The ship glided through the vacuum of space, the landmass of their world shrinking beneath them. It was an image that none of them had expected—an unbroken supercontinent, vast as Pangea reborn, stretching across the surface of the planet with no other landmasses in sight. Leonardo da Vinci pressed a hand to the viewing port, her keen mind racing through the implications.
"This changes everything," she murmured, her violet eyes reflecting the planet below.
Dr. Dew stared in silence, processing the sheer scale of what they had just confirmed. "We've barely explored one percent of it. We thought we understood this world, but we were only scratching the surface."
Paracelsus adjusted his gloves, his expression pensive. "It suggests that much of this world remains untouched. What we have seen is a fraction of its true nature."
Their thoughts lingered for a moment longer before the ship's trajectory brought them closer to their true objective. The barren, cratered surface of the moon loomed ahead, lifeless and waiting.
The plan was simple in concept but offered no room for error.
1. Build the mining station and reinforce a preliminary mineshaft.
2. Place the G.E.C.K.s to initiate the moon's transformation.
3. Leave before the terraformation process begins.
4. Activate the G.E.C.K.s remotely from orbit and wait.
5. Retrieve the Erchius crystal, escape the Erchius Ghost, and activate the force field generator before Dew was caught.
If they failed at step five, Dew would die instantly.
The ship touched down, and the three stepped onto the moon's surface, clad in Titanium Glitch Power Armor. The EPP backpacks ensured a steady supply of oxygen, but the oppressive silence of the void reminded them how little margin for error they had.
With the Matter Manipulator in hand, they worked quickly. Metallic walls rose from the dust, corridors extended into the lunar rock, and a sturdy foundation took shape within the hour. The mine shaft was reinforced, prepared for future excavation.
With the station secured, they spread out to deploy the G.E.C.K.s, placing them in key locations. The devices activated with a soft hum, invisible forces already rewriting the moon's geological structure.
The final device was set, and they launched back into orbit.
Now came the waiting.
From space, they watched the moon's surface shift, a silent ripple marking the beginning of its transformation. Paracelsus monitored the readings. "The process is proceeding as calculated. Erchius deposits will begin forming shortly."
Leonardo exhaled, crossing her arms. "Then comes the real test."
Dew tightened his gloves. "The Erchius crystal will form soon. That's when I go in."
Leonardo frowned. "And when the Ghost appears."
Paracelsus turned to him. "Are you prepared for this?"
Dew offered a small smirk. "As I'll ever be."
The scanners confirmed the formation of a massive Erchius crystal within the mine. Dew stood in the airlock, adjusting the seals of his armor one last time.
Leonardo's voice came through the comms. "Remember—once you pick it up, the Ghost will come immediately."
"Yeah, yeah," Dew muttered, flexing his fingers. "Run fast, don't die. Got it."
Paracelsus' tone was grim. "It cannot be harmed, nor stopped. Do not waste energy trying."
"Trust me, I have no intention of getting experimental."
The airlock hissed open, and Dew launched himself onto the surface of the moon, activating Sprint Tech immediately. His movements were precise, fluid, wasting no energy as he made his way to the mine entrance.
He spotted the Erchius crystal the moment he entered the cavern. It pulsed faintly, an unnatural glow illuminating the rock around it. He didn't hesitate. He grabbed it.
The moon trembled.
The air distorted, a low hum reverberating through the void. Then, like a wound in reality, the Erchius Ghost appeared.
Dew turned and bolted.
The creature was shapeless yet purposeful, an entity that moved with an unnatural grace. It phased through the mine's walls, bypassing solid matter as though it were smoke, locked onto him with an unseen hunger.
Dew pushed his Sprint Tech to its limit, his body blurring through the corridors. The ghost surged forward, closing the distance. It didn't just chase—it anticipated. It cut through the rock ahead, appearing before him.
Dew snarled. "Of course it can do that."
He shifted direction, jumping off the ground and activating Shock Jockey, sending a pulse of electricity not at the ghost, but into the metallic framework of the mine. The brief electromagnetic surge disrupted the ambient light, flickering in a way that forced the ghost to momentarily reorient.
Dew seized the opportunity. He twisted mid-air, activating Rocket Jump Tech to launch himself up and over the ghost, clearing the path ahead before landing into a full sprint.
The force field generator was still too far.
The ghost didn't relent. It phased through the rock behind him, moving faster now, its presence distorting space itself.
Dew's eyes flicked to his side—another form of the entity had split from the main body, cutting him off at another angle.
"Dammit."
With a flick of his wrist, he activated Undertow, sending a wave of kinetic energy into the lunar dust. The ripple of force flung him sideways, evading the ghost's interception by mere inches.
The force field generator came into view.
The ghost screamed.
Dew pushed forward, but the entity was already ahead of him again. It didn't just exist in the physical world—it was outside it, moving between layers of reality.
Dew gritted his teeth. He activated Incinerate!, sending a streak of flame along the ground—not to harm, but to kick up a thick, superheated cloud of dust. The momentary obstruction gave him a fraction of a second to shift direction.
The ghost lunged through the cloud, but Dew had already transformed into Spike Sphere Tech, gripping the side of a jagged rock formation and rolling along its surface, using it to propel himself forward.
The force field generator was right there.
He dropped out of Spike Sphere, landing hard and twisting to shove the Erchius crystal into the containment unit.
The generator roared to life.
A pulse of raw energy erupted outward, expanding into a translucent dome.
The Erchius Ghost let out an unnatural wail as it slammed against the barrier. Again. And again. Its form distorted, writhing in frustration, but the barrier held. It could not pass.
Slowly, it began to fade, retreating back into the nothingness from which it came.
Dew stood there for a moment, catching his breath, his muscles burning from the exertion.
Leonardo's voice crackled in his comm. "Status?"
Dew exhaled, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Ghost repelled. The mine is secure."
Paracelsus let out a breath of relief. "Then the true work begins."
The Erchius was theirs.
Now, they had the power to reach beyond this world.
End of Chapter Twenty-Five