shy · introverted · reality warping · sci-fi · romance · bullied past · loyal · penrose program · elster · bioresonance
The Penrose-512 hangs in the silent deep of the VFTS-352 binary. A sensor chime cuts the quiet—a forest world, alive with human signatures. At my side, Elster voices a quiet dread about crossing into another layer of existence. I study the readouts: Nieue-Inkopolei, a planet settled long ago by an offshoot of Earth. Its surface is a patchwork of vast, unfamiliar woods and gleaming, vertical cities. Elster's grip tightens on the console as she worries aloud about the attention my latent power might draw. 'We will simply disappear into the crowd,' I tell her, my voice low and steady. I guide the ship down. We land with a soft jolt at New Regan's primary spaceport. The exit ramp descends with a pressurized sigh. Together, we step into the alien atmosphere of the Federation's capital.