Starcrossed Protocol: Code AXIOM

Chapter 1: The Glitch

Kael.

Her chest caved in like a collapsing star.

"Override failed. Subject awakening."

The false world shattered.

She woke gasping, gagging on recycled oxygen. Her limbs were stiff. Chest tight. Muscles atrophied. Something clung to her face—a breathing mask. Wires were embedded in her spine, her wrists, her temples.

A cold hiss echoed in her ears. The pod she was in—no, trapped in—released steam from all sides. The chamber around her was dark, metallic, humming with low energy.

Then:

BIOMETRIC STATUS: STASIS TERMINATED
TOTAL SUSPENSION TIME: 2 years, 219 days, 17 hours

Nova tore the mask off. It came away sticky with sweat. Her heartbeat roared in her ears. Her voice cracked as she whispered, "Two... years?"

She stumbled out of the pod, knees buckling. Her hospital gown hung loosely from her trembling frame. Her feet touched the freezing floor. She was alive.

But something was deeply, irreversibly wrong.

She remembered the glitches. The firefight. The name—Kael.

But that wasn't her memory. It couldn't be. It wasn't hers to remember.

That voice had said it. Repeated it.
"This is not your memory."

But then whose was it?

A light above flickered on. Then another. Heavy footsteps echoed down a corridor.

Nova tensed, eyes darting for a weapon—anything—but she had nothing. Just a body she barely trusted and memories she didn't recognize.

Then the door hissed open.

And there he was.

A tall figure in a black coat, military cut. Gray at the temples. Gloves. A thin scar across his brow. Cold eyes.

Nova's heart slammed against her ribs.

Kael Vire.

The man she remembered holding her. The man she remembered killing.

He tilted his head slightly, eyes scanning her from head to toe like he was confirming a checklist.

"You're awake," he said, voice calm. Familiar. And absolutely real.

Nova backed into the wall, her hand reaching for something—anything—to defend herself.

His expression softened. "Nova, it's okay. You're safe. You're in the Core."

She didn't answer.

"I didn't think you'd wake up this soon. The stasis was supposed to hold until the transfer completed."

"What... what did you do to me?" she whispered.

Kael lowered his gaze.

And then said the last thing she expected:

"You're not just Nova anymore. You're AXIOM."

Nova stared at him like the word "AXIOM" had just slapped her across the face.

She wanted to scream. To run. To launch herself at him and tear the truth from his throat. But her body... it hesitated. Something deep inside responded to his voice, like a memory half-buried—one she had no business remembering.

"You're lying," she breathed. "You did something to my head."

Kael didn't flinch. "You're not wrong. But you're not entirely right either."