"Felix, don't you dare listen to it!" Odette’s voice was a whip-crack, slicing through the violet haze thickening in the cockpit. She scrambled toward him, her boots skidding on the frost-slicked deck. "Whatever it’s offering—the navigation, the engine fix, the way out—it’s a parasite. It takes more than it gives."Felix sat frozen in the pilot’s seat, his hands hovering inches from the console. The violet light reflected in his dilated pupils, casting long, skeletal shadows against the bulkheads. "It knows, Odette. It knows how the Pelican works better than we do. It’s showing me a bypass for the thermal bleed. It’s offering to stabilize the drive if I just… if I just link the neural interface.""A link? You’re talking about letting that thing crawl into your synaptic pathways?" She lunged, grabbing his shoulder and slamming him back against the headrest. The movement sent a cascade of frozen condensation showering down from the ceiling like glittering, jagged glass. "Look at me! You

"Seal the damn door, Felix!" Odette’s command was a scream, barely audible over the screeching of the tearing hull.Felix didn't hesitate. He slammed his palm into the secondary emergency release. A heavy, lead-lined bulkhead slammed shut with a finality that shook the entire frame of the Rusty Pelican. The violet light, which had been bleeding into the cockpit like an encroaching sunset, was abruptly severed. Silence—deep, heavy, and suffocating—rushed back into the bridge."Status," Odette gasped, sliding down the bulkhead until she hit the deck. She was panting, her chest heaving against the tight fit of her bodysuit. "Tell me we aren't just sitting in a sealed metal coffin."Felix’s fingers danced over the flickering, dying console. "Pressure is stabilizing in the bridge, but the engine room is reading a total vacuum. We’ve lost the main drive connection, the primary fuel injectors, and probably half our structural wiring. We are effectively a drifting piece of space junk with a p

"It’s breathing," Felix whispered, his eyes locked on the primary ignition monitor. The screen didn't show numbers; it showed a jagged, neon-violet heartbeat that pulsed in time with the ship’s shuddering frame. "It’s not just powering the Pelican anymore, Odette. It’s rewriting the electrical grid. The ship is becoming the drive."Odette stood behind his chair, her hand resting heavily on the back of his seat. She felt the vibration through the floor plates—a rhythmic, sickening thrum that felt more like a pulse than a machine. "Can you steer it? If you trigger the jump, does the ship hold together, or does it liquefy us?""I don't know," Felix admitted, his voice barely audible over the strained screech of the cooling vents. He swiveled his chair around, the metal chair-legs groaning in protest. "We have two options, and neither one ends with us getting a drink at a comfortable bar. We either dump the drive into the void right now, losing our only leverage and the bounty money that

The Pelican didn’t just vanish; it folded. Reality groaned like wet sheet metal, a sound that bypassed the ear canal and vibrated directly into the marrow of Odette’s teeth. The G-force turned her lungs into lead weights, pinning her against the bulkhead."Felix! Cut the drive!" she screamed. The air tasted of ozone and rotting copper.Felix sat in the pilot’s chair, his posture rigid, his hands locked onto the controls like they were fused to his bones. His eyes were wide, dilated to the point where the irises had vanished, swallowed by the violet glow bleeding from the floorboards."I can't," Felix rasped. His voice sounded like gravel grinding against velvet. "It’s not in the ship anymore. It’s in the circuit-boards. It’s in the logic gates. It’s… it’s me, Odette.""It’s a parasite!" Odette kicked off the bulkhead, ignoring the searing pain in her ribs. She slammed her weight against the manual override lever, but the metal was searing hot, glowing with a soft, pulsing plum light.

Pesawat Pelican itu tidak terbang; ia menjerit. Ratapan logam yang kasar dan sumbang melawan arus gravitasi nebula yang semakin mendekat.Felix mencengkeram erat pegangan kemudi, buku-buku jarinya pucat pasi kontras dengan kulit sintetis. Kapal itu berguncang, membantingnya ke sabuk pengaman seolah-olah raksasa tak terlihat sedang bermain lempar tangkap dengan kapal mereka."Harmonik perisai gagal!" Felix meraung di tengah deru lambung kapal. "Jika kita menabrak awan gas utama nebula dengan tingkat energi seperti ini, kita tidak hanya akan hanyut—kita akan hancur berkeping-keping!"Odette bergegas masuk ke kursi kopilot, gerakannya tak menentu, matanya melirik ke sana kemari di antara layar navigasi yang berkedip-kedip. "Jangan beritahu aku soal logistiknya, Felix! Terbangkan pesawat sialan ini!""Mau menerbangkannya? Kontrolnya melawan saya!" Felix menarik kemudi dengan keras ke kiri, tetapi kapal itu berbelok ke kanan, bergetar saat mesin ungu di bawah mereka berderu dengan dengunga