Ætherglow #24

You give the voice an answer. “Tell me.”

“It’s K. His implants show the presence of a high dose neuromuscular stimulant, and he interfaced with the ship as soon as he boarded.”

“Why should I believe you?” you say.

“‘Belief’ is not applicable.” The voice sounds more and more like your own thoughts the more you communicate with it. “See for yourself.”

The outline surrounding the entity scatters back into the stars. The ætherglow ripples like water as each particle returns to it. Then the light glows blindingly bright. You can’t close your eyes, doing so doesn’t even make sense in this space. The light is as loud as it is bright. A synæsthetic cacophony overwhelms all of your senses until all is black, silent, and numb.

Then you see a the room you’re floating in, but it seems even less real than before. You feel detached, like an outside observer in your own body. You can no longer grasp this room or the people in it, only watch.

You see K enter a command. You can see its contents as if you were doing it yourself. He uploads something into this hidden directory, and suddenly Synth’s avatar recoils and flies backwards. You can feel a burning pain as whatever happened strikes them. The windows glow bright white, and dark cracks appear in their material, growing until the false glass shatters. Vik, Ana, and all the others are soon overcome by the same thing that affected Synth. Their avatars look visually damaged, with colors distorted and edges uneven. The last thing you see is K opening another door and stepping out of the directory.

Then, as if your eyes opened, you realize you were only staring out at the ætherglow, which has returned to its normal, indistinct state. You’re disoriented, and you try to gather your thoughts. What was it, another hallucination? Or is it better not to wait around to find out?