The Wrecker loomed before Max, breaking free from the cocoon in which it y trapped. A caustic smell of decay emanated with its birth, as a scream erupted from within. The echo of the seven damned souls that made it up. Dmitri Daimonji, Gabrie Cortázar, and Gavin Mendoza fused in the head to form a grotesque cerberus. Murat Ayatev was a tumor with a grotesque smile, stretching in the elbow of the beast's imposing arm, contorting with each scream of collective agony. Jay Krishna mirrored his tormented companion on the back along with Stelle Dubois. Finally, Kabita Singh stretched in the belly like a sinister figurehead, fused to a huge, oozing, and horrendous abdominal blister. With a shriek, the little courage that remained in Max faded away. He wanted to run, to hide, but where? He was at the mercy of the creature, which opened its enormous jaws, with sharp and irregur teeth, opening like a zipper, revealing translucent tentacles that writhed, wanting to drag him along. Max could only manage to cover himself when the Wrecker charged, lunging like a goril. A force pushed him, and then he fell to the ground, safe from the attack. Seeing himself safe for a fraction of a second, a weak, choked scream arose from deep within his soul. His savior lifted the visor of her helmet, revealing that it was Naomi. She moved her mouth, desperation marking her face, but he couldn't understand a word of what she was saying. With a crash, the Wrecker smmed into a generator. A torrent of sparks flew, piercing the darkness, while lightning surged from the broken cables, wrapping around the monster's flesh. The stench of charred flesh quickly hit them as the creature writhed in spasms, its tissues burning. A few meters away, the Psma Saw y discarded, waiting to be picked up. Max just had to get up. He couldn't. His body refused to react, and instead, he remained seated, an impotent observer. At that moment, his head spun, trying to digest the idea that Angelina had betrayed them. How could that be possible? She had taught him to work with the ship's systems, as well as the EREBUS guidelines. She helped him deal with his first breakup and how to approach Naomi without looking like an idiot. Fate had taken his mother from him and given him Angelina Zhang in her pce. Now it was taking her away again.—. Max, please! — Naomi shouted at him while shaking him. As if waking from a dream, Max began to return to the present. Fireflies appeared fluttering. Was that a nightmare? He wondered. Then he wanted to wake up. For the images and sensations to lose meaning, to dissolve into an incoherent tide, and then wake up in his cabin. —. What a crazy dream. — he would say to himself. But it wasn't a nightmare. The electric crackle, hitting the Wrecker, and the acrid smell of charred tissues couldn't be more real, just like Angelina's betrayal, and like Naomi's desperation, trying to bring him back to the present. —. For god's sake, guys, what did these things do to you? — Padman's voice echoed from afar. When Max turned his head, he found him standing in front of the writhing Wrecker —. How did you end up like this? ——. !!!Padman!!! — Echmann's voice was heard from afar, sharp and full of desperation —. !!!Padman, get away from there!!! — —. We have to take them to the Medical Bay! — the navigator pleaded —. We can still save them! — and by the time Max reacted, it was too te. The Wrecker freed itself from its electric prison. Its cws grabbed the helmsman of the Chronos and smmed him to the ground, as if he were a rag doll. The RED emitted a ft beep. He was already dead when the Wrecker shoved the body into its jaws and chewed it, pulverizing his bones with horrendous crackles. —. !!!Mr. Sarraf!!! !!!No!!! — Satoshi's scream was barely heard above the triumphant roar of the monster, which smmed its furious fists against the ground, shaking the module's structure completely. A storm of tracer-tipped bullets rained down on the Wrecker, ricocheting off the beast's chitinous armour. A shard of white phosphorus found its way through and managed to pierce its abdominal blister, causing the monster to recoil in pain as jets of yellow exudate gushed forth incessantly. The nerve endings in its tissues glowed as if on fire. Then, with a light like thunder and the impact of a psma jet, its left arm flew off completely. From the stump, jets of blood spewed out, while the Wrecker writhed in pain. Tentacles and tumors sprouted from the wound, with bubbling crackles, trying to heal it, while for seconds the creature ceased its attack. Enough window to escape. —. You must bring them back. — the voices whispered and shouted to Max, and it was then that he returned to the present. Sarraf was dead. He could have saved him. The horde of Phasmonates writhed around him as they stretched their repugnant, slimy limbs toward them. He had to get them out of there. As Naomi pulled him, Max got up and jumped onto the Psma Saw. He had to get his crew out of Hydroponics. Frantically, they made their way, slicing, massacring, and mutiting those who had once been their crewmates. For every fallen aberration, Max saw their faces as they had been before. Their stories, dreams, and goals meant nothing to the fireflies, and instead, they were reduced to supplies for the nest. Cells. Unconscious entities with a programmed purpose, as if they were mere flesh golems. Their existence ended with the buzzing of the Psma Saw, slicing through tissues like butter. The bursts from the Pulse Rifles. The detonations of shotguns and the jet of antimatter through a directed ser. Only when they crowded inside the monorail car and the doors closed did Max begin to process what had happened. He observed the faces staring into nothingness, gasping in disbelief as the cacophony of the creatures grew more distant through the tunnel. Two of them were missing. The fireflies had taken them. Padman was taken by the creatures themselves. And Angelina, madness. —. You must bring them back. — the echo of the fireflies resonated in his head. The glow of the runes dimmed in his memories. Max would have given anything for everything to be as it was before. A painful and futile ideation. The fireflies lied. He couldn't bring them back. He could only keep moving forward until the light of the fireflies faded completely.***Angelina didn't want to do it, but she realized she had no choice. The fireflies themselves had shown her in her dreams. When she heard the reports from the colony and EREBUS ran the simutions, she wondered if an assimition scenario would be as bad as it seemed. But the fireflies told her there was nothing to fear. —. It happened that an angel of the Lord appeared to them. The glory of the Lord surrounded them with his light, and they were filled with fear. But the angel said to them: Do not be afraid. — read the gospel of Saint Luke, in verses 9 and 10 of Chapter 2. The creator of EREBUS, a woman of science and an atheist, could do nothing but cry when the words finally made sense. She spent much of her life hating God, then denying his existence, only to find him face to face in Lohengrin. God existed, and there was only one. However, someone killed him, and the gaxy fell into complete and perpetual darkness. But there was a chance to bring him back. It would take thousands of years, but that xenoarchaeologist, Dae-Hun Nae, had already id the first stone. Then, Chronos would return prociming the good news: there is a God beyond the stars, and that God is the Fireflies. Many would refuse, they would be afraid. But didn't the same happen with the Christian religion? For a reason, the angels said "do not be afraid" every time they appeared, for they were aware of their own appearance. But it caught her attention that only she could see that revetion. She was grateful for the tacit support of Mentzer, Hayati, Max, and everyone who saw the symbols. But they were groping in the dark, chasing ghosts, unable to see the much rger and wonderful panorama that was right in front of them. But she needed proof. Being a believer and a scientist are not mutually exclusive, no matter how strange it sounded. The Chronos would be the vessel that would bring God back. EREBUS was a problem. It had the Laws of Robotics crystallized in its operating system. But then Angelina realized that those limitations meant an advantage. The AI could fulfill one more order, not its statement. And since the Phasmonates assimited tissues, it was correct to say that the crew was not entirely dead. Conceiving the instruction was a jewelry work in any case. She had to thank the fireflies too. With her son by her side, everything would go smoothly. And yet, there was resistance. More than she would have expected. Deep down, Angelina wondered, what is the point? Why do they resist salvation? Do they not see that we are about to resurrect God? But in past times, the prophets themselves were persecuted. It had already happened with Jesus; the difference is that Angelina′s God existed. All the others conceived by humanity did not. That is what the Fireflies told her. So she decided to end the farce. She gathered the remnants of the crew in the Hydroponics, which were not few. She promised them it was a safe pce. And then, with everyone inside, she released the angels who would take them to paradise: the Phasmonates. As she expected, panic spread from one second to the next. But all resistance was futile, and little by little, the gunfire, cries, pleas, and screams faded away. God took their bodies and began to build his own. Everyone would shine in the Forest because everyone would be fireflies. If only Padman and Sawatari hadn't escaped. She found them in the Environmental Control Room, desperate, hiding under a terminal, and when they recognized her, they begged for help. Even God's strongest soldiers doubt from time to time, and that is what happened to her. She was soft, and while she took them to OPS, where Daimonji was hiding, remorse attacked her. —. What I've Done? — she asked herself then. For two days, she believed she regretted it, striving to remedy the supposed harm she had caused. But the fireflies made her see. Humanity would be condemned if they did not accept the gift being offered to them, the only God that existed and offered liberation from the most wretched suffering. That is why she betrayed them, although she did not see it as such. Rather, she helped them, even though Max refused to see it that way. Then she remembered him as the child Harding brought on board, dirty, sullen, and cautious, like a stray cat that life had only beaten. One who did not know how to react to the rough dispys of affection from his Surrogate father, and who, unwittingly, she herself ended up being like a mother. Now Max hated her. She could see his expression through the white noise of the Reverse Field. There was no more painful stab when it came from someone you loved. The cargo elevator car did not come to a complete stop when Angelina vomited. The expulsion flew slowly in the weightlessness of the axis. She felt like she had been punched in the gut, and she had dealt it to herself. She cried silently, feeling adrift as her body floated. A part of her desperately wished to go back to the past. But nothing would be as before. She had a mission to fulfill, to bring God back. No one would stand in her way, not even Max. He and the remaining crew would soon see the gift being offered to them. Angelina swallowed her tears as she exited and cleaned her suit. EREBUS was waiting for her outside, in the cargo bay. —. Good afternoon, Angelina. — her creation greeted her —. It’s good to see us again. — —. Likewise. — she knew that phrase made no sense. EREBUS's presence aboard the Chronos was a constant. There was literally no way to escape from him. If he were truly the mastermind behind the fall of the Chronos, there would be no opportunity at all. That is why she kept holding onto his leash. —. Lucas Acosta is finishing the preparations. — he announced in an expressionless tone, although paradoxically loaded with enthusiasm —. The repairs to the Natsukawa—Korinyak Engine will be ready in approximately 4 hours and counting. — —. Our engineer has done a good job. — Angelina commented —. Although Soren Petrescu really messed us up, don’t you think? — —. It is evident that his actions sabotaged our efforts. — Before knowing their horrendous fate, the First Engineering Officer and his team pyed their st cards. The ship had no salvation left. So they removed EREBUS's privileges to access engineering, drowned the maneuvering thrusters, and shut down the engine, which would lead Chronos to a slow fall against the pnet.It would have concluded, had it not been for Angelina giving them hope. His girlfriend, Chief Nurse Hanazawa, was waiting for him in the Hydroponics. Petrescu left his station and set out to find her. They ended up reunited forever. Thus, Lucas Acosta ended up as the master and lord of the Engineering Deck. His intelligence was directly proportional to his effort. Although, of course, the fireflies illuminated him as well. He had to work miracles to divert energy from the reactor and generate a new Kugelblitz. Without EREBUS being able to help him directly, he dedicated himself to the task of restoring the engineering section, like a solitary dwarf working in a mine. And it was about to bear fruit. —. There’s just a small problem. — EREBUS warned —. There’s a rebel group of crew members who have not yet joined the Phasmonates. Acting Captain Max Picard is among them. Do you want me to stop them? — —. No. — Angelina interrupted him —. I detect Captain Matkovich’s RED in motion. They will find him in the Medical Bay. That could finally break his will. Besides, I need Max not to be assimited yet. He has the missing part of the code. — —. And how do you know that? — —. The fireflies told me. — she replied with conviction —. He will be the one who ends up bringing them back. — —. Setting aside the fact that I am helping you, I still don’t understand who you are referring to. — the AI observed. —. The consciousness of the Farmers. — her voice was barely a whisper —. The only God that ever existed and that will exist in this world. — the dim lights of the compartment flickered. Silence fell when EREBUS didn’t know how to respond —. Do you think that ship, the Ebisu, will be a problem? — —. There is a 75.4% chance that it will be. — the AI noted. —. 75% is still high. What do they want? — —. To obtain a tissue sample, it seems. They come armed to the teeth. Although the chances of them posing a real obstacle to our mission have decreased. — EREBUS added —. Multiple telemetries have been lost on the surface. An outbreak could occur aboard the Ebisu if the crew does not take the necessary precautions. — —. Which they will, unless they are idiots. — Angelina commented, wiping the sweat from her forehead —. We must hurry then and take off as soon as possible. — —. I don’t think the four-hour mark will decrease substantially, Angelina. Lucas is working alone. — —. Then make sure he doesn’t take longer. I have to take care of my own. — the doctor propelled herself with her feet and floated down the hallway, distancing herself from EREBUS. —. Where are you headed? — the AI asked her, although it already knew or could deduce it. —. To Manufacturing. I must undo what Daimonji tried to do. — she replied as she disappeared into the darkness —. Although I’m sure Max will end up helping me. Whether he wants to or not.***The betrayal of Angelina Zhang hurt them to the soul. Daniel Harding still couldn't digest it. —. She is alive. — he said when the monorail car arrived at the Medical Bay station —. Angie is alive. I detect her telemetry on the Manufacturing Deck. We must go for her, Max. We must bring her back! — and his mind refused to believe that the woman he had loved, and who he thought loved him too, had stabbed them in the back. Max couldn't escape the irony. Dan's plea sounded like the murmur that the fireflies repeated. He clung to the idea of a past where he could find something resembling happiness, and to the family that the Sor War had taken from him. Angelina's betrayal was like a stab to his patched heart, only to then rip it out, trample it, and shatter it into pieces. —. You must bring them back. — but it was impossible. Angelina had already pyed her cards. They couldn't go back in time, no matter how much they wished for it. Satoshi knew this well. The fireflies had taken away his family, friends, squadmates, and his father. Why would they return them? The stench of decay could be sensed even before arriving, but it was only upon descending that the decay became evident. Flesh roots sprouted from the ventition ducts, and from fps that tore the ceiling panels, forming clumps, stems, and organelles. The lights flickered with a terrifying silence, barely interrupted by their footsteps, the moans and breaths of the Forest of Fireflies in full expansion. The Chronos, his precious ship, his home and routine, was now being consumed by the tendrils of alien flesh. The souls of the crew y scattered and twisted in horrendous sculptures of flesh. They were suffering, the very forest of fireflies was constantly agonizing like a horrendous metaphor for existence itself. Insatiable hunger and a pain that wouldn't relent were the only emotions he felt. Consume. Grow. Devour. Until they all shone, because they would all be fireflies. Signs of a futile resistance were visible in the Clinic. Trevor still remembered the fateful shooting and the desperation when they used the wounded as a barricade. To no one's surprise, it barely helped. The Phasmonates burst from the ceiling and walls like an unstoppable avanche. Their victims awaited a quick and brutal death that, in fact, never came. Rebeca Santos was among them. They were imbued by the pgue, assimited, recombined, and reused for the creatures' own purposes. They transformed into fireflies, and their bodies were nothing more than disfigured husks. Their horrendous screams, like sughtered goats, reached through the walls. Echmann witnessed hell alongside Doctor Cortázar. The horror of knowing that the victims of the Phasmonates could not rest even in death. They were dragged to the Air Filtration Chamber, sniffed, licked, touched, sodomized, and torn apart alive in a horrendous orgy of blood and pus, testing their suitability for the worm. The most fortunate mutated into castes, and those who did not were transformed into swollen bags of nutrients, flesh, and cartige that still breathed and clung to life, from which pieces were torn that gradually regenerated. A torment he wouldn't wish even on his worst enemies. For this reason, Cortázar was working on a biological weapon that, hopefully, would make them sick. They would die in the medium to long term on their way home. But now the culprit of their failure had a name and surname, Angelina Zhang. His research partner was now part of that macrophage they called Wrecker, along with the resistance team, as a cruel mockery of the fireflies. Sawatari held back tears, while her lips trembled and she clenched her fists as she walked. The Chronos was the only home she knew. She was born there and expected to die there, just as her mother did. Now, the ship was falling apart. Daimonji, Murat, and Max were the closest thing to brothers she ever had. The navigator Padman Sarraf could have been something more. They never confessed their feelings, and now that she felt them clearly, it was too te, because the helmsman was dead. She couldn't bring him back no matter how much the fireflies came with those whispers and deceptions. Angelina had to pay, and then, maybe, they could all reunite in the cold, yet sweet embrace of death. Before being Naomi, Nine was taught that she was expendable. Her stay on the Chronos made her realize the opposite, and then she learned the experience of being human, even though she wasn't entirely one. The fireflies reminded her that she was a monster, and the ghost of Sixta appeared to reinforce it. —. Look at how they are suffering. — she repeated in her head, making her see the infernal circle that her own workpce had transformed into —. If you really cared for them, you would prevent their suffering. You would kill them right now. — but Naomi refused. It would be a death devoid of meaning. The Phasmonates would continue to come to Earth, and then all of humanity would be doomed. She was willing to give her life if it meant preventing that. Ayna, on her part, remained blissfully ignorant. She walked toward her death without knowing it. The Gumotanol had her suspended in a cloud of nostalgia and idylls, where she dreamed of Yakiv and Artyom. Her boy wanted to be a Pnetary Engineer, like his father, and dreamed of seeing Lohengrin transformed into a garden. For the fireflies, a breeding ground. —. You can bring them back. — but they didn't tell her how. The possibility was implicit, and Max was refusing. However, the happiness drugs kept her in a limbo, teetering between harmless passivity and potential psychosis. And then, there was Max. He tried to remain a firm pilr and be the captain that the situation demanded. Fate took away his parents and delivered him to the Chronos. What he managed to build, the light of the fireflies burned completely. Before, they were all part of the ship as the ship was part of them. The Phasmonates took that to a literal sense. There was no humanity left, only a slimy and repugnant extension of twisted ghosts where his life once was. The ship itself was transforming into an indescribable horror, a creature in itself. An affront to creation. He could give up, but he had a promise to keep. As they advanced through the shattered and transformed Medical Deck, Max could hear them. They crawled through the ducts and hallways. Their tissues oozed, swelled, mutated, and changed. They were now part of the Forest of Fireflies, just as the Forest was part of them. A sad irony for the st flight of the Chronos. Was this what awaited humanity? To be vessels? Bags of protein? Cells of a disproportionate organism, whose size was impossible to conceive? Maybe, or maybe not. But they could avoid it, or at least try. The Pgue of Lohengrin could not reach the sor system. The little family Max had left was outside the Chronos, and light-years separated them. —. I will always be here to protect you. I promise. — he tried to say to the void, and he was sure that Lay would never know. But Max was willing to fulfill it, even if it was the st thing he did.