The cockpit lights dimmed. A soft blue pulse moved through the interior like a heartbeat returning after a long sleep.
Ethan sat motionless as the voice repeated—clearer this time, less fragmented but still laced with something old. Worn.
"Ash-born. Flame-walker. You are not the one I knew… but you carry his memory."
Aelira's hand hovered near her weapon, eyes narrowed. "Is the ship... talking?"
"Yeah," Ethan said quietly. "I think it's been waiting a long time to do it."
A spiral of light shimmered in the air, then condensed into a floating geometric construct—a semi-solid glyphic interface, its center shaped like a burning eye wrapped in sigils. The voice came through it now, smoother, almost feminine but distorted at the edges.
"Designation: Wraithling. Last command input: 'Sleep until contact is made by legacy bearer.'Neural imprint: Inconclusive. Partial match: 61%.Query: Are you Kaelen Varros?"
Ethan blinked. "I… was. Kind of. It's complicated."
The glyph spun once, processing.
"Identity fragmented. Memory threads severed. No override detected.Acknowledging new command bearer: Ethan Cross.Designation granted: Ghostwake.Binding process resuming. AI core integrity at 43%. Stand by for integration protocols."
The light dimmed slightly as if the ship was thinking. Or remembering.
Aelira crossed her arms, leaning against the cockpit wall. "It called you Ghostwake. What does that mean?"
"I think it's a name," Ethan said slowly. "Or a title."
"It is both," the voice answered. "The last Ghostwake was a slayer of stars. A breaker of beasts. The one who hunted the Unnamed at the edge of the void. You wear his shell… but your soul is different."
That chill Ethan felt wasn't just from altitude.
"What happened to him?" he asked.
"He died. Or changed. Or escaped. The story fractures there. I have only fragments songs sung by dying AIs, echoes from black boxes long since consumed.But you hold a thread. You are tethered to the Path."
Ethan's mind spun. Was this why the System offered him the ship? Was the Wraithling not a random reward but preordained?
"Your System is an echo of his. You walk a similar road, though the stars have shifted.I will assist. I will remember. And if the day comes where the last doors openI will burn with you again."
The light flared, and for a moment, Ethan saw something behind it's a memory not his own.
A man standing on the surface of a dead world, cloak whipping in a solar storm, his hand raised toward a descending leviathan with wings of metal and flame. Not running. Not praying.
Calling it down.
Then it was gone.
"Core sync complete," the ship said softly. "Welcome aboard, Ghostwake."
Later – The Wraithling's Interior
Ethan and Aelira moved through the main corridor, the ship's lighting adjusting to their presence. It wasn't large—four main rooms, sleek and functional: cockpit, living quarters, engine core, and what appeared to be a data vault lined with sealed ports and a crystalline growth in the center.
"Ship's got bite," Aelira said, peering into a recessed weapons locker. "Void-laced scattershots. Phase javelins. One of these could take down a minor beast solo."
Ethan nodded, distracted by a blinking light on the crystalline core.
[Recovered Memory Node: 1 of 7 Available.][Access?]
He hesitated.
Seven memories. Seven fragments of the ship's—and possibly the Ghostwake's—past.
He touched the interface. The air shimmered, and a holographic scene flickered to life in the air.
A cold void station. Lights flickering. A battle inside—figures in ancient armor clashing with creatures half-machine, half-beast. And in the middle, a figure wielding a spear of pure data-light.
Then static. It ended.
Ethan turned to Aelira. "Whatever this ship was… it was part of something big. I think we were meant to find it."
She nodded slowly. "Then we find out what the hell it wants. And where it's taking us."