lift the Ether."
"But I..."
"The core will last only a few minutes," Amanda interrupted her. "When everything's ready, John will pull the lever." Amanda handed the cube to John.
Alexa climbed into the cockpit and took the controls. She was surrounded by a control panel filled with buttons, levers, and switches. Her father's voice echoed in her mind, reminding her of the three main rules: check the energy levels, run engine diagnostics, and warm up the engine before takeoff. But that was useless now — there was no energy to start the engine.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alexa saw Amanda rush away from the Ether. Cracks were rapidly spreading across the landing pad, collapsing the supports onto the lower floors. The Ether, standing at the edge, began to sink with jolts, and soon a powerful explosion sounded below.
Alexa, rising slightly, saw the cracks cutting off their Ether from the main structure.
"Amanda, hurry!" she shouted, trying to outshout the wind whistling through the shattered windshield.
Amanda rushed toward Manuel just as the ceiling above him began to crumble.
"Move aside!" she screamed desperately, waving her arms. But it was too late: part of the roof collapsed, burying Manuel. A cloud of dust rose into the air, forcing Amanda to shield her eyes with her hand.
Turning on her flashlight, she approached closer. Manuel lay under the rubble, his body almost entirely buried beneath the slabs. He coughed, and blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. Their eyes met.
"Hold on," Amanda's voice trembled, "I'll get you out."
Manuel extended his hand to her, holding a battery.
"In the repair dock... I found this..." he tried to smile, but pain twisted his face.
"I won't leave you," Amanda grabbed the slabs, desperately trying to move them.
"Stop..." he whispered, grimacing in agony.
"You won't die here!" her hands feverishly searched for a grip to free him.
"Amanda... there's no time..." he coughed, and blood splattered on her hands. "We knew... it wouldn't let us go..."
Another wave of collapse made Manuel scream in pain.
"This isn't the end!" she tried to convince him, though she knew their time was running out.
"I can't feel my legs," he whispered, handing her the battery, "I won't last an hour."
Tears rolled down Amanda's face.
"We weren't supposed to end like this..."
"Get them to the Cradle... find the disk..." his eyes began to glaze over. Manuel was dead.
Amanda closed his eyes with a trembling hand, then grabbed the battery and dashed toward the Ether, leaping over the cracks. Connecting the battery to the energy core, she shouted:
"Start it!"
Alexa, without taking her eyes off the site of the tragedy, pressed the start button. The energy core flickered, and the control panel came to life.
"Lifting off!" Amanda quickly disconnected the wires, and Alexa pulled the lever, making the engines roar to life. The Ether began to rise slowly, but the floor beneath it suddenly collapsed. Amanda managed to grab onto the edge of the engine, and James and John immediately pulled her into the cockpit.
"Get us out of here!" Amanda yelled, strapping into her seat. "John, now!"
John pulled the lever, and the cube lit up with a bright blue light. The beeping sensors fell silent. The Ether, slowly turning, headed west. Alexa tried her best to keep the ship in the air, but the engines, damaged and worn, began to fail.
The Ether flew between buildings, heading for the highway outside the city.
"The rear engine has failed!" Alexa shouted as sparks began to fly from the rear of the Ether. The machine rapidly lost altitude. The engine's hum died, the control panel went dark, and the Ether plummeted to the ground.