19DEC3025
For one brief, shining moment, I was a legend.
Not a ghost.
Not a mistake.
Not a guy duct-taped to a sentient nightmare ship.
A celebrity.
And like all good things in my life, that lasted right up until the authorities showed up.
Survival Rule #39: If Someone Calls You a Public Phenomenon, They’re Probably About to Call You a Biological Anomaly Next
It started at a small, barely legal refueling station called Corelock Drift.
I showed up to trade a mug for thruster grease.
Five people asked for autographs.
Two asked to touch the hull.
One offered to name their child “Echo” if I blessed their ship’s life support system.
For about thirty minutes, I was the Void-Kissed King of Fringe Sector G.
I made a toast with recycled coffee.
Jex gave a sermon.
Echo played what I think was a theme song made of warped comm static.
Then the blackships arrived.
Enter the Authorities
Not pirates.
Not scavengers.
Clinical. Professional. Terrifyingly well-rested.
Badges marked with “DSAI: Division of Sentient Anomalies and Interfaces.”
They didn’t ask questions.
They just walked in, looked at me, and said:
“Subject Codename: Scootch. Confirmed. Containment Requested.”
I said, “No thank you.”
They said, “Not optional.”
Echo pulsed twice and said:
“Suggest escape vector: Directionless. Fast.”
My Final Decision
I got two options:
Let them take me for testing, probably get poked with things until I spill secrets I don’t understand.
Jump back into the Continuum—the place where I almost lost my mind, met a living prison gate, and woke up feeling like time was wearing my skin like a jacket.
Naturally, I chose Option 2.
Status: In Transit
We’re in the jump.
Not normal space.
Not anywhere on a map.
The Rat opened the pathway like it had just been waiting for an excuse.
Echo said nothing.
Jex passed out during the jump and is now muttering something about a wheel of eyes and the scream of mirrors.
I’m heading back to the one place no one can follow.
And whatever the Continuum was hiding before…
I think this time it’s going to show me everything.
Scootch
Quote of the Day:
"You can’t run from the truth. But you can drift sideways through an unbound fracture in causality until it forgets your name."
