STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

STARLIGHT UNBOUND

His gaze drifted to the counter.

The black disk sat there, catching the morning light, its surface smooth and featureless except for the faint gold constellation in its center. It was a simple object —compact, unassuming—yet it felt like a stone dropped into the still waters of his routine, rippling outward in ways he couldn ’t define.

Lucien shook his head. He grabbed his bag, shoved the disk into his pocket without thinking, and stepped out into the city streets. I must be crazy.

***

The Central Systems Bureau stood as pristine and efficient as ever, its geometric facade reflecting the pale morning light in perfect symmetry. The hum of automated networks and unseen machinery filled the air, a quiet, ever-present pulse that welcomed him through the biometric scanners. Inside, the day unfolded in its usual rhythm: employees moving with practiced synchronization, their conversations polite, measured, perfectly aligned with the harmony AstroSYS demanded.

Lucien navigated through the maze of identical workstations, offering nods and murmured greetings to familiar faces. Everything in its place. Everything functioning as it should.

Darius waved from across the room, his grin as unshakable as ever. “Morning, Lucien! Still thinking about that art show? Bet you’re ready to admit you liked it. ”

Lucien forced a small smile, sliding into his chair as his workstation came to life in a soft glow. “It was… interesting.”

As he said it he heard Lyra’s voice echo in his mind, low and deliberate.

"That’s because you’re looking for something."

He shook his head, pushing the memory aside and turned his focus to the tasks before him. The screen filled with cascading lines of data —planetary alignments, trajectory calculations, and predictive models. Normally, the clean precision of it all would be a familiar anchor in an orderly world.

But today, the numbers blurred.

Lucien frowned, blinking as he tried to refocus. The subdued murmur of conversations around him seemed louder than usual. He adjusted the brightness of the display, but the shifting equations still refused to settle. His mind kept circling back —to the painting, to the hidden starburst, to the weight of the black disk in his pocket.

He clenched his jaw. Focus. It’s another day. Another alignment. Another

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