Into the Unknown
The Event Horizon had transcended its original design.
No longer just a vessel, it had become something more—an entity forged from both human ingenuity and something beyond comprehension.
And now, for the first time, the crew would see what it was truly capable of.
---
The Crew's Unease
Dr. Alexandra Pryce paced the bridge, her mind racing.
"I don't like this," she muttered. "The ship is—different. It's like it's alive."
Dr. Jonas Ibarra leaned against the newly transformed navigation console, his fingers tracing the shifting symbols that now adorned its surface. "It is alive," he murmured. "At least in some way we don't understand."
Lieutenant Adrienne Cormac stood near the viewport, arms crossed. "So the question is… are we flying it, or is it flying us?"
A silence settled over the bridge.
Because none of them knew the answer.
Captain Elias Vance exhaled slowly, staring at the ship's holographic interface, which now pulsed as if awaiting a command.
There was only one way to find out.
"Patel," he said, turning to the pilot. "Initiate a systems check. I want to see what we're dealing with."
Patel hesitated. "Sir, the moment I touch these controls… we don't know what's going to happen."
Vance gave a nod. "Then let's find out."
Patel took a deep breath, placed his hands on the control interface… and the ship reacted.
---
The First Test
A pulse of energy rippled through the Event Horizon, resonating through the bulkheads, the control systems, and even through the crew.
The ship responded.
Patel's eyes widened. "I didn't even engage the thrusters," he breathed. "It's moving itself."
On the main display, the external camera feeds activated, showing Saturn's rings shifting behind them.
The Event Horizon was drifting effortlessly, not powered by its old thrusters, but by something else entirely.
Cormac tightened her grip on the back of her seat. "Patel, tell me you still have control."
Patel's fingers twitched over the interface. "I… think I do?" He swallowed hard. "It's just that… the ship knows where I want to go before I input the commands."
A chill ran through the room.
Ibarra tapped a readout, his voice uncertain. "Captain… I think the ship is reading our thoughts."
Pryce shook her head. "That's impossible."
The Event Horizon accelerated.
Instantly.
Without inertia.
Without buildup.
One moment, they were floating, and the next, they were moving at speeds no human vessel should be capable of.
Vance gripped the command chair. "Where is it taking us?"
Patel's breath hitched. "I—I don't know."
The ship wasn't just faster.
It was choosing its own course.
---
The UED Fractures
Aboard the UED flagship Ascendant Valor, chaos had taken root.
Admiral Dominic Kain stood in the center of the bridge, his once-human form still shifting, veins glowing with an unnatural energy, his gaze locked onto the viewport where the Event Horizon had just vanished into an unknown trajectory.
The command staff had gathered, fear flickering behind their eyes.
One officer hesitated before speaking. "Sir… we no longer have a lock on the Event Horizon."
Kain smiled.
> "Good."
The officers exchanged uneasy glances.
Another cleared his throat. "Sir, with all due respect, we have no idea what they've become. And… we don't know what you've become either."
Kain slowly turned to face him.
A faint distortion rippled through the air.
And in an instant, the officer disappeared.
Not vaporized.
Not killed.
Simply… removed from existence.
The remaining crew fell dead silent.
Kain let the tension hang in the air before speaking.
> "Those who cannot see the future will be left behind."
> "We are no longer a fleet bound to Earth's laws."
> "We are something greater."
His voice was not entirely human anymore.
And the crew knew:
> The UED was no longer what it once was.
> Kain had changed it forever.
---
Destination Unknown
On the Event Horizon, the crew watched in disbelief as the stars themselves shifted around them.
Pryce's hands trembled over the console. "This isn't FTL as we know it."
Ibarra was staring at the navigation readings. "It's like…" He swallowed. "It's like the ship is moving through probabilities, not space."
Patel's voice was barely a whisper. "We aren't just traveling."
> "We're choosing which version of the future we arrive in."
Silence fell.
Vance exhaled, steadying himself. "Then I suggest we choose carefully."
On the screen ahead, a single star system appeared.
A system not on any known star charts.
Vance's gaze hardened. "Take us in."
The ship obeyed.
And humanity's first step into the unknown had begun.
---
The Legacies' Game
Far from the Event Horizon, back on Earth, a different kind of power struggle was unfolding.
In the upper levels of Luna's corporate sector, The Legacies—the wealthy heirs who had bought their way onto the Event Horizon centuries ago—were making their move.
They had returned as pioneers, believed to be lost martyrs of a bygone era.
Now, they were assets. Symbols. Tools.
And they knew how to capitalize on their legend.
In a private meeting, Alistair Rhys-Kingsley, heir to one of Earth's most powerful financial dynasties, leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping against the glass table.
"The UED is faltering," he mused. "Kain has lost his mind. The colonies are restless. Earth's power is fragile."
Across from him, Genevieve Duval, another Legacy, smirked. "And you see an opportunity."
Rhys-Kingsley nodded. "We don't need to rule through war. We can rule through influence."
Duval raised a brow. "And if the UED doesn't cooperate?"
Rhys-Kingsley's smirk widened.
> "Then we make sure Earth remembers who its real leaders are."
The Legacies had survived 500 years of absence.
Now, they intended to reshape the future—not with weapons, but with wealth, control, and the power of their name.
The battle for Earth had already begun.
---