The station groaned again, a deep, metallic wail that echoed through the corridors like a dying breath. John clenched his jaw, gripping his weapon tighter. He wasn’t superstitious, but this place had the kind of atmosphere that made you believe in ghosts.

  The team moved cautiously down the dimly lit hall, the emergency lights casting eerie, pulsing glows. The walls were riddled with signs of struggle—scorch marks from energy weapons, deep clawed gouges in the metal, and dried streaks of something John didn’t want to analyze too closely.

  "The research hub should be through here," Vrixibalt announced, his voice hushed as he pointed to a heavy blast door ahead. His elongated fingers danced across the control panel, but the screen flickered red. "It’s locked down. No access."

  John exhaled. "Of course it is. Wouldn’t want things to be easy."

  Ka’rak stepped forward, examining the reinforced door. "We could force it open."

  Ryiq shook his head. "That might alert whatever’s still in here."

  Zylen, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, ran his hands over a nearby console. His multi-faceted eyes shimmered as he tapped a few keys. "There’s a manual override in the security office down the hall. If we restore power to this sector, the doors should respond to Vrixibalt’s commands."

  John turned to Vrixibalt. "That sound doable?"

  The scientist hesitated, clearly uneasy about splitting up. "Yes. But the station’s power systems are unstable. Restoring power could activate other systems as well."

  John didn’t like the sound of that. "Like what?"

  Vrixibalt’s mandibles twitched. "Defense protocols. Emergency lockdown procedures. Potentially—" He hesitated. "—reviving automated security."

  John sighed. "So… killer robots."

  Vrixibalt looked mildly offended. "Not necessarily killer—"

  "Yeah, yeah, we’ll take our chances." John motioned for Zylen and Ryiq. "Alright, you two, get that power online. The rest of us will hold here and keep an eye out for… whatever the hell those things were upstairs."

  Ryiq nodded. "We won’t take long."

  As the two slipped away, the remaining team took defensive positions near the research hub’s entrance. The station’s unsettling quiet returned, stretching between them like a coiled wire waiting to snap.

  John shifted against the wall, keeping his rifle at the ready. He turned to Vrixibalt. "Okay, since we have a moment—explain something to me."

  Vrixibalt glanced up from his datapad. "What is it?"

  "You said before that this station wasn’t abandoned, it was sealed—why? What were they working on here?"

  Vrixibalt hesitated before answering. "This was once a research outpost specializing in biological integration with machine interfaces. The goal was to create seamless cybernetic enhancements, not just for individuals, but for entire infrastructures."

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  John frowned. "You mean, like, living ships?"

  Vrixibalt’s mandibles twitched. "In theory, yes. A ship that could adapt, repair itself, even think to some degree."

  John glanced at the organic growths pulsing in the walls. "I’m guessing something went wrong."

  Ka’rak grunted. "Something always goes wrong."

  Vrixibalt continued, his voice lower now. "There were rumors that they pushed too far. That they introduced something to the station that couldn’t be controlled."

  John gave him a skeptical look. "And no one thought to, I don’t know, turn it off?"

  "It wasn’t that simple." Vrixibalt’s mandibles clicked in frustration. "If the organism they created had already bonded with the station’s systems, it may have become the station itself. You can’t just shut down a mind without consequences."

  John groaned. "Great. So we might be standing inside a haunted spaceship that knows we’re here."

  Before anyone could respond, a loud thunk echoed from the hallway.

  Weapons came up instantly. Ka’rak took a step forward, eyes scanning the darkness.

  Then, a voice crackled through the station’s old intercom. The sound was distorted, layered with static, but it was unmistakably human.

  "—anyone… out there? If you can hear this… don’t… trust… it…"

  John’s blood ran cold.

  Vrixibalt’s eyes widened. "That… that’s impossible."

  "Yeah?" John said, pulse quickening. "Tell that to the ghost on the intercom."

  Before they could process what they’d just heard, the corridor lights flashed—then roared to life as power surged through the station.

  Vrixibalt flinched as his datapad flooded with new signals. "The security team did it. We have power."

  The research hub’s blast doors shuddered, then hissed open, revealing a dark, cavernous room beyond.

  John tightened his grip on his weapon. "No turning back now."

  They stepped inside.

  The research hub was in ruins. Broken terminals flickered, long-dead screens struggling to display corrupted data. Papers and shattered equipment littered the floor, and along the walls, massive containment pods stood like silent sentinels—some shattered, others still pulsing with dim blue light.

  One pod had been smashed open from the inside.

  Vrixibalt approached a console, his hands trembling slightly as he accessed the system. "I’m pulling up the last recorded logs now."

  The screen flickered, then displayed a garbled message.

  “Subject X3-7 breached containment. Station-wide bio-integration compromised. Evacuation failed. Final protocol engaged. Initiating lockdo—”

  The recording cut off.

  John exhaled sharply. "So they sealed themselves in, hoping to stop whatever they created."

  Vrixibalt nodded. "But something survived."

  A sudden metallic clank behind them made everyone turn sharply.

  One of the intact containment pods was opening.

  John barely had time to mutter, "Oh, hell no," before a deformed humanoid figure began stepping out. Its eyes—if they could even be called that—glowed faintly, its body a twisted fusion of flesh and machine.

  It turned toward them, its mouth opening in an unnatural, jagged movement.

  Then it spoke.

  "…You… shouldn’t… be here…"

  John took a step back, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Yeah, well, I’m getting that vibe too, buddy."

  The thing tilted its head. Then, with a mechanical shriek, it lunged.