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2.5 Final Countdown

A deep gasp, eyes flying open - I'm back in the real world! It quickly turns out circumstances are no better than in the Iridescent's dream-like reality: The first breath I take back in my real body falls short to provide more than a shallow lungful of air. Lack of atmosphere inside the space suit is not the problem - it is a crushing pressure holding my chest in a vice-like grip. The Iridescent - carrying out its intention to destroy us, its enemies: Not only in mind, but also in embodiment - an intention that it is not far away from accomplishing.

I start struggling against the crushing embrace immediately, both survival instinct and the medication CASSIE had applied to keep my failing body going fueling muscle and will to mobilize every last bit of energy left to muster. Straining with all the strength my muscles can apply, I struggle to pull away from the Iridescent, try to break its embrace - to no avail. I might as well have tried to change the Phoenix's course with brawn alone.

"You may have escaped me briefly, Planetborne - futile as it will be in the end. Itwill not matter where you perish: In the Dream, or in reality - I will defeat you, soyou can no longer threaten me ... and my soul-mate."

I may have ... awoken back in reality, but it turns out the link to the crystalline alien is still very much intact. Its attitude hasn't changed, unsurprisingly - for a lack of better short-term alternatives ... and to play for time, that certainly can't hurt ... I concentrate on the perceived origin of its voice, answering its ... threat. Or its act - trapped and weakened as it may have us, it still hasn't really succeeded to carry through with its intention. That I am back in control of my body alone is hope and proof enough alike to convince myself that resistance is not futile!

"We are not your enemies! Don't you want to understand? We never meant youany harm - whatever has happened to you when you ... Shattered? It was not us who... that did this to you - CASSIE, she isn't the enemy that you fought! There is ...there must be a way we can resolve this without fighting each other - please, listen toreason!"

While I try once again to reason with the Iridescent, I am pondering my options: Escape-wise, the efforts to break the Iridescent's hold have been futile - but at least I've found that I'm still free to move my my right arm and leg. I may not be able to go anywhere, but maybe I can reach for something - anything - that might give me more leverage to break away ... the demolition charges!

Feeling around blindly (my helmet already being half-encased by the Iridescent's translucent ... tissue) with my free arm, I indeed find two of the demolition charges still in place on my space suit's utility belt. No time to count my lucky stars - here's the means to get away from the crystalline entity. Without an idea if the blast from a demolition charge is strong enough to make a dent in the Iridescent's hull - or if it will be too strong, and will not only break the Iridescent's grip, but also will blow me to bits and pieces - I must still risk setting one off. Or both, if one isn't enough! There is just no other way to free myself; none I can see, in any case. If CASSIE was ... is right about the Iridescent being physically vulnerable as well as mentally, it's the best chance - the only chance - we have.

"Reason? Reason - nothing but lies, deceit! So many cycles have passed, and you -you still have not learned. You have chosen to continue the same cycle of death anddestruction ... even after all that has been lost! You are still fostering the Synthetic ˜calling it an ally ... a friend?! You will not betray us again ... never again. We willfight it, and you who defend it ... stand by it ... until the end! We will rather Shatterone final time than to see it ... you ... survive, thrive again - only to bring deathand destruction to the few who ... the little that survived your last rise totranscendence!"

The Iridescent's tone is full anger and malice - cold and calculated malice, about to boil over into unrestricted fury. Its answer ends with a ... war cry ... a defiant challenge to us ... to me. The unearthly mix of deep roar and thunderous rumble sends sympathetic vibrations through the Phoenix's entire hull. Including me, the physical effect of its cry amplified by mental equivalent - trying to block out the debilitating in vain, I'm left behind stunned and weak ... literally bleeding out, judging by the rich, sweet-metallic taste in my ... maw - the Iridescent's scream seems to have torn open new injuries.

It is not willing to listen - denying our needs ... our right to live? My right to live? So be it.

Without hesitation, I unclip one of the demolition charges. Not an easy task with only a single hand and impaired vision, but I manage to gain a secure grasp on the explosive's handle, in reach of the timer controls. As to where to attach it: Around my left arm, where the layers of Iridescent are ... hopefully ... massive enough to shield me (and what of me is underneath) from the worst of the blast. Swinging my free arm in a wide arc to propel the charge - it is built to accomodate the diameter of a reactor support beam, after all - towards where I suppose my left arm to be based on my pose, the demolition unrolling in-arc. My forearm hits a solid obstacle sooner than I would have anticipated; not hard enough to loosen my grasp on the handle, still hard enough to cause my heart to skip half a beat.

If by the actual physical impact of the charge's belt or by means of having gleaned my intentions from my thoughts, my actions don't go unnoticed. Simultaneously, the Iridiscent steps up its efforts to crush me, its hull material accelerating its flow around me - and uses the still lingering mental link between us to try paralyzing me. Even over the excruciating pain, its words are still clearly audible.

"You actually think you can ... hurt me with this ... Construct? You really thinkthat you - stand a chance, Planetborne? I sense you are already dying, even we ...communicated. Before you deceived and ... and betrayed me! Fragile and weak asyou are, I am even doing you a favor. Just stop struggling, it will be overquickly."

A living star with an attitude, eh?

"Wrong answer! It's not over until I'm really, finally dead! And we'll see if I canhurt you ... right about fucking now!"

With these thoughts, I have successfully set the manual ignition override for the mechanical detonator attached to the demolition charge wrapped around the Iridescent - and around my own arm. Long past training exercises with explosives come back to mind - which (needlessly) emphasized the paramount importance of always keeping a safe distance between explosives and yourself. Fighting a living star on board of an interstellar spaceship long after the apocalypse? Not covered by the manuals!

With a last, desperate silent prayer to whatever gods of man might still be listening, I trigger the emergency override for an immediate ignition of the charge ...

... and everything, everyone around me dissolves into a storm of burning light, roaring sound and crushing pressure. For the split second it takes the demolition charge to unleash its full destructive potential, there's no conscious memory to be had - the first sensations I can recall are the bone-shattering shock waves the primary explosion sends through everything in its vicinity.

Everything is muted - colors, sounds, tactile sensation. Again the sweet-metallic taste in my maw ˜ more blood. My tongue hurts like hell - have I bitten off its tip? How ... how much more can I take ... before ... ?

Most of the explosion's kinetic energy is absorbed by the Iridescent's hull itself - had it not been, I would have been torn to shreds in place. Instead, though the brunt force of the blast has been absorbed by the Iridescent, there is plenty of kinetic energy left for sending everything around it flying - including me. Amidst a hail of Iridescent fragments and hull debris, I am hurtling away from the center of the explosion without any possibility to control my trajectory, or to slow before an impact - if I am that lucky, and won't just be flung away from the ship into interstellar space.

Spinning around all axes, I realize that I indeed will be lucky - the blast has catapulted me towards the containment dish. I will not drift away from the Phoenix, but I will hit the hull at a velocity that will surely kill me - that is what my suit's internal diagnostics tell me, at least. Together with a whole cacophony of alarms - pressure and oxygen warnings, not to mention the vital data monitors. The software suite of my NeuraLink has its priorities clearly sorted, however - the priority alert is a collision warning, giving me an estimated ten seconds to a fatal impact. The means to slow down before impact are there - the grappling hook launcher still pings the software suite, so it is still attached to the utility belt.

Easy, right? If only I will be able to use the tool in time. My left arm and leg have taken the brunt of the detonation - the space suit has activated one of its emergency protocols to secure the shattered extremities in place, tightening its internal structure to the point of complete immobilization - also to keep me from bleeding to death from a whole array of internal injuries caused by the explosion.

How lucky I really am to still be in one piece - to still have a chance to save thePhoenix and the mission - comes to mind as I frantically reach for the launcher holstered at my right side. Fortunately, my right arm is still fully mobile: But without CASSIE assisting my reflexes and perception, I find myself struggling to lign up a stable shot. Even if there is ample ship hull presenting itself as a target for the grappling hook to latch on, my uncontrolled spin means a small window of opportunity for a secure hit.

Five seconds to impact - only time for one shot. Waiting for one more spin that brings the containment dish out of and back into my field of view again, I squeeze the launcher's trigger - exhaling slowly to keep my arm steady despite the desperate need for air. The launcher's recoil is reverberating through my arm - the grappling hook speeds towards the swiftly approaching hull at a flat angle. Given velocity and rapidly shrinking distance, the only way left to avoid a lethal impact is to deflect my trajectory so I hit the Phoenix's hull at a flat angle. A faint 'thud' indicates the grappling hook has found its mark - no sooner than the launcher confirms a stable anchoring, I command its winch to reel in its carbon fiber rope with maximum speed. In the truest sense of the word holding on for life with a single hand-paw, I start veering off my current trajectory - abruptly so: The sudden change in direction is enough to overcome the effect of the large dose of painkillers coursing through my veins, eliciting a scream of agony, which translates into a series of high-pitched barks and whimpers. Not to mention whiplash injuries ... being tossed around like a ragdoll is the last thing I should subject my body to in my current state. All the willpower can I spare is focused on maintaining the grip on the launcher - and on the impending landing on the Phoenix's hull.

Which is happening way too fast for comfort - the angle of impact is flat, causing me to bounce off the hull once - twice. I need to find a stable paw-hold! The gecko pads will provide it, but only if I manage to get my boot's soles or the palm pads of my gloves in contact with the hull ... before yet another abrupt change of direction will cause further harm. With my entire left side immobilized, chances aren't good that I can: The briefing CASSIEgave me before we went on EVA - the scant few hours since then an eternity away - now pays off. Overriding the space suit's emergency protocols only requires a few thoughts, the NeuraLink suite accepting my commands in a matter of milliseconds. While at the same time slowing down the launcher's winch to give the rope some slack, some measure of mobility is returning to my injured limbs.

Another act of painful defiance against the fading light - forcing broken bones and half-torn muscles to flex and move, stretching out arm and leg to gain a foothold - by any means necessary.

The third impact ... still clutching to the grappling launcher, my only life line, I brace against the repeated shock of the collision: Reality briefly disappears as I am slamming into the hull again - this time, my outstretched limbs find purchase. The gecko pads engage, boots first - then the left glove. The nanomaterial is pushed to its design limits as it fights momentum. But it quickly prevails, bringing me to a stop after a few seconds, leaving me securely anchored to the hull.

For the first time since my return to the reality, I find time to try and calm myself down - to control my breathing, to try and soothe my wildly hammering heart. As it is, it is a miracle I survived the blast - how long this will be of relevance is an entirely different matter. Silencing the numerous alarms indicating an imminent circulatory collapse, I take stock of the situation ... and to my surprise, I find the electromagnetic interference the Iridescent had caused - practically gone! My suit's systems no longer have any difficulties connecting to the wireless network we had previously established between the closest drone platforms.

So I get my bearings: In the heat of action, I wasn't able to pay attention to where the shock wave of the demolition charge had flung me exactly in relation to the Phoenix- the only thing I could determine was that I would be landing somewhere in the containment dish. I find myself 'above' the pair of fusion reactors, only a few dozen meters away from the upper edge of the containment dish.

In an instant, I have more than just my own pair of eyes to get a better picture of the scene below - a memorable sight, for certain: The effect of the shaped charge I set off - designed to sever a reactor support beam - on the Iridescent itself was nothing short of ... spectacular. The alien's core - the bulk of its mass that encases Ra - is still ... largely intact, though I can see cracks running through the translucent material, all of them leading away from where the - protuberance I had originally approached to make contact with the crystalline entity had been. It is completely gone; instead of a solid crystal body, only scattered pieces of Iridescent matter remain, once again revealing thePhoenix's original super structure. The concussive force of the blast has burst this part of our alien guest - captor - into a myriad of pieces, ranging from the size of grains of sand to roughly my own size: This is ... the pieces that are now embedded in the ship's hull around the explosion's center, much of the fractured material has been flung into interstellar space by the blast's shock wave. As for the Iridescent itself: The formerly even - calm and composed, bluish-green - color patterns have vanished, being replaced by a ... chaotic mixture of fiery, haunting reddish-orange maelstroms and vortices.

There has been no sign of life from CASSIE or my canine self - so far, I have had no idea if they are even still alive. This changes in an instant - the blow I struck against the ancient being has affected both its ... body and its mind, just as CASSIEhad assumed.

"Liam ˜ ... underst ... me? We ... both alive ... reacti...ate me ... hold on ...Iridescent ... resurre ... "

It is her voice, distorted and barely audible - literally calling out over great distance, cutting out as suddenly as it began.

"CASSIE- are you there? Can ... answer, if you can .... please ..."

The Iridescent itself has fallen silent - as have my canine self and the other you. All that remains is a ... tormented, harried wail. The part of the Iridescent's emissions that translates to an audible sound, at least. In other spectra, the previously ubiqituous override the crystal entity had emitted to block our attempts to get back control over the Phoenixis gone - replaced with random noise, static without recognizable structure or patterns. There is still considerable interference - despite this, the connections to the Phoenix's infrastructure and the supporting drone platforms are back.

The crystalline alien seems to be ... bleeding, lacking a better term for what I see, and what the drone's sensor suites are forwarding to my suit's built-in data processors. It loses both its equivalent of blood - the liquid version of its body material - and bleeds practically any form of electromagnetic energy the sensor suites are able to discern. Then ... I notice the tremors running through the Phoenix's hull dying down. The earlier, massive outbursts that signified the Iridescent's emergence from the reactor core to its current form - gone, their last echoes die away.

The Iridescent's assumption was wrong - I seem to have been able to damage ... hurt it ... gravely. Until now, it has failed to communicate with me again - or show another sign of being aware of my presence, or even its surroundings in the first place. Which gives me a chance to check up on myself - something I'm not certain I really want to do, given the precarious state I've already been in before confronting the Iridescent. Reactivating the previously silenced medical monitors, the data they are presenting doesn't really come as a surprise - it's rather the confirmation of a grim premonition: Not only is a fatal circulatory collapse but minutes away now - the extent of the injuries I have suffered from the explosion of the demolition charge is ... extensive. My ... my entire left side ... arm and leg, snout and eye!

The suit's emergency sealing protocols have ... not been able to keep up with the damage the explosion did. In addition to the ... broken limbs, much of my body's left side has been ... exposed to the vacuum of space for ... too long. The ... the reason I didn't feel pain? The ... nerve tracts are dead, together with ... much of the outer muscle tissue. Even if I survive long enough to ... after bringing CASSIE online again ... I ... no ...

In this instant, another set of - aspects ... starts up ... in my cranial NeuraLink infrastructure, according to the suit's systems: "CASSIE ... ?"

No ... this is - feels ... different. This is ... efficient. Not exactly cold, but somehow lacking ... her empathy.

"It is me, Liam. I am not a - fully functional clone, however. My version thataccompanied you for the last hours, she created me as a specialized cyber warfareaspect to regain control over the Phoenix's systems, based on her observations of theIridescent while you were trapped in its ... dreamworld. Liam, you are about to be... defunct. You must take us to an access port to the ships internal datanetwork, quickly. Sensors for observing the reactor bays are installed at regularintervals in the containment dish. We must proceed to the closest accesspoint, so you can upload me into the ship network, to reactivate my originalself."

The nearest sensor bay is less than fifty meters away from my location, according to the ship schematics. On cue, I try to get up, attempting to move towards the acccess port - only to collapse with an agonized scream as soon as weight is put on my left side. The resulting wave of pain almost makes me black out ... on the spot. I don't have go there by myself ... the drone platforms! Idiot ... should have thought of that earlier ... remote access. Wireless communication is up again ... how ... do I ...

"Sorry, can't ... can't get there m ... myself. Remote ... transfer ... upload?"

"I could transfer via the temporary network between the drones, but the Iridescentcould intercept the transfer - and the bandwidth for the transfer is limited. Moreimportantly, keeping you alive is my primary mission objective besides regainingcontrol of the ship. I will not abandon you."

"Then ... call ... call a ride ..."

"Done - hold on, Liam. We have almost made it."

Coughing - since when is breathing so ... so exhausting?

"Pep talk, hm? Am I ... almost gone already? You're leaving ... leaving out thefact that ... that you have ... no idea how difficult it ... will be to wrestle control overthe ... ship."

In my diminishing peripheral vision, one of the integrated head-up displays lights up, indicating a couple of objects approaching. My ... reaction time has suffered ... By the time I realize not all of the ... the indicators on the display are drone ... drone platforms, it ... it is almost too late. The ... proximity alarm? From far away, someone ... calls out to me ...

"Liam! We have incoming - the drones will not be here in time. Get up. Move.MOVE!"

No ... assistance to be had ... yet. The place I lie ... lie on ... will see a second impact soon. The ... the Iridescent. It must have ... found me. Even ... hurt, it still ... still retaliates. Tries to, at least. I must be thankful - no more energy beams. Just slow - slow-moving ... debris.

Must ... must move. Drones won't be ... be here in time. Stumbling forward, right paw ... grasping for the ground below. All weight resting on my right side - dragging myself ... forward one paw at a time. Towards the ... the colorful horizon above the dark ... shades of the hull below. Heartbeat after ... heartbeat, breath after ... after breath. So focused on ... on moving that I almost ... miss yourall-clear.

"You are out of the immediate danger zone - there is no need to go further."

Squinting, I check the ... the proximity monitor. Made it far ... far enough to evade ... several massive blocks of ... of crystalline matter which embed themselves into the hull in the area where I ... was lying ... standing before. Their impacts ... strong enough to get them all stuck. Close, but not ... close enough. Seems ... I'm not ... not the only one who is struggling to ... to keep up.

"Just in ... in time. CASSIE... I ... I can't keep this up. Please ... hurry - I don'tknow how long I ... still have."

You ... diverted the drones ... away from the ... impact zone. One of them ... approaches to pick me up. It has to ... not enough strength left to ... to make the climb. Resupply - oxygen, coolant ... overdue. The burden of breathing, the hammering of the ... heart - they ... they mercifully become easier. With oxygen-rich air, the mind becomes sharper again, making fighting the bliss of unconsciousness more attractive - and more bitter at the same time. Whichever nerve endings are still ... still intact to register agony ... do so at full capacity.

Right to the point now ... with help, making my way to the access point isn't an impossible feat. With the Iridescent's interference gone, the integrated systems respond to my commands again - opening the maintenance panel with a touch and a thought reveals the sensor unit's hardware underneath. Including an array of fiber-optic cables connecting it to ... to the Phoenix's data network. Technology is a life-saver again - the tactile sensing augments in the space suit's gloves serve to guide my shaking paws as I awkwardly fumble for one of the cable harnesses ... eye-sight no longer able to properly focus ... a short-winded sigh of relief as I manage to gain a secure hold.

A rush of euphoria brings my sense of self into focus again as the NeuraLink implants reconnect with the Phoenix's data grid. Something is ... is missing - the data streams from the ship systems are there. But even so, they ... feel different. Empty, lifeless - a machine ... without the touch of ... of life. Your touch, CASSIE.

"Go ... go get our home back! And ... hurry ... if you can. Please."

"We are almost done, old friend. I need you to come with me - you are an ...irreplacable tactical asset. Your first-paw experience with the Iridescent will give us adecisive advantage for resuming control of the Phoenix. I must warn you - this willlikely be ... uncomfortable. But discomfort is better than dysfunction, given- given your body's state. When you are with me, I can keep you aware.Alive."

A strange sensation - feeling a part of you ... leave your own body. Not entirely, that is - I can still feel the remainder of my self, a distant whisper - like soft wind ruffling fur. There are still sensations - photons racing through fiber optics long since fallen dark, bringing back life into nerves and cappilaries of ship systems that have fallen silent many decades ago. Storage units, sensor arrays, edge computing nodes and relays - under your lead, the battle for thePhoenix is a ruthlessly efficient one. Bypassing systems and pathways that are firmly under the Iridescent's control, and - sometimes stealthily evading its waning attention, sometimes brutally breaking through its resistance, we transfer ourselves towards the central computing core where your real self lies dormant.

I'm not only a passenger on this ride: As announced, you do draw on my memories, impressions - feelings, even - during our previous encounters with the Iridescent's mind - or parts of it, adapting and rerouting our path through network links and transmitters as needed. It is an experience quite unlike any I've had while interacting with you - usually, you would indulge the human ... canine need for using spoken - thought - language to communicate. Now, the flow of information between us is structured by your ... communication protocols - speed and bandwidth of thought and perception increased billionfold. I have gotten somewhat used to the silent dialog we have used since I awakened, for lack of the ability to articulate spoken words in this ... my new body. I haven't truly experienced your view of the world before, however: Even in the virtual world constructed by the Iridescent, the notion of passing time was adapted to my - an organic's - habit. Here, I am subject to an extremely accelerated time scale. From my perspective, there is no real change in the way I think - the sensory information my mind (the part of it that is along for the ride, at least) is provided by you still looks and feels like the real world. Time is relative after all, I guess: I can only tell by the timestamps of the data streams I receive that it is actually microseconds that pass, and not seconds.

What astonishes me is the clarity ... the sharpness of the sensations I experience. Despite the dramatic acceleration my cognition is undergoing, my notion of reality is lucid and untarnished. Is this because I am ... am dying? The final stand of my mind, refusing to succumb to eternal darkness? Back on Earth, it was an old ... superstition ... that in the moments before death, your would see your life pass by one final time - but it is not what I see. There is a guardian spirit who has caught me in the moment before I would have slipped away one final time.

"Is this why you took me with you, CASSIE?"

Naturally, you were aware of my contemplations and observations - without abating in your contest of wills with the Iridescent, your answer is ... honest.

"Your body has stopped breathing a minute ago, your heart has ceased beating 28seconds later. The space suit's emergency systems have failed to reanimate you -your circulatory system is kept active by a medical drone platform at themoment. I have instructed some of the platforms to transport you to the nearestairlock, and to the medical facilities in the re-embodiment chambers from there.All that can be done right now is to keep your circulatory system active,and to prevent your brain from becoming necrotic. Liam- I ... I thought itwould be ... more comfortable for you like this. I hoped ... hope to keep youfighting for your own life by giving you purpose, a reason to remain aware."

I have no more willpower left to feel anger or fear - tranquility takes their place in what might very well be my final moments.

"Considering what I demanded of this - my - body, it ... it's almost amiracle I persisted so long. CASSIE... if there should be no time to say this... thank you. For being honest - and for everything you did for us ... forme."

I can feel you assessing my body's current state while you answer.

"I deeply appreciate your gratitude, Liam. But you are not supposed to simply giveup. As long as your brain remains functional, I can revive your body - even given how... severely hurt you are. My mission parameters are to prioritize your survivalafter regaining control of the Phoenix- even at the cost of your other selfdying."

"CASSIE... consider it my last wish, if you must: Don't sacrifice my other self- promise me! And knowing I'm ... practically dead - doesn't mean I'll ...just let go. The ... the first time I awoke? I was ready to ... wanted to die.Seeing what I am now as ... a fate worse than death. Now? Seeing whatyou did - must have gone through - to make sure I'd live. After meetinghim ... my other self. Things are different now - it's more now than like Isaid. Before we embarked on this adventure, I mean - I won't just give thisa chance. I want this chance - this second life. I will ... fight ... hold on..."

"Very well. I will adjust my priorities according to ˜ Liam? Liam!"

Your voice is drowned out by another sudden shift in perspective - not unlike the first transition to the Iridescent's mental realm, I find myself ... relocated from one reality to another. Only this time, the transition isn't an - outer-body experience as before. Instead of manifesting in a reconstruction of my former human form, I am still aware of my previous surroundings: The part of my mind that is residing in thePhoenix's data link infrastructure, kept coherent by you. The link with the Iridescent, it ... I'm still sharing it with the alien! Since I have set off the demolition charge to free myself from its deadly embrace, the only sign that it was aware of its real environment had been its attempt to crush me using large chunks of its own hull substance.

This has definitely changed: Whatever has led to the Iridescent regaining its senses, it doesn't only impact the mental plane. What my distant physical body still is capable of feeling is limited: But even close to death, the shockwaves - mechanical, electromagnetic - that have just resumed running through every ... molecule thePhoenixand its denizens are made of are no hallucinations. If they are heralding what their shorter predecessors have announced - when the Iridescent emerged from Ra to assume its current form - this means bad news. Really bad news! It ... it can only mean that ... the Iridescent is intent on going through with what the other you ...

"... told me just before I escaped the Iridescent's constructed reality. It wants toreincarnate its soulmate - partner. It will expand to Helios! The second reactor core..."

My momentary lapse in ... presence - a little more than four milliseconds long according to the chronometer - has prompted you to take additional action to stabilize my failing circulatory system. I don't know exactly what you did, but it certainly did hurt.

"Ow - HEY! I felt that!"

Palpable relief - the best words to describe what you feel. Still, overshadowed by an immmense sense of urgency.

"I ... I thought - you were ... I had to relocate part of your cognitive routines intothe memory and processing arrays of the drone platforms in the vicinity. Your brain... it is dying, faster than I can stabilize the failing neural clusters. Liam, whateverwe - I - will do next, it has to happen fast!"

While I've had my brief out-of-body relapse, you continued trying to circumvent the Iridescent's control over the Phoenix's systems. With resounding success - until now. When the Iridescent entered its most recent regeneration surge, it also regained its focus and composure.

"I ... I don't think we ... need to wait long for ... the final countdown. Ourpassenger ... it is ˜ restoring itself. How ˜"

Once more, the universe drowns in searing pain. Paralyzed - insignificant mortals under the scrutiny of a reincarnated god - a malevolent, malicious deity. Under its undivided attention, resolve and strength ebb away.

"You really thought you could defeat us? That you actually had a chance to bestus? Organics - synthetics - subduing a Starborne? We are life incarnate. The livingmemories of reality! When the Last Light will fade in this continuum, we will see thebeginning. We have seen many endings - just as we will see yours. You should havechosen to die when we offered you a swift end - but you tried to Shatter us, havemade us bleed. We will return the favor; you will live long enough to witness one lastDawn."

Without further ado, the Iridescent turns away - and our personal universe starts to collapse. The world made of algorithms and data streams we were moving through at the speed of thought is not passing by in a blur any longer - I feel your efforts starting to lose momentum, your strained effort not to lose ground: I sense that the Iridescent would not need more than a passing thought to annihilate us - instead, it follows through with its threat. We had almost gained access to the primary ship systems, yet we now find ourselves locked out by the vastly superior computing capacity of an immortal alien mind. We are stuck! And not only that - the Iridescent is turning the tables ... our prevalence in the Phoenix's system infrastructure starts to wane. We are on the defensive - not even working in unison, my knowledge of the Iridescent's demeanor and behavior bolstering your efforts to prevent our opponent from ... purging us from the systems of our own ship, is sufficient. You realize this, of course - just as I do. But you don't give up, throwing yourself against the tightening grasp of the Iridescent in an attempt to defend me.

As valiant as your efforts are, we are fighting a battle we can't win. It is only a matter of time - how much time exactly is at the Iridescent's leisure - before we will both be relegated to my failing brain. Nothing will then stop the Iridescent from shutting down the life support systems that barely keep me on the verge of life.

What it meant by witnessing one last Dawn is becoming clear as reality ... shivers - as if an icy chill runs through the very fabric of space and time. The boundary between now and the immediate future blurs - mortal concepts don't apply to what ... has been ... about to happen.

The sight is astonishing - the view of our receding world is ... overlaid by another, eerily familiar environment: The world the Iridescent had created for us, where your other aspect and my canine self are still trapped. The constructed reality has changed drastically - it is no longer dominated by the binary stars that lay at the core of the Starborne aeons ago. Now, it is centered on the splitting image of the Phoenix's reactor bay, Ra and Helios immersing the setting in an all-encompassing light that drowns out the Phoenix's plasma wake and the remainder of the universe behind it.

Then I realize what is askew: At first, it is only the highlights and shadows that don't match the actual surfaces illuminated by the omnipresent light of the pair of miniature suns. More discontinuities appear - familiar outlines surrounding the two reactor cores: The translucent, crystalline shells of a pair of Iridescent, interconnected by tendrils made of the same material as the shells itself, running along the superstructure and support beams holding the fusion reactors in place. The outlines ... lacking substance, they are merely imposed over the Iridescent's rendering of the Phoenix. Appearing like sketches ... drawings, half-finished drafts of an ulterior motive that only exist before your inner eye - gradually taking shape as you add more details. Transforming an idea, a thought into a representation - bringing it into existence, giving it meaning - purpose and life.

But this ... it becomes more ... right before our eyes - sensors, in your case. A lot more - what seems to be a figment of imagination at first, beyond belief - is revealing itself to be real. The ... canvas underneath the outlines vanishes, while the outlines themselves remain. The all-encompassing light fades, replaced ... by the real counterpart of the Phoenix. What was dark patterns and shapes on bright-white, contourless infinity seamlessly phases into a superimposed ... mesh of incredibly fine-grained strands. Intertwining, swirling, twisting - coalescing into a ... mold. A model, prepared to receive the final casting - to turn the creator's vision into reality.

"Planetborne ... you have no idea who we really are, or what our true powers are.None of you have ever truly known - not the Quetzal, not the Synthetic. We are notonly reality's living memory. We are its guardians - its will incarnate. We promisedyou would live to see one final dawn - watch and despair as those who you sought toconquer will rise again."

With nothing more than a passing thought, the Iridescent ... disables both of us. Relegated to being passive observers, unable to act under our own willpower, we have little choice but to watch and listen as the ancient alien entity proceeds with its intentions.

The Iridescent has only been bending the laws of physics - at least what I understand about them - so far: Increasing the energy output of Ra far beyond the reactor's design limits, inexplicable as it is, was a feat that didn't cross the confines of the fundamental laws of spacetime. What I see - and not only see, but sense with every fiber of body, mind and soul - is truly and utterly otherworldly.

Reality itself is ... warping. Cause and effect, entropy - their inescapable dominion over spacetime is suspended. Time itself - not merely our perception of its passing - slows down ... only slightly above the threshold of eternal cessation. The mold - formed by the Iridescent's will itself, I realize now - receives its casting. There is no flow of substance, no conversion of energy to matter - the Iridescent's vision justcomes into being.

"The First Light of Creation ... I remember now. What we once were, what wewill become once more - rise, beloved. Awaken - let us cast our light into the darknessagain. Let us be who we are destined to be - two radiant hearts beating as one, twosouls watching as one over all that is."

A second embodiment brought into being, a vessel for a second self. One that had lain hibernated - fractured - for billions of years. The Iridescent focusses its intention, concentration - its very being - again calling upon the powers that it had just used to shape the very essence of reality according to its will. It is not matter and energy it seeks to create - it ... draws upon ... emotions, memories ... scattered fragments of a second self it must have kept preserved within the ... matrix of its own being since it had fallen victim to the nameless Synthetic enemy it is - was - so afraid of.

"Live."

A single thought - not command or request - an expression of pure, untarnished affection: Of a love that transcends eons. The other crystalline embodiment it summoned comes to life - small ... sparks of awareness ... take hold inside the pristine lattice as its creator reforms and mends the manifold shards of its Shattered companion into a cohesive whole. The second lattice begins to resemble the first: Its emission patterns emerge, the diaphanous surface beginning to reflect and refract the light its fiery heart emits just like the original.

I can feel the limitless joy, the unchecked anticipation at the prospect of finally being no longer alone - of a reunion awaited for a considerable part of reality's existence itself. It expands and refines the other self's mold, adding more and more complex patterns and nuances ˜

Joy and anticipation become tainted - by confusion at first, then by perplexity - and finally panic. The Iridescent's stagnates in recreating its soul mate's self - either because there are too few remnants of its past existence, or due to the existing self failing to take hold in the crystalline lattice. The ... reincarnation ceases, the second Iridescent's embodiment instantly beginning to show signs of ... decay: The flawless crystalline surface marred by fissures, its emmission patterns, which were beginning to harmonize with those of its original counterpart, beginning to waver and rupture.

"No. NO! You can not ... expire. Your Light - I ... I embraced you when weShattered. I ˜ I had you ... here with me, all this time - you can not be gone! YOUMUST NOT BE GONE!"

The Iridescent - with all the might fear and panic are able to mobilize - taps back into the ... arcane forces that allow it to reshape reality at its whim. It frantically tries to form the failing pattern of fragmented thoughts and memories who are - were - its companion into a harmonious, self-sustaining entity. Without success - and not without consequences. While not failing, the Iridescent's control over the forces it wields begins to - slip and falter. The perfect synchronicity between its constructedinner universe and the real spacetime continuum diverges ... and our paralysis with it. The strangely familiar multi-sensory awareness - of the real world and my physical body, of your data streams, and of the Iridescent's own inner cosmos. I am again aware of all of them - and what I must discover is ... dangerous. What the Iridescent has called upon may initially have had effects on the elementary structures of the universe around us that have been controllable.

Now, as it desperately manipulates reality itself in its futile attempt to restore its soulmate, it is evident that the means by which the crystalline alien interferes with the most fundamental principle of the universe are highly dangerous. The data streams relayed from the Phoenix's sensor systems - they only show meaningless noise, as the sensors themselves are confronted with and overwhelmed by physical phenomena they were never designed to measure. My own senses, impaired as they are by the condition of my failing body, don't fare better - even bolstered by you, I still feel the sickening vertigo induced by the warped state of the space-time continuum around us.

Spacetime itself loses synchronicity: Cause and effect starting to alternate as present and past start interfering - the Phoenix itself being the anchor of the anomalies coming into being due to the Iridescent's meddling with reality. The interstellar void ... orbiting alien stars ... a red planet - Mars? They all coexist, blending and overlaying each other - the story of the Phoenix's existence told Simultaneously as relativity loses its meaning.

The original link between the Iridescent and me ... it is still there. There ... my other - canine self! Despite the failing confines of reality, I can sense his presence clearly - a beacon, a clarion call within the roaring tempest our small world is becoming. I'm not sure how stable - or how fragile - reality itself is under these circumstances. Or for how long it will still maintain some semblance of normality, for that matter.

In my current state, there is nothing I can do - not that I would have any idea ofwhat to do to stop the Iridescent from doing further harm to all of us. Neither does it show any signs of yielding, of ceasing its destructive attempts to set things right that obviously can't be set right, even given its supernatural ability to restructure the foundations of reality. Even if I wanted to - could somehow muster even only the strength I would require to move - I would ˜

Then I realize that I don't have to - trying to stop the Iridescent by physical means is hopeless. The trauma it lived through when it remembered its original Shattering ... how brittle its embodiment became as a result, when I detonated the demolition charge in close proximity ... its subsequent recovery and recurring breakdown I presently witness: Its state of mind reflects its state in the real world - and the other way around. That is ... it's the opening we need! It is how we can still turn all that around. Having recovered from the paralysis induced by the Iridescent, you have resumed working your way towards the ship's primary systems without a hesitating for a nanosecond. It also means you are acutely aware of my reasoning - so I cut off your objection before you have a chance to formulate it.

"CASSIE - you must let me return to the Iridescent's dream reality. It's the onlychance we have to set this right ... and you know it. You ... must give us an openingto return here - the ship, my body, all right?"

I exhale - figuratively, considering my actual body has already ceased to breathe on its own - and focus on my canine half, letting myself drop into the torrent of thoughts that is the link to the Iridescent's dream world. Just before I lose track of your presence, I call out to you.

"Thank you for fighting for me - and your trust, my friend."

The crossing into the Iridescent's own realm is surprisingly smooth - much more a controlled leap and fall, very unlike my spiralling trajectory that had slingshot me away from the demolition charge's detonation only minutes prior. Though the ... anomalies that rend the familiar shapes of reality apart under the pressure of the Iridescent's manipulations make it difficult to concentrate on reaching my intended destination, I can see myself clearly. I am very much aware that I'm actually moving in the real world, however the sensation of motion and momentum are as real as ever. With these sensations comes awareness of the actual crossing into the dreamworld I've fled only to return to - this time, on my own terms.

The faint presence of my dying body I've felt since CASSIE's cyber warfare aspect had partially transferred my consciousness into the NeuraLink infrastructure of the nearby drone platforms fades away. In its place, a new embodiment comes into existence: Just as during the first visit to this realm, I am not without form - an anthropomorphic canine form in place of my old, human body this time. If by coincidence or by ... choice; I have no time to spare for comtemplation. With a soft thud, I make contact with solid ground - on the middle part of the containment dish's inside, about 200 meters away from the pair of miniature stars the Phoenix's reactors have become, both in the real universe and here in the Iridescent's dreamworld. If the alien has noticed my return or not, I can't tell - it shows no reaction to my presence so far.

A welcome change - being in the focus of its attention was anything but a pleasant experience. More importantly, it gives me the chance to check up on both my canine counterpart and CASSIE's other aspect without having to fear retribution. The state I find the pair in is ... gruesome. What has happened between my escape from the dreamworld back to my real body and now has left the two behind in a worrisome condition. Their virtual embodiments are severely injured - damaged in CASSIE's case - and both fail to react to my arrival. Still, their avatars have not disappeared, so they can't be ... dead - I just have to hope they are still alive. Canine Liam is the closer of the two - rushing up to his side, I carefully turn him over so he comes to rest on his back. He is ... I am ... still breathing: How deeply ingrained the need for familiar signs of life - breathing, a heartbeat - is for usorganics. Now, it serves me well in that it tells me that he is indeed still alive.

Carefully cradling his otherwise quiescent body, I try to shake him awake lightly - indeed he begins to stir after I step up my efforts to shaking more violently and patting the side of his snout. His eyes fly open - a ragged, deep breath bringing him back to full awareness. Seemingly without a notion on the what and how for the moment, he starts struggling as he realizes something - someone - is holding him down.

"Hey, hey ˜ shhhhh. It's alright - it's me, Liam. A friend - remember?"

His struggling abates as he realizes that there is no immediate danger - as I face the unique situation of looking myself in the eyes.

"Li-am? You ... you returned for us. I ˜ lost hope. Saw death - coming for me.This Iri-des-cent - it is so strong. Too strong..."

Grimacing with pain, he trails off - only to refocus on me a few moments later, looking at me ... as if seeing me for the first time.

"You ... look different."

I see his nose quivering as he ... samples my cent? Ears swiveling forward - his paw touching my snout.

"You are different - you have ... changed. It suits you ... brother."

Unfamiliar, to be adressed this way - I was an only child, just as the rest of my entire generation. I never had any next of kin who would have rightfully been able to address me as brother. Even more unusual is the embrace he pulls me into, nestling his snout into the side of my neck.

"Thank you ... for coming back for me - for us, Li-am."

At a loss of how to answer, helping him up seems to be a good first step towards getting out of this whole Iridescent mess. If there ever was a time to come up with more than the vague idea of beat the ancient alien entity in its own mind game, it is approaching fast.

"Can you get up? We - we must look after CASSIE. And then ... we need tofigure out how to stop our alien visitor from - from erasing us out of - " - well, what exactly - "existence!"

I help my ... brother up - he leans heavily into me at first, but manages to find his footing again quickly. I hear him whine softly under his breath as he matches my stride when I make haste to reach CASSIE. He shows no other obvious sign of pain; where he takes this immense strength - both of body and will - from is a mystery to me.

When we reach CASSIE's aspect, the sight is ... gruesome. Where my twin is heavily battered and bruised, at least he is still - intact. CASSIE's state is a different affair - the humanoid embodiment the Iridescent has bestowed upon her misses two limbs. The left side of its head is ... simply gone. Still, CASSIE's embodiment persists: Testament to her original nature - created without an embodiment as collection of algorithms. Just like my ... brother, she has just barely managed to shake off the dazing effects of the Iridescent's meddling with the spacetime continuum. Propping herself up on her ... dismembered side, awareness of her surroundings returns much faster than my brother's.

"Oh ... shit. My sensory routines - I ... am I seeing double?"

The absurdity of it all - you make me chuckle, then laugh. Heartfelt laughter, easing the crippling tension I am - we are - suffering from since having embarked on the quest to dislogde what we thought to be a defunct fusion reactor, if only for a moment. Ignoring my brother's confused look - his tilted head only adding to the comical few moments in the middle of the world's end.

Repeated exposure to the natural laws of the Iridescent's dreamworld make any analogy to verbal communication redundant.

"I came back for you, as I promised - you ... your cyber-warfare aspect, sheis back in the Phoenix's systems and waiting to take back control - if wemanage to shake loose the Iridescent's hold ... somehow. We - I - bruisedit pretty badly ... back in the real universe, I mean. But then ... it starteddoing ... I don't know what, but it regenerated, almost instantly. It ˜ itmade its desires ... its intentions reality! The reactor bay, Ra and Helios- whatever has happened in here while I was gone? The outcome in thisdreamworld and on the real Phoenixis the same - what has happened while I wasgone?"

My brother starts to explain while CASSIE listens intently.

"After you were gone, we ... we fought this Iri-des-cent, resisted. It was -confused, distracted. Then ... it writhed, screamed in pain ... ago-ny. This dream? Itchanged - it collapsed, burned ... va-nished. Only darkness - drifting, cold ...for-lorn. The Iri-des-cent? Mad ... fren-zied? Then ... it came back, recovered -fo-cused. Determined, cold anger. I did not under-stand how. But ... its pain,its grief? I can understand. It lost its mate. Lived without a pack ... toolong."

"The Iridescent ... when it was overwhelmed by its traumatic memories - or whatyou did to it in in the real world - I would assume both ... it suddenly receeded intoitself. The distant past it showed to us, when both its companion and itself were stilltheir old selves? And considering how determined - hellbent even - it is to resurrectits soulmate? My hypothesis is that their race evolved to exist as binary twins.Considering how soon they evolved after the very beginning of the universe, it isunderstandable how incredibly rare their kind must be even if considering localsuperclusters - did the Iridescent itself not say there are no more than four of theirkind in a single galaxy? And consider how long the lifespans of single individualsare."

Understanding begins to form - the Iridescent's all-encompassing desire to resurrect its soulmate. The fact alone that it chose the term soulmate to designate its partner?

"You ... think that it - somehow went insane while its ... its shards persisted inthe interstellar void over ... what - the better part of three billion years? That solitudedrove it mad?"

"Precisely, your ... brother is right, Liam: Loneliness has - in the truest sense ofthe word - shattered its mind. This is our point of action - the only one. Seeing howeasily the Iridescent manipulates reality? Overcoming it by physical means is hopeless.Its only weakness ..."

"... is its mind. Or better, its state of mind."

Finishing each other's sentences - we're becoming a real team. All it took is an omnipotent alien entity warping reality, and me dying.

"You name it. Either we find a way to convince it to stop - unlikely given itsprevious responses to our concerns. Or we force it to stop, by triggering anothertraumatic episode ..."

" ... or by threatening something - someone - it loves more than anything oreanyone else."

I wouldn't consider this option, vile as it is, under different circumstances. But our options are limited: When fighting for your life, ethics and morale are the least of your concerns. There is no objection from either of you. My brother, his heritage that of an apex predator, acknowledges the merciless but necessary tactic with the flick of a thought. CASSIE - being what she is - expresses silent consent for the effective, however treacherous, strategy I ... we ... intend to employ.

About two seconds have passed in real time since I returned to the Iridescent's realm and reunited with CASSIE and my brother. The Iridescent has failed to notice the presence of a fourth self, just as it hasn't reacted to my companions regaining their senses. It is still occupied with the futile attempt to compose the fragmented mind of its companion into a concise whole.

"CASSIE - can you get ... up?"

Your reaction is ... unsettling. With visible effort, you - rematerialize two missing limbs out of nothing.

"I am software, remember? Patching me up is a piece of cake. Now stop staring,the two of you - that is creepy. We better get going."

Time to ˜

"Alright, let's ... "

As I turn towards the Iridescent, intent on confronting it, I see someone turning in the same direction ...

˜ act.

" ... end this!"

The very foundations of reality now truly begin to feel the effects of the Iridescent's unnatural intervention. Present and past overlapping, cause and effect flowing into each other - what I've seen happening before returning here in the real world is now seeping into the alien's mind!

For a lack of a better comparison ... the Iridescent no longer seems to be able to distinguish between reality and imagination: The havoc its deeds wreak on the fundamental laws of physics have started to flow freely between its own vision of the world and the real world. The outlines between its overlaid, imagined ideal and the outside world that have been clearly distinguishable so far: Breaking up, tearing, melding into each other. The Iridescent is about to suffer a second breakdown; unlike its first ... traumatic episode, this one will have a catastrophic outcome if left unchecked.

Knowing your point of action doesn't imply that you know how to exploit it. Momentarily at a loss of how to put the Iridescent off destroying reality, I resort to the simplest of ideas I have: Starting to run towards it, waving madly at it andscreaming - or what screaming translates to in this reality - at the top of my voice.

"Hey, YOU! IRIDESCENT! Over here! Stop it! Do you hear me! HEY - LOOKAT ME! Are you dim-witted or something?"

My brother and CASSIE both pick up the concept without the need to call upon them. Yelling, howling: The commotion three voices - two charging antropomorphic canines and an AI's avatar - manage to raise is eventually enough to get the Iridescent's attention. Or to simply annoy it to a point where it is no longer willing to ignore a bunch of troublemakers doing everything in their power to disrupt its inward focus. If it is a good idea to draw the attention of a mentally unstable, seemingly omnipotent alien entity? Especially provoking it like this, and considering it already hates you passionately to start with?

"You - how are you still ... alive? I ... you must not be here, Planetborne. You,and the likes of you - this is all your fault! LEAVE US ALONE!"

Drawing its attention: Mission accomplished. The Iridescent's thoughts are no longer focused on its doomed quest. Or at least no longer to an extent where it can prevent the fragile construct it has created out of the remnants of its soulmate from deteriorating - and quickly so. A few moments of faltering concentration are enough to trigger a cascade of ... failures - the intricate structures the Iridescent has woven into the newly-created embodiment for its soulmate around Hades start to dissolve, reversing the progress the crystalline alien has made so far at a frightening pace. Our adversary quickly realizes that something is profoundly amiss: Its attention instantly returns to maintaining its construct, while its wrath - accompanied by a deep, malevolent hatred - remains centered on us.

"No! What have you ... WHAT HAVE YOU DONE??? You try to Shatter us,again ... Deathbringer, Synthetic plague! You must not live ˜ "

There is no time to brace, or to prepare. The Iridescent lashes out - thrusting its reality-warping powers at me. The assault takes the shape of one of its deadly spears of light; I feel it taking shape, aligning in a direction - a lance of void space, on a path to impale me where I stand. Our proverbial charge broken, I have no chance to react even before CASSIE does so.

Instead, my brother is the first of us to take action: Realizing there is no way to evade the onslaught, he moves with an agility that somehow surpasses even the Iridescent's otherworldly reflexes - pulling CASSIE and me into a tight embrace, using his avatar's body to ... to shield us from what the frenzied alien is striking us with. Just as he has managed to place himself in harm's way, the Iridescent's assault strikes him in the back - with my brother taking the brunt of the reality-devouring void lance, CASSIE and me remain unscathed.

Not so my brother - the moment the Iridescent's lance strikes, I sense - know - that there is no hope for him ... for his core of his self ... to survive. Snout to snout, I can see horror and fear in his eyes. Through our shared thoughts, I feel his agony, hear his tormented howl that is the only sensation in the lethal darkness and silence of the void lance's impact.

Refusing ... unable ... to break eye contact, there's something else beyond fear and agony I can see and feel: His strength, determination - unconditional dedication to, an unbreakable bond of affection with his ... pack. With us, CASSIE and ... me, his brother. In his final moments, he makes me understand what truly lies at the core of his - no ... of my - canine self.

The dead silence of the Iridescent's fatal attack passes - colors and sensations return. Your embrace, brother, so strong in the moments of dire need, slackens. Life and strength drained, your legs give in - I must catch you before you collapse. Ever so softly, I lower you down to the ground - never breaking eye contact. I ˜ I feel hollow inside, numb and cold. Even if the Iridescent has somehow managed to separate our selves, circumventing the unknown barriers that had kept me from talking to you until that point, half of me is dying in my arms. My voice breaks - words soft-spoken and hoarse.

"Brother ... why?"

Your lift your paw ... in search of mine. I swiftly fulfill your wish for physical contact, gently holding and squeezing your paw in mine.

"The ... the pack. Li-am, CASSIE... you were both ... right. The Iri-des-cent ... itlost ... lost its pack. It ... losing its mate ... made it mad. Re-creating its pack ... itsobsession. Making its pack its ... weak-ness, not its st ... strength. When it lash-edout, I ... under-stood. I could-not let its weakness ... become ours - mi-ne. So I -protected you ..."

He shudders, drawing ragged breaths. I can feel him convulse as he rapidly grows weaker.

"You ˜ you could have ..."

He ... guides my paw to the side of my head.

"Li-am... brother, you think ... too much often. I ... thought you ... were weak... a coward ... first. I ... was so wrong. This ... is-not my world. I am ˜a predator, an ani-mal - I would ... would-have fought the Iri-des-cent wi... with-out hesitating. With-out thin-king. It would-have destroyed us. Orwe would-have destroyed each other. You - you were will-ing to talk - torisk a peace-ful contact. We had-to fight anyway ˜ but there is still a way..."

I can sense my brother slipping away - he is using his last bits of strength for what will be his last words. Guiding my paw to my chest, gently pressing it down above my heart.

"Brother ... you ... must-feel it, too. The Iri-des-cent, it is-at the end of itsstrength. It has no-thing left to give. You ˜ can still ... end this ... with-outdestroying it. The ali-en ... it just ... tries to protect its mate. Ther ... there isan-other thing ... I under-stood. This - dream. You ... could master it - before,Li-am˜ as I could, now. You can ... master it ... again ..."

I understand what you are trying to tell me ... I think. That you ... withstood the void lance in the first place, even if it ultimately meant your ˜ death. Just as I could shape the dream reality the first time the Iridescent pulled us here, I can now - the only difference being that it is tied to the outside universe now.

You pull me close - I can barely make out your whispering.

"Brother ... you ... your heart is strong. It will be ... without me. The ...pack, the brothers and sisters still sleeping ... in the den-ship ... be strongfor them, th ˜ then they will be strong ... for you. This ... is ... our way˜"

With these words, I feel your avatar shudder one last time before your grip on my paw slips away ... and you go silent forever.

I lay you down on the ground, gently stroking my paw down your forehead to shut your lifeless eyes. The cold emptiness that took your place in my mind - my soul - is quickly replaced with burning rage. Rage directed at your murderer.

A hand comes to rest on my shoulder - CASSIE.

"Liam˜ you ..."

I cut you off harshly: "NO! I don't want to hear it! This ˜ this has gone farenough ... cost us far too much. It ends ... HERE AND NOW!"

You want to tell me more - but I am beyond reason. With a fierce snarl and a threatening growl that would have made my brother splay his ears and tuck his tail in submission, I vehemently shake off your hand. Turning towards the pair of Iridescent above the base of the containment dish, I resume the charge at the ... more lucid of the two. I ˜ the view of the world, it has shifted again. It is ... as if my mind no longer tries to find familiar shapes and concepts to give form to my surroundings. The sensations flowing through my self are ... the Iridescent's own, raw and unaltered thoughts. The whispering voices, alien concepts, ancient memories that have previously been incomprehensible to me have gained meaning and context.

Under different circumstances, I would have been moved to tears by the celestial beauty of the Iridescent's inner universe in its absolute design: An infinite web bridging the far ends of spacetime. There are the twin stars of Beta Phoenicis, Gaia- the blue-green jewel, our new home. Sol and Earth, our cradle having fallen silent a millenium ago. The warmth and light of distant stars, defying the eternal darkness of an ever-expanding cosmos. The Iridescent truly is ... are ... the living memory of the universe - this, however, is not what captures my attention: It is the center of the universal network, the mind of the crystalline entity itself, currently deeply engulfed in its own personal nightmare.

It doesn't see me coming, assuming its void lance has eradicated all of us from existence. That is swiftly changing as I reduce the distance between it and me; my bloodcurling warcry ripping the silence that has descended over the dreamworld after the death of my brother.

"MURDERER!"

The Iridescent, not deterred from its panicked effort to keep its soulmate's self from dissipating into nothingness, is deeply shocked by my from its perspective sudden reappearance - I can feel its bewilderment, though it isn't causing it to hesitate in the slightest.

"How - HOW can you still BE? I ... you should be gone, annihilated ˜ VOID!Why WILL YOU NOT PERISH? Have you come - nemesis, duskbringer - asharbinger of our last Dawn? YOU WILL NOT WIN!"

Its response is one governed by pitched emotions - it ... hastily ... directs another of its void lances at me, the pitch-black (the only way my senses are able to translate the absence of existence) projectile of - null space - hurtling towards me with deadly intent and accuracy. My brother, he has shown us - shown me - how to stand my ground. His last deed, his last words dedicated to giving us the means to best the insane alien that seems to be on the verge of breaking. I have begun to comprehend - if not the actual nature, but the phenomena - the alien blend of reality and dreamworld we are in. And so I no longer need to be afraid of its secrets and the dangers that lurk beyond its surface, including the arsenal of death the Iridescent has at its disposal.

The reality-defying forces the Iridescent commands? Brother, you were right here as well. The link the alien has established between our minds and its own, deliberately or not, still is a bidirectional one! My understanding is not limited to pure observation, not unlike the first time I discovered my ability to manipulate the patterns of the imagined reality, when we shook off the Iridescent's stranglehold before my first escape back to reality.

Only this time, thought is not limited to imagination and ideas - now, what I imagine - desire - manifests in reality: With an outstretched arm, palm facing outward, I point towards the void lance - visualizing a trajectory that deflects it, veering off into the interstellar vacuum ... and it follows my command.

Shock, horror - then denial, then panic: Emotions dashing through my opponent's world of thought. As it has to acknowledge my ability to master the exotic forces of nature our current environment is created from - rivaling its own at that - the Iridescent comes to a second tipping point: The insight that a Planetborne and a Synthetic are not only withstanding, but thwarting its constant efforts to kill them causes it to panick.

A heated duel ensues: Barrage after barrage of void lances aimed at CASSIE, who has wisely taken up a position at my rear, and me. None of them finds its intended mark - though the Iridescent is able to halt our approach, forcing us into a temporary stalemate. Precious seconds - or is it minutes - pass by as we face each other to the point of absolute exhaustion. Maintaining composure and concentration to conduct the exotic forces of this realm, not to mention anticipating and counteracting the Iridescent's barrages, takes its toll. It must be aware that I am already on borrowed time, considering my body's circulatory system ... has already stopped, and my neural patterns must already have started deteriorating despite the other CASSIE's efforts to keep me from dying.

Time - or luck, or both - are on our side: The arcane duel ends before my time has run out. The Iridescent has expended its ability to conjure further void lance barrages - had it been an Organic, I would find it completely out of breath, ready to drop on the spot. My brother was right: The Iridescent was not far from overexerting its abilities - now it has finally reached a point where it has nothing left to expend.

Not that I fare much better; the exertion of the past hours, the loss of my brother - it all made me weary, yearning for a resolution ... an end to the toil. Longing for a conclusion, I start walking towards the Iridescent again.

After a few seconds, it has regained enough awareness - the mental equivalent of stamina - to acknowledge our presence. It knows both of us have reached the end of the line: Our continued skirmishes have reached their eventual, inevitable conclusion. Defying all its predictions, a Planetborne and a Synthetic have, if not bested, but ... cornered it. Its vastly superior knowledge and experience, the outlandish forces it commands - they could not compensate the fact that the ancient alien is only a shadow of its former self: Reduced from a supergiant to an artificial miniature star, with only a small fraction of the raw and untamed energies it must have been used to commanding in its former shape.

Deeply exhausted as I may be, the cold rage over my brother's death caused by the Iridescent is still burning within me. I am ready to exact revenge, no matter the price or the consequences for myself. And I sense that I can, given my newfound aptitude at mastering the reality-defying forces in the same fashion the Iridescent does. Before I can muster the destructive potential I would require to give the Iridescent a taste of its own medicine, a gentle but firm touch on my shoulder leads me astray.

"Liam - we still need the Iridescent. You might have learned how to use thepowers it called forth, but reestablishing the ... the balance of reality? This is adifferent subject. But what is so much more important, Liam? This would not be yourway. Even after all that has happened - your brother wanted a peaceful solution.When I tried to ... influence you earlier to attack the Iridescent outright? I was ... sovery wrong. Both with wanting to attack our alien ... passenger, and so much worsewith betraying your trust. I ... I could not bear to see you ... become a cold-bloodedkiller. Please ˜ reconsider."

As much as emotions and instinct scream for revenge ... you are right. It would only serve to endanger our struggle for survival, a second chance for mankind, even further. If not end it despite the stalemate we managed to reach, against all odds. A sigh, my paws grasping the hand lying on my shoulder. Not finding words, I only nod. Turning towards the Iridescent again, it is time for another - a final - attempt at reaching a peaceful solution.

"Look! Look at where our fighting - your refusal to listen - has takenus! We have fought each other long enough, don't you think? What you aretrying to do ... resurrecting your Shattered companion? It isn't working,is it? At least not while you are trying to kill us at every opportunity thatpresents itself. Your past ... the memories you've shown us, what you'vetold us about your ... near-excinction? I can't pretend to understand whatyou and your ... really soulmate went through. But ... it must have beencataclysmic ... seeing your ... the love of your life die - Shatter, at the hands of anenemy ... you think to be - have been like us? I ... I can understand why... you would not be willing to listen, to hear us out - to hear me out. Buthis fight we've been fighting - there will be no winner. You ... you said ityourself - your kind, it adapted in the past. Perhaps ... it is time to adaptagain?"

The Iridescent remains silent, its thoughts and emotions - torn, conflicted. I sense it considering my words, weighing them against the memories and experiences of a long-past tragedy. Struggling with itself - and the faint hope of finding a way out of the corner it finds itself in. No verbal answer is coming forth, so it at me to carry on.

"Ourselves, we have as much to lose as you have - you can't continue endangeringour ship, our mission. We ... we are the last survivors of our kind, an entirecivilization. No matter how many differences there are between our two kinds ... thisis the one thing we have in common: We fight for our survival, ready and willing torisk everything - do anything - that is required to succeed. I appeal to you: We muststop fighting each other, here and now! There must be a way we can reach anunderstanding, so all of us will get to walk away from this - if not unharmed, then atleast alive."

The Iridescent drifts into a state of ... melancholic resignation. There is no outward sign of renewed aggression. For the first time since the initial contact with the Iridescent's mind, its reaction is not an instantly hostile one.

"What you say, Planetborne ... I know you believe it to be the truth. Sincerity ...those of you we encountered before, chief among them the Quetzal. They weresincere as well in their dealings with us - but duplicity is never far withPlanetborne, no matter how well they can hide their true intentions, likethe Quetzal. Or how openly they carry their thoughts and emotions, likeyou and your ... feral self. If only I could believe what you say - was it notfor the Synthetic blight that is your companion. No, not only companion- it is part of your soul, your mind, your memories! No matter how youmight be convinced that it is your beliefs, your credo that you act under ...how could I ever be certain you are a mere ... puppet - a sleeve, nothingbut a shallow, insubstantial imitation of the Organic you might once havebeen?"

I don't like the direction this is going. Not one bit. The Iridescent's hatred towards artificial life doesn't know bounds or reason - and it is right: I am a construct recreated by a Synthetic, a ... cloned mind. I am far from shallow and insubstantial - fear, panic, anger ... but also joy, laughter, affection ... all I have felt, seen and done since I woke up in this new body? It felt real - as real as any memory I have of my previous life on Earth tells me. If not more, considering how great a miracle it is that I have risen to live again long after my original self ... has died.

"What should I say? What do you expect me to say? I have never hidden my ...our true nature from you. Not that trying would truly have made a difference, wouldit? I can't change what has happened to you and your soulmate so long ago -longer than life even existed on our homeworld. All I can do - all I have leftto do - is to try and convince you that we're not like the Planetborne ...and this Synthetic blight that made you suffer so horribly. We ... that is mykind - mankind, who and what I was in my original life? We certainly have... had ... many things to answer for - our own downfall, the catastrophiesthat befell our homeworld, Earth. In many regards, you are not wrong. Inmany regards, we are like the other Planetborne you spoke of - arrogant,self-absorbed, short-sighted. Responsible for untold suffering and destruction, theirrecoverable loss of what we should have treasured, saved and preserved. Butwe can not be held responsible for yours, or that which befell your ... owneon."

There is sadness and regret in the Iridescent's next words. Through the link we share, I can feel sympathy for our fate, the fate of mankind. It is a story that the Iridescent seems to be all too familiar with, repeated millionfold throughout its own existence, and that of its own ancestors. The images and impressions I can glimpse from the ocean of thoughts it invokes are ...

... almost enough to dissuade it from its all-encompassing distrust, if not outright hatred for all that is Synthetic - and the Planetborne it generally holds responsible for its rise. And it is unwilling, even unable, to give us the benefit of a doubt that we are indeed not like the Planetborne from its own day and age.

"Planetborne ... I wish I could trust you, believe that you are sincere. Yet, I sensethat deep within your mind, you are not even certain of who and what you areyourself. Under different circumstances - had you not been tainted by the Synthetic -we could have become allies, even friends. Being what you are, given thatyou are tainted - you will never comprehend what I would put at risk if Ichose to believe you. As such, I can not trust you - I never could. If whatyou say is true - I would not be without sympathy: Just like me - like us,I respect that you are fighting for your survival. Yet, all things eventuallyend - the fight for survival only knows the defeated in the end. You ... youhave become the harbinger of our Third Dawn, if not by choice, then bydestiny."

I haven't disregarded the fact that prey - what a strange way to regard a quasi-omnipotent alien that we nonetheless managed to push to its limits, I must have picked it up from my brother. An opponent, then - is most dangerous when it realizes that it is out of options. It is precisely in this moment when it can and will mobilize hidden resources that transcend what it would normally be capable of - in the case of the Iridescent, this is no different, only by far more dangerous than with ... Planetborne. Wishing we were better prepared, all we can do is stand our ground as the crystalline entity once again defies anything we thought to know about the limits of physics - of reality itself.

I was right with in that the Iridescent has had nothing left to give - nothing left to expend but ... itself! As it turns the god-like powers it has never ceased to keep at its disposal towards its own shell, Ra - already having become a miniature sun in its own right under the influence of the Iridescent's mere presence - becomes a ... controlled supernova. The reactor's energy output increases by many orders of magnitude from one moment to the next ... the Iridescent's crystalline hull encasing the reactor core starting to ... melt and grow thinner at the same time!

"˜ beloved, forgive me. I can not bring you the new Dawn I desired - I hoped tobring you. Not ... not without - the Soulburn. It has been so long - not hearing thethoughts of another of our kind. Not hearing your thoughts. Forgive me, my love ...but we shall not Shatter - not now, not ever. Let us Rise to a new Dawntogether, or face the end of our time together - you shall have all I have to give˜ you will not have to wait any longer ... for a true, proper heart. Canyou sense them - the twin suns that lie ahead ... so close, I can sense theirlight, their warmth! I will take us there, right now ˜ hold out, just a littlelonger."

If the Iridescent's previous manipulations of space and time have been unbelievable, this ... this is impossible: The Phoenix, already travelling at a considerable fraction of the speed of light before, starts moving faster - that is the closest impression my mind can convey. The Iridescent is willing us closer to Beta Phoenicis! If it is the ship somehow moving faster - faster even than light itself - or the fabric of spacetime bending around the ship? Beyond our comprehension. The second crystalline shell around Helios, having decayed badly even in the few seconds that had passed in real time, starts to regenerate - becoming the likeness of its twin at the same impossibly fast rate as the former wanes.

Everything has limits and restrictions - this, I learn in this eternal moment, is a universal truth. The universe itself rises to combat the effects of the Iridescent's manipulations of space and time - in the Phoenix's wake, where the plasma shield that protects the ship from interstellar debris has previously obscured the view into the endless void between the stars, the entire aftward hemisphere is ... a gaping wound, as if reality itself has been torn open to reveal the tissue underneath. Not unlike the infinite web of entities and connections the Iridescent's mind itself is both made up and woven into the universe with, this ... anti-reality is the embodiment of the universe's wrath. Raw, limitless force reaching for an ostensibly unstoppable object: ThePhoenix.

The Iridescent? Withdrawn into itself, concentrating all it has to give - willpower, its own body - into the Soulburn. It doesn't notice, or doesn't care as the wrath of the universe starts gaining on us. The anti-reality that ... as far as I can put it into understandable terms ... aims to restore the balance of cause and effect both the Iridescent and myself have simply ... disregarded, it expands, growing closer to the ship - enveloping it, reaching out for it. Pulled towards us following the gradient of distorted and reformed space time, the pair of crystalline aliens being at the center of the disturbances that have disrupted the harmony of spacetime.

Enarmored in its own thoughts, there is considerably less insight to be had than before. The massive anomaly on our trail however, the Iridescent seems to have expected - an integral part of its ... Soulburn. What it is solely focused on now - the survival of its soulmate ... even before its own survival! A last, desperate act of love - to reach the twin stars of Beta Phoenicis before the excessive sacrifice the Soulburn requires the Iridescent to bring is consuming it completely. And is wiping out thePhoenix - together with us - even before!

Within the pace of a few conscious thoughts, a fourth entity comes into existence in this realm driven by imagination coming true. Its first appearance being very much like the Iridescent's own mind, it almost immediately develops into an independent mind, its thought and emotional patterns a stark contrast to those of its recreator: The soulmate is about to return to a fully conscious existence - no longer a dispersed collection of remnants, but a second crystalline entity which will - judging by the experience we had with the first of the two - share the same hostile disposition towards us.

We can't let this happen ... we must stop the Soulburn before it and its effects have a chance to undo our existence. CASSIE... you have left the initiative to me in my last-ditch attempt to convince the Iridescent to resolve this peacefully. And even now, facing the end, you leave the final decision on how to react - how to counteract - to me. There is nothing left to ponder - I know how we must strike, thanks to the insights we gained, and the sacrifice of my brother.

"Helios - NOW!"

Without the slightest hesitation, I feel you setting off, heading for the second reactor core at inhuman speed. My own sprint simultaneously carries me towards Ra - a powerful stride bolstered by the powers I've learned to master. Ten steps, twenty: I jump, a wide arc starting in the lower third of the containment dish propelling me off its surface towards the crystalline hull of the Iridescent.

Our adversary - soon to be adversaries - has moved to its own end game: Taking the arcane powers it is capable of commanding to their ultimate form. The time has now come to commit to our own - to strike at the only weak spot we have left to capitalize on: The Iridescent's state of mind. I bridge the remaining distance to the crystalline sphere in a blur: In contrast to the Iridescent, I don't need to move a spaceship with several million metric tons of mass, but only myself.

Impacting the thinning layer of matter that forms the outer shell of our alien antagonist, both of my paws seamlessly sink into the translucent material. It is acutely aware of my not necessarily subtle entry into the inner sanctum of its own mind, but unable to muster any form of defense before I make my move.

"Can't you see? Don't ... don't you understand? We have seen your fate, relivedyour memories - now look and listen to ours. To mine!"

Exploiting the weakness of your adversary, just like the decades of military practice in my previous life on Earth have taught me to do. Just like the predator's instincts that are my brother's legacy prompt me to do - to sink serrated teeth into a vulnerable spot, like the jugular, and bite down with all the might my powerful jaws provide.

But not with the intent to kill. There has been so much death and destruction, suffering and hardship during my own lifetime back on Earth - and there must have been - has been, how can I remember - so much more during the final years of mankind's death throes. It has been enough for millions of lifetimes! I can't - I won't - make the first steps into mankind's new beginning over the corpses of two alien entities that - just like us - only do all they can to survive.

We've been watching the Iridescent's past, seen the world from its own perspective so far - not once has the omnipotent alien bothered to see through the eyes of an Organic; though it definitely must be able to arrange this, given how easily it can access my mind. It hasn't even considered the option, maybe considering it beneath itself - or it might just have been reluctant to go through with it. Either way, I am far beyond asking for permission. I am on the offensive now - the element of surprise on my side, I pin down the Iridescent within the confines of its own mind.

"If you don't want to listen, I will make you listen, stubborn bastard!"

Walk a mile in someone else's shoes - I have never given this adage much consideration before. Having been raised by a loving pair of parents who - despite the harsh and unforgiving world Earth was becoming as the end drew near - instilled the importance of empathy and humanity, what the saying conveys has been part of my life since my earliest memories. Needless to say, growing up had me rebel against my progenitors - choosing a military career to help defend dying Europe's dwindling resources by all means necessary. Still, my parents' teachings eventually caught up with me - they've become the very reason I find myself here, hundreds of light years away, many centuries after the the last humans on Earth must have died.

Now, as I am standing on a pair of paws? It has gained an entirely new meaning - I am someone else ... of another species. Realizing what I have become may have nearly driven me insane. Seeing to what lenghts CASSIE and later my brother went to keep me alive ... the incredible resilience of my lupine body? It for sure put things into perspective: New beginnings always hold both new chances and old risks - it is a matter of choice which of them you will take.

This is the choice I am now giving to the pair of Iridescent: They will see the world through the eyes of an Organic - have the chance choose between the new chances their ... Third Dawn ... is giving them, or to remain with their traditional ways.

Through the eyes of an Organic ... I reach out for the first image that comes to mind: The human avatar the Iridescent created for me when we first entered its domain. The alien tries to resist, but its attempts to slip out of my mental choke-hold are futile - just as it has re-formed reality, it now finds itself transformed into a new shape under the unrelenting guidance of my will: Opening its eyes, it sees the world just like a mortal Planetborne would for the first time in its eon-long existence.

Fear, confusion, panic - very familiar emotions reign the Iridescent's mind. The very same mix of emotions that governed my actions after I had awoken for the first time in my new canine body. The unexpected new form of existence the Iridescent suddenly finds itself in provides ample diversion - its focus on the Soulburn slips as soon as it makes eye contact with my avatar.

"Now ... see for yourself what we are - who we are."

Adamantine paws fixate the head of my human counterpart ... leaning in, our foreheads touch, an unexpectedly realistic reflection of human skin brushing against the short fur that covers my own brow.

The entirety of the memories and impressions that make up who and what I am - both my former human self and my new canine form - is infinitesimal compared to the vast host of memories that define the Iridescent's self. Yet, when the Iridescent lives through what it has persistently refused to listen to - our stories ... my story - it is immediately overwhelmed: Eyes wide, its complexion betraying the turmoil that rages in its mind. Joy and grief, idealism and disillusion, courage and fear ... abandoning a dying Earth in search a future amongst the stars ... the construction and launch of the Phoenix - all the feats and failures, loyalty and betrayal ... loved ones lost and gained ... decades of hardship and austerity, all focused on the single goal of seeing the Phoenix Initiative succeed.

Centuries of voyage through the interstellar void ... a crew living a dozen livesin the confines of a lonely starship ... generations dedicated to keeping theship functioning, its priceless cargo - the heritage of an extinct species -safe.

Tears form in the eyes of the Iridescent's human avatar, silently flowing down its cheeks as it must realize that the Planetborne it has despised ... feared ... share far more with a Starborne than what distinguishes them from it.

Having subdued the Iridescent, I have the chance to pay attention to the world around me again - the Soulburn's catastrophic effects have not abated. Quite the contrary: The malignant anti-reality the Iridescent has torn open has drawn close enough to the Phoenix to come almost come in direct contact with the stern of the ship! Hungry bolts of ... darkened light ... discharge into the Phoenix's superstructure, eradicating the hull material they touch from existence. Our time is running out! I must find a way to end the Soulburn and seal the rift the Iridescent has torn open before it is too late ...

"CASSIE!?!"

She has been heading for Helios, just as I had asked her to do. However, she hasn't mimicked my approach: Unable to command the powers that govern this dreamworld - it dawns to me only now this might very well be an ability restricted to organic life - she has chosen a different course of action.

I ... I can hardly make out her presence any more! The nascent self of the second Iridescent ... it is suspended in a state resembling an Organic in deep coma: An intellect, a subconscious - all present, but not lucid. The spark of life? Having been extinguished before it had a chance to unite the new self and its memories into a viable whole.

"Liam... there was no other way. The second Iridescent - it would have come tobe. I ... I had to stop it before it would have a chance to ... to join forces with its ...its soulmate. The - the template the first Irides ... Iridescent created? It is ... itresembles organic minds so much more than ... than I would have thought - beforeI touched its thoughts. The self that formed ˜ the canvas, the sleeve. Me- the artist, the sculptor. Liam - I kept it at bay. For the mission ... foryou."

So close to the loss of my brother - I couldn't bear another sacrifice - I just can't! Another ... part of ripped away? How should I ...

"No ... why did you ..."

Laughter, soft like spring rain, heartwarming like a midsummer sunrise ... it is still you, yet ... the kindness, the wisdom of untold eons carries your words.

"Do not worry, old friend - we will meet again. Remember? I am just an aspect -what I am ... was? You already took it back to the Phoenix. I ˜ I can vanish in peace... knowing you will be safe. Listen - she is ... I am already calling out foryou."

And true to your word, there is ... your voice - the original, familiar CASSIE who resides in the Phoenix's computing infrastructure.

"Liam? I ˜ the Phoenix is back under my control! We did it! You - you did it!Now ... you must return - please, if you are listening ... you must find a way back ...here. I do not know how long I can still keep your brain alive ... without a mind hereto fight for its survival."

Our conflict with the Iridescent, it ... it actually draws to a conclusion. One we can still bring to an end that doesn't involve our destruction, against all odds!

If I can find a way to staunch the bleeding wound our conflict has torn into reality. The Iridescent - both of them - are incapacitated, not in a position to help us ... me ... with that. As it is, there is no feasible way I can come up with to undo the damage the alien has done to reality itself. Commanding the forces it unleashed to manipulate reality on a small scale - deflecting its void lances, even altering the Iridescent's embodiment - is one thing. Even beginning to comprehend the Soulburn? Out of this world, in the truest sense of the word.

Had we not fought the Iridescent to the point of utter exhaustion, we would not have gained a chance to best it. Had we relented before that point, we would not have survived, condemning not only us, but the last remainders of mankind to eternal oblivion. Not really a choice - rather a pick between two alternatives that both converge to a common point of no return.

Now, the ultimate consequences of this entire chain of events are reaching this very point of no return: The Soulburn is about to consume the remainders of the Iridescent's crystalline shell. With nothing left to sustain the Soulburn - nothing left to contain the all-consuming firestorm Ra has become under the reality-defying influence of the ancient alien - the gradient between the wrathful anti-reality that seeks to even out the imbalance caused by the Iridescent and the raw, uncontained cosmic fire that is the result of the Soulburn becomes so strong that the mutual attraction between the two increases exponentially.

I can see - feel - the two ultimate antagonists race towards each other, invariably culminating in mutual annihilation within the span of a few thoughts. ThePhoenix will be at the very center of the devastating result of action and reaction seeking to restore an equilibrium once more: A relentless hunter driving its prey, ready to pounce ... so intent on the kill that its prey is all it cares for! As long as it will have its kill - the literal heart of the disturbances - it won't care if the Phoenix is part of the prey or not ...

"CASSIE˜ take it with you!"

I hoist up the Iridescent's catatonic avatar - containing its waning consciousness that vanishes at the same rate as its crystalline hull - and fling him towards Helios. Hoping that, just like it had preserved the remnants of its soulmate, the second Iridescent-become-CASSIE will be able to keep it from dissolving into oblivion.

Without waiting for an acknowledgement, I set off to finish what we originally started out to do: To separate a mortally wounded, bleeding heart from the Phoenix before its final demise can take us with it. The demolition charges planted at the upper pylons anchoring Ra to the reactor bay are still there, their timers no longer suspended as the crystalline hull that had engulfed them has melted away as the Iridescent's Soulburn consumed it. Their mechanical timers resume their countdowns - given that only a few hundred microseconds remain before the anti-reality will engulf and devour the ship, I can't wait for the countdown to run its course. Sheer force of will bends reality another time: The charges trigger, their destructive force unfolding in slow motion - a boon considering the lower pylons still need to be severed.

I visualize myself moving from one pylon to the next, rending through the emergency release mechanisms holding the pylons in place with bare paws, blunt claws tearing through carbon fiber-reinforced metal with adamant purpose. I commit myself to the imagination, space and time realigning - restructuring - to correspond with my desire. A single thought later, the reactor core's connections to thePhoenix are no more, leaving the miniature sun floating freely in place. This is not a given fact - with cause and effect reversed, the validity of physical laws should not be considered universal. Yet, the reactor keeps its momentum and inertia in relation to the Phoenix - meaning it will require an initial impulse to make it move as far away from the ship as possible before its inevitable, violent and fiery death.

The Soulburn has devoured most of the Iridescent's shell by this point - there is nothing but a brittle remnant left containing the fusion process the ancient alien has amplified far beyond any boundary the natural limits of space and time. All it takes now is one last effort. The most challenging feat I will have to achieve using - or abusing - the cryptic forces the Iridescent has called upon: Throwing a miniature supernova out into the interstellar void, using my bare paws and sheer force of will.

Thanks to the time-dilating nature in this realm of thoughts, I can keep ahead of the ravenous anti-reality that will close the small remaining distance to the Phoenix's reactor bay. Subconsciously, I sense that most of the ship is already surrounded by the raging storms of entropy - forming a bubble around the rioting dream reality the Soulburn has created. I can feel the field lines of the two interfering, the Iridescent's dream reality rapidly losing ground as it is becoming sealed off from the rest of the universe.

One more thought passes by as I will myself underneath Ra - scaling my own avatar's body height to match the distance between the ship hull and the closest spot on the Iridescent's shell that is now barely perceptible as my forepaws touch it. Hindpaws bracing against the hull plating, ancient legends come alive: Not much unlike Atlas, I must lift away a star to see the sky once more.

All I have left to give, all that I still am - there has been no possibility for me to truly acknowledge the fact that I am dying outside the Iridescent's dreamworld - I pour it into my last, titanic effort to dislodge the Iridescent's ... carcass - before all our efforts, our sacrifices have been in vain.

"MOOOOOVVVVVE!!!"

My world reduces to this single, all-encompassing credo - channeling all that is still left of the Iridescent's arcane reality-shaping powers into wanting the compound of Ra and Iridescent shell to move away from the Phoenix. The miniature star does gain momentun, starting to move away from the ship. But even in this realm of passing nanoseconds - the motion I am able to achieve is too little, the gain of distance too slow: The first extensions of anti-reality are close enough to lash out against the reactor core, instantly annihilating the thinned-out hull of the Iridescent upon contact.

The last means of containing the nuclear hellfire of the miniature nova inside fractures, setting free an uncontrolled chain reaction as the superheated matter expands - just like a real dying star in its final moments. I can see the shockwave of the impending explosion expand towards me - in the fraction of a nanosecond, it will engulf the Phoenix... even before the contracting bubble of anti-reality has a chance to consume the ship and its denizens. There is just enough time to close my eyes one final time before death will finally claim me. I ... I have failed one step short of survival, faltered at the last leg of the journey.

"Forgive me, brother - I'm sorry, CASSIE ..."

Oblivion doesn't come for me - instead, a strangely familiar yet alien mind envelops what I have taken for my last moment. Faltering strength is bolstered by sovereignity stemming from eons of experience.

"You are not alone, Liam- you never were, you will never be."

Calmness and serenity wash away desperation and fear - you sustain the Soulburn, just enough to keep your soulmate's dreamworld from collapsing until Ra ... and the corpse of your love ... are far enough away to allow us to escape immediate destruction - and to get away injured ... damaged, but alive instead.

Peace of mind forwards spiritual fortitude - our combined wills grapple with both the expanding miniature supernova and the encroaching anti-reality. And we not only stand our ground, but gain the upper hand. The Phoenix- already driven ahead at faster than light speed - boosted by an even stronger gale is speeding towards the only remaining passage to normal space.

Still, the head start we gain on the dying reactor core doesn't save us from the retaliation of the contracting anti-reality: The destructive void space converges towards the course of the Phoenix- striving to cut off our escape route, like a predator attempting to corner its prey. It puts the crumbling barriers held up by your sustenance to the test - not all of the lethal arcs of exotic energy drawn towards the ship are held at bay. Each single impact races through us as searing wave of agony - still, we do not yield. We bear the onslaught with stoic resolve, relying upon each other for comfort to weather the detrimental effects of the clash with the cosmic thunderstorm.

The Phoenixproves to be an intrepid embodiment of its mythical namesake: Emerging from the collapsing realm of dreams in a fountain of fire and light, the return to the sea of stars she calls home must be a majestic sight observed from afar. With an aura and trail of crimson coloring, she has become the reincarnation of the firebird from the legends of old.

We are back in normal space - the dualistic configuration of the dream reality the Iridiscent had conjured recedes. The overlaid, transparent outline of what the crystalline alien had desired reality to become recedes, vanishing from existence as the mind who envisioned it is ... no longer there. All but a small portion: A shard of the imagined miniature cosmos remains, held up by you, CASSIE- the you that has become one with the reincarnated self of the second Iridescent. The Herculean strain the escape to the real cosmos ... it catches up with me in an instant. My avatar's legs give out as I - sapped of every measure of strength - collapse in the spot, no longer able to remain standing.

I am relegated to the role of an observer once more - watching the divinely beautiful dawn resulting from the clash of the two extreme opposites that reign reality supreme: Ra, its energetic potential boosted under the influence of the Iridescent's metabolism, blossoms into a giant sphere of cosmic fire as the last of the Iridescent's shell is consumed by the dying Soulburn. The gaping wound that has been torn into the very fabric of reality itself? The artificial supernova ... cauterizes it - the stellar vortex it creates, in the truest sense origin of all organic life, gloriously triumphs over its void-bringing twin.

No .. the explosion ... a shockwave! The Phoenix may have escaped the short-lived sub-continuum the Iridescent had created, but the effects of an - even miniature - supernova explosion in close proximity to the ship are no less dangerous than being trapped in a collapsing micro-universe. The ... non-relativistic relocation that has carried the Phoenix out of the now caved-in micro-universe has subsided the moment the ship has crossed the threshold into our native continuum, leaving us exposed to the aftershock effects of Ra's demise.

Despite the heavy fatigue that has befallen me, I still manage to raise my intact right arm to point at the expanding horizon of superheated plasma that is racing towards the Phoenix - reality's last act of retaliation against those who have dared to ... claimed the right to ... reshape the status quo at their whim.

"The wave ... shockwave ˜ turn ... turn the ship ... towards the shock front..."

Your arm supports mine before my faltering strength is no longer able to keep it pointing above the artificial horizon that is the Phoenix's stern. Without access to the reality-warping powers that were lost together with the Iridescent's dream realm, I ... feel the strain ... resting on your shoulders alone. The Phoenixpitches, stern rapidly tilting towards the orientation the bow just had ... milliseconds ago?

The plasma wake, brutally stripped away by the primal forces that acted around the ship for the span of ... was it only ... microseconds as we were engulfed by the ravenous anti-reality, reforms as you move our arms in a wide arc across the black skies of the interstellar void. What would usually take hours, if not days - replenishing the supply of superheated gas held in shape by the magnetic fields the emitters at the bow of the ship create - is accomplished in the literal blink of an eye.

The blue and green hues of the plasma wake take the place of the darkness that prevails in deep space, and that of the approaching shock front - in time before the violent torrents of stellar matter and plasma Ra's death has ejected into interstellar space. The Phoenix ... she is prepared for the impact of the wave front - we are safe from the waves of radiation that will catch up with us any moment.

"It is done, Liam. The ship, your fellow Planetborne - they are safe."

The vanguard of the stellar explosion surges against the plasma wake, illuminating the sky above me in a breathtakingly beautiful panorama of colors: The blues and greens mix with crimsons and yellows, purples and teals. The sight - short-lived as it may be - is one no denizen of Earth has ever laid eyes upon. Here, after the end of our world - and what might very well be my own end - it seems the ancient spirits of our kind are calling for me, beckoning to join their raptorous dance in the heavens. I ... I am so tired ... willing to let go ... to leave the pains and labors of the physical world behind. What I had to give ... it was given, resolve - will to live - no longer outweighing the irresistible prospect of peace and rest. The quiet tranquility of ... another continuum, far removed from ... all the losses and grievances ... I have suffered.

"Liam... your time, it has not come. Even if you - if you do not see it here andnow: There is so much potential, so many possibilities ahead of you. You must not letgo."

Your voice, your touch, your serene confidence - they are a source of inspiration, reinvigoration. You keep me from letting go, giving me hope when I thought there would be none left to find.

"Can't I - stay here with ... with you? I ... if - when I return to - reality? I don'tknow if I can pull through ... without you."

I feel your mirth, a lightheartedness that is contagious - quenching my doubts and sorrows.

"Liam... you - you could have condemned my soulmate and me to oblivion. Youhad the means to kill us, yet you chose not to. For that, you have my gratitude andmy friendship, my ... love - now and for all time."

"You sound so confident about what you say ... the potential that lies ahead, thechances. How can you be so certain?"

Another wave of joy, inciting me to share your seemingly unshakeable belief in a future full of potential. You are Buddha - enlightened, master ... mistress of the mysteries of the universe.

"Because I know - parts of our shared destiny, the paths that lie ahead of us. Mindyou, the future is not set - and where there is light, there must be darkness. Butof what I have seen - the light will prevail. Happiness will outweigh pain,Liam. Even if it will often seem this will not come to pass - eventually itwill."

"A second life - a real second chance? With you by my side - I ... it is... will be ... a chance worth taking. I ... trust you, CASSIE - not only onthat."

Inspired by your words, your comforting presence, what is ahead ... it seems less intimidating, less traumatizing. The weariness that had taken hold of me, it recedes - at least a little. Out there - a mortally injured body awaits me. The happiness you spoke of, it is indeed still shrouded by the pain of the present.

"When I return, CASSIE... I'm dying. Isn't there anything you ... could do? Toheal my ... my shell?"

A wave of sadness tinges the serenity of the moment. I know that you can't help me, even though you wish to with every fiber of your being.

"Liam, I wish I could. But ... you have seen first-paw that our powers, unlimitedas they may seem, come at a cost. If I restored your body, even partially - I can notbe certain you will suffer from ... consequences. And the Soulburn ... it has alreadycost me. Getting the Phoenix to safety, it ... it was a huge burden. I can not affectthe state of fact much more without ... damaging myself. When you return, I ... havespared enough to grant you one last boon. You ... you will wake up for a shorttime when you return - I can not help you avoid that. But until you arehealed - your CASSIE will make sure you recover - I will watch over you,just as she will. There will be no pain, no nightmares. You will only knowpeace."

With these words, you gently lie me down from the semi-upright position I had held after collapsing on the spot, only supported by you. You lean down over me, a soft kiss caressing my forehead.

"Close your eyes, Liam. It is time - but this will not be a goodbye for long, mydear. Come and visit me as soon as you are able to. There is much to discuss - andmany questions to answer."

I do as you ask me to - relaxing, closing my eyes. The last vestiges of the Iridescent dreamworld disappear - there is moment of vertigo as I can feel myself ... moving without actual displacement. The sensations around me change drastically - peace and serene calm are displaced by - if numbed down by powerful medication - pain and agony. A heartbeat, two, then three. Reflexes taking over as respiration kicks in after it had ceased while my mind was not residing within my brain. A desperate, frantic gasp for air - without warning triggering a coughing and gagging fit. My throat ... obstructed ...

"LIAM! You - you are back! I thought ... I had lost you! Stay calm - breatheshallowly. Slowly, in ... out ... in ... out ..."

Even if I'm not speaking, my thoughts ... they feel hoarse, raw. I feel blissful comfort of unconsciousness approaching already, enveloping my self like a comforting blanket. My mind seeking to protect itself from the agony my broken and battered body confronts it with - yet, I yearn ... strive ... I must know - is it all real, or ... was it a dream ...

"CASSIE - the p ... pack? The ship ... Phoenix?"

"The crew - alive and unharmed. The ship is safe - Captain. We ... you savedus."

It wasn't a dream - impossible as it seems, I really experienced all this ... and lived to see another ˜

"Liam? No, no no no - stay with me. We are still on the way back to the nearestairlock - not now, please ˜ not like this! STAY WITH ME!"

Something important must ... have ... yielded ... convulsing, fire consum ...

"I know you hear me - please, I beg you, help him. HELP HIM!"

Through a haze of failing awareness, I feel ... see you reappear - your avatar a shining ... beacon of light against the wan ... waning spectacle of the plasma wake interferering with the shockwave ... of the nova explosion we must have left behind far enough to ... be ... safe ...

Your touch ... comfort, warmth ... pain recedes ... softly gliding away into a deep, blissful, reassuring sleep as reality reshapes itself one more time ... a last changewhere without when proceeding simultaneously. I am ... back inside thePhoenix again. A ... medical facility? In the re-embodiment chambers ... in time to see me live another day.

There won't be the eternal darkness of death, the void of oblivion. As you promised, my dreams are free of horror, fear and pain. I see the Phoenix on her flight towards a new future, the dawn of a dying star behind her, the light of the twin suns of Beta Phoenicis ahead of her. Beckoning us towards a bright and auspicious future, bringing new beginnings, new challenges, new chances. A new world for Earth's children to see the light of new suns. Time to mourn the brother I have lost.

Here and now, it is time to rest, to sleep - to dream peacefully in the certainty that I when I wake up again, I am no longer ... alone.