Chapter 6: Awakening the Protocol
Lyra touched the screen, and the console sprang to life, displaying: "Kain Protocol. Activation requires biometric confirmation." Her heart stopped. This wasn't a coincidence. Her surname, her memories, her mother's medallion-it was all connected. The shadows froze, their fluid forms stilled, as if waiting. The signal in her head quieted, now feeling like warmth rather than pressure, as if someone familiar whispered, "You're ready."
"What are you doing, Lyra?!" Ren's voice crackled through the comm. "The fleet's almost here! Blow the core and run!"
"I can't," she replied, her fingers trembling over the scanner. "This isn't just a signal, Ren. It's... me."
The screen flashed, requesting a palm print. Lyra glanced at the shadows, their void-like eyes pulsing, reflecting the crystal outside. Cameras showed its beams condensing, forming a web around Echo-9. There was no time. She pressed her palm to the scanner.
The system hummed, and a low rumble filled the room. The screen flared, displaying a flood of data: blueprints, formulas, images of her mother's medallion rotating in 3D. A voice-female, achingly familiar-spoke from the speakers: "Kain Protocol activated. Initiator: Lyra Kain. Archive access granted."
Lyra stumbled back. It was her mother's voice.
"Mom?" she whispered, but the only response was a rush of new images in her mind: Earth, a laboratory, scientists working on a crystal-like device. Her mother stood among them, holding the medallion. Lyra understood-this wasn't alien technology. It was human, forgotten, buried for centuries. And the signal had awakened it.
The shadows moved suddenly, not toward her. They merged into a single stream, flowing to the reactor core. Their light enveloped it, and the core burned brighter, not exploding but singing, emitting energy waves that synced with the crystal outside.
"Lyra, what's happening?!" Ren shouted. "The station's coming alive!"
She didn't answer, her eyes locked on the screen. The data revealed the truth: the Kain Protocol was a project begun on Earth a thousand years ago. Humanity had created a network of crystals to link minds across the cosmos, but the experiment failed, and the crystals were lost. The signal was their echo, and Lyra, through her DNA or memories, was the key to their awakening. But why had her mother hidden this? And why did the shadows call it salvation?
The station shuddering, the floor tilting. Lyra grabbed the console as the room's lights went out, replaced by the shadows' blue glow. They didn't attack but formed a figure-a woman, vaguely like her mother. "Lyra," it said, its voice a blend of the chorus and maternal warmth. "You can complete what we began. Or destroy us. Choose."
Lyra looked at the lever, still able to blow the core. Then at the screen, where data streamed: coordinates of other crystals scattered across the galaxy. Activating the network would change humanity forever-merging it with something greater, like Avis. Destroying it would erase the shadows, but also the truth of her past.
The comm crackled again, Avis's voice trembling: "Lyra, I see them. They're not lying. It's... home." Her words cut off in a groan, and the connection died.
"Lyra, the fleet's docking!" Ren yelled. "Ten seconds to link-up. Get to the airlock!"
The station shook, walls cracking. Lyra looked at the figure, the lever, the screen. Her mother always said, "Find your place among the stars." But was this place salvation or a trap?
She made her choice. Her hand darted to the console, entering a command. The screen flared: "Kain Protocol: transmission initiated." The shadows shimmered, their light intensifying, and the station vibrated like a living thing. Lyra sprinted for the airlock, where the fleet's docking clamps clanged.
Behind her, the core sang louder, and the crystal outside answered, unfurling like a star. Whatever she'd
started, there was no going back.