STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview
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STARLIGHT UNBOUND
and shape.
The Bureau towered in the distance, its familiar presence looming larger as he drew nearer. Lucien couldn't shake the feeling, however, that something was... out of place.
***
The familiar sounds of the Central Systems Bureau greeted him as he stepped inside, swiping his wrist device across the scanner. The soft chime of clearance approvals and the sound of processing servers filled the air—routine, predictable.
From across the room, Darius waved him over, his usual grin edged with something that looked suspiciously like unease. “Hey, you saw the news, right? About the graffiti?”
Setting his bag down by his workstation, Lucien nodded. “Yeah. Vandals.”
Darius chuckled, though it lacked his usual enthusiasm. He leaned in, voice dropping slightly. “Sure, but... doesn’t it seem weird? I mean, what do they want? Nobody does something like that for no reason. And right after the celebrations?”
Lucien shrugged and powered on his console. “Does it matter? It’s paint. The Stewards will clean it up.”
The answer didn't seem to satisfy. Darius’s grin faltered before he nodded and stepped back to his station, his usual chatter replaced by quiet.
Lucien turned his attention to the monitors, the notification from his wrist device blinking on the main screen.
TASK ASSIGNED: SENSOR ARRAY 12 – ALIGNMENT FEED ANOMALY DETECTED.
He sighed, standing up and grabbing his tools. Another routine fix. Another morning spent chasing down fluctuations that never amounted to anything.
The equipment room for Sensor Array 12 was dimly lit, its walls lined with neatly organized diagnostic tools and maintenance panels. As soon as he logged into the terminal, the familiar voice of AstroSYS filled the space. Smooth, androgynous, and devoid of emotion, the AI spoke with perfect clarity.
“Lucien. Alignment Feed Anomaly Detected. Sensor Array 12 requires recalibration.”
His fingers moved over the console, typing commands with the ease learnt from repetition. The AI’s voice was part of the job—background noise, an old tool he knew too well to think twice about.
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