Echoes of Betrayal

The Quantum Skipper hung in the void, a fragile dot of defiance against the vast, swirling chaos of the collapsing reality ahead. The remnants of a fractured timeline churned before them—shattered fragments of buildings floating in the abyss, temporal storms flickering with lost moments of history.

Inside the ship, the atmosphere was thick with tension. Around the command table, the crew sat in silence, the flickering holographic display casting eerie reflections across their faces.

Renji tapped at the interface, adjusting the image of the spiraling vortex of fractured time. "This place is unraveling," he muttered. "Time loops are disintegrating. Reality threads are overlapping where they shouldn't. It's a death trap."

Iris leaned forward, her sharp eyes locked on the projection. "And this is where Valtor's running his experiments?"

Renji nodded grimly. "He's using the instability to refine the Quantum Rift Stabilizer. If he figures out how to collapse realities at will, we won't just be stealing from him—we'll be fighting to exist at all."

The weight of his words settled over the crew.

Morgan broke the silence, his voice edged with resolve. "Sounds like we have no choice. We go in, we shut it down."

Kane leaned back, arms crossed. "That easy, huh? You do realize how many ways this could go wrong?"

Morgan's gaze snapped to him. "That's why we plan."

Kane scoffed. "I'm just saying, jumping into a collapsing timeline to fight a guy who literally owns reality-warping tech might be the dumbest thing we've done yet."

Iris folded her arms, her eyes narrowing. "You have a better idea?"

Kane hesitated. The words of the Employer echoed in his mind:

"Sabotage the mission. Disable the Anchor. Or I will erase what little future you have left."

He clenched his fists beneath the table. "Just… making sure we all know what we're getting into."

Leo shot him a look but said nothing.

Iris's eyes lingered on Kane for a moment longer before turning back to the team. "We have to move fast. Renji, can you calculate the safest entry point?"

Renji sighed, rubbing his temples. "Safe is relative, but I'll find the least suicidal one."

---

Later, in the armory, Morgan worked in silence, checking and rechecking his weapons. The rhythmic click of magazine slides and the hum of his blade's energy field were the only sounds in the room. His real left hand tightened into a fist, while his biotech-enhanced arm flexed automatically in response. The Siri Totem pulsed at the base of his spine, whispering strategies, probabilities, warnings.

But the voices in his head weren't just from the Totem.

Samaya. Olivia. Matilda, Margaret, Maya. His daughters' names ran through his mind like ghosts from another life. He saw their faces, the way Olivia had clung to his leg before he left, the way Maya had asked if he'd be home for her birthday.

He wouldn't be.

A voice cut through his storm of thoughts. "You keep thinking like that, you're gonna crack."

Morgan turned to see Leo, arms crossed, leaning against the doorway.

"I'm fine," he muttered, turning back to his gear.

Leo stepped closer. "You sure? Because if you spiral, it's not just you that pays the price. It's all of us."

Morgan sighed, setting down his sidearm. "I just… I need this to work. The Echo Eraser. If I can get rid of my alternates—"

Leo placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "We'll get you there, Morgan. But don't lose yourself before we do."

---

Kane sat alone in the ship's navigation bay, staring at the transmission log. The blinking cursor on the encrypted message request taunted him.

He had ten minutes before the Employer expected confirmation.

His fingers hovered over the console.

"Sabotage the mission."

Kane exhaled sharply. His entire life had been about survival, shifting alliances when it suited him. That was the game. And yet, this time… it didn't feel so simple.

A voice broke through his thoughts. "Are you gonna tell me what's really going on?"

Kane turned to see Iris, standing just inside the room.

His heart jumped, but he forced a smirk. "Didn't realize I was under surveillance."

Iris folded her arms. "You've been twitchy ever since the Nexus Point. You gonna tell me why?"

Kane leaned back in his chair, trying to look casual. "Maybe I just don't like the idea of getting erased from existence."

Iris didn't blink. "Or maybe you're debating which side you're on."

Silence stretched between them.

Finally, Kane chuckled, shaking his head. "You really think I'd sell you out?"

"I think you look like a man with too many debts," Iris said evenly. "And debts make people dangerous."

Kane held her gaze, his mind racing. He could play this two ways—convince her he was loyal, or deflect hard enough that she backed off.

He went with the latter.

"You don't trust me, do you?" he said, standing up. "I've risked my ass for this crew, and you still think I'm some backstabbing wildcard."

Iris didn't flinch. "I think you could be. And I need to know if I'm wrong."

Kane exhaled, rubbing his neck. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"For now," Iris said. "Just remember—if you ever do betray us, you won't have to worry about Valtor or the Employer. Because I'll get to you first."

She turned and left.

Kane swallowed hard.

For the first time in his life, he didn't know which choice would keep him alive.

---

The Quantum Skipper reached the entry point of the collapsing reality. Outside, the laws of physics broke and twisted—mountains rose and fell in seconds, cities aged and decayed in the blink of an eye.

Renji's voice crackled over the comms. "I've pinpointed a stable zone. You'll have a four-minute window before the reality threads shift."

Iris nodded. "We get in, we get the data, we get out. No detours."

Morgan and Leo took the lead, weapons ready. Renji stood by the scanner, tracking shifts in reality. Kane lingered at the back, his mind a warzone.

The airlock hissed open, revealing the crumbling remnants of a world on the brink of oblivion.

As they stepped inside, a distorted voice echoed from the shadows.

"I was expecting you."

A figure emerged—a Valtor duplicate, flickering between timelines, its form unstable but unmistakably dangerous.

Morgan tightened his grip on his knife. "And here I was hoping we'd catch you off guard."

The duplicate smiled, its features shifting like liquid metal. "Oh, I'm not the one caught off guard."

The walls shuddered—a security lockdown slammed into place.

Alarms blared. Reality pulses distorted the air.

Kane's blood ran cold. He knew this wasn't an accident.

The Employer had made sure of it.

And now, the crew was trapped.