Lira Halden

Log Entry 3162.10.29 Situation Summary: Engineering Apprentice Lira Halden located in Maintenance Deck 7. Last visual contact: unidentified humanoid figure, tall, thin, movement nonhuman. Environmental systems: intermittent power, low illumination. Status: alive, mobility compromised. --- Chapter XV — Ensign Lira Halden The lights went out and the hum of the backup systems kicked in. Darkness filled every corner, and Lira could feel her own heartbeat in the hollow of her chest. She knew she should call out for help, but something froze her—something watching her. She took a careful step back, and the shadow moved as if it had anticipated her motion. Tall, impossibly thin, limbs stretched like wire, but fluid, sinewy fluid, too smooth to belong to a human. The faint glow of emergency lighting caught a glint in its eyes, sharp as shards of black crystal. Lira’s mind screamed, but her body betrayed her. She fumbled for the panel to override the lights—three buttons, two knobs, a lever—and prayed. The lights flickered, casting the figure in jagged slices. And then it moved closer. She stumbled backward, hand brushing a loose pipe. It rolled across the deck with a clatter. The sound echoed and… the shape recoiled. It paused, tilting its head like it was studying her, listening. Adrenaline surged. Lira ran. She ducked through maintenance crawlways she barely knew, relying on blind memorization, tripping over wiring and snapping conduit, ignoring the heat in her palms. Every shadow seemed alive. Every whisper of air sounded like a voice calling her name. Somewhere behind her, a wet, scraping sound followed—elongated, inhuman. She didn’t look back. She couldn’t. When she finally burst through an access hatch into the light of an auxiliary reactor room, she slammed it shut and activated the seal. Her lungs burned; her uniform was torn, hands slick with sweat. She was alive.