STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

STARLIGHT UNBOUND

That’s why they’re overreacting.”

Harun let out a humorless snort, the corners of his mouth twitching into a tired smirk. “Doesn’t make it any less dangerous. I had to duck two patrols to get back here.”

Lucien ’s hands tensed. They’re not only looking for us. They’re looking for anyone who doesn ’t fit. Anyone who doesn’t align. How many people are going to get caught in this crackdown because of us?

***

The room buzzed with low conversation. Harun was muttering something to Lyra about decryption protocols, while Corin ’s voice crackled occasionally through the comm device, giving updates about the chaos in the streets. It was a constant hive of activity, but for Lucien, everything felt distant – like sound muffled underwater.

He sat on the worn sofa, his hands gripping his knees as he stared at the small enameled pin still attached to his jacket. He removed the pin they had worn to blend in better with the crowds. It repulsed him now.

He drew a deep breath as he thought of everything they ’d done – the files they’d stolen, the Stewards chasing them through the Spire, the crackling of the complex growing louder as if it were alive.

He closed his eyes, easing back against the sofa as his mind spun. Images flashed behind his eyelids. The cold, sterile corridors of the Spire. The flicker of the progress bar on the terminal. The blinding light of Lyra’s flash suppressant exploding in front of them.

But it wasn ’t just the mission that haunted him. It was what came after.

Lucien opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling as a single question gnawed at him. What if we’re wrong?

The files were damning – proof of erased charts, manipulated alignments, and lives recalibrated. But how could anyone trust it? How could anyone trust them?

He felt his stomach twist. People like Darius, people like me – they’ll never believe it. It’s everything we’ve ever known. It’s what keeps us safe, keeps us alive. And now we’re trying to tear it apart.

He thought of Darius’s face, the eager excitement in his eyes whenever he talked about AstroSYS. The belief, the faith. Lucien had once felt it too, the comfort of knowing his place in the world was written in the stars. But now, that comfort felt like a trap.

131