Verification

The expedition to the crash site departed at dawn – Alexei, Lieutenant Nyara, Sergeant Kara, and four armed guards maintaining protective formation around them. The morning air hung heavy with moisture, limiting visibility and lending eerie quality to the ruined landscape.

Alexei led them east, fighting waves of disorientation as fractured visions bled across his perception. The path seemed simultaneously familiar and foreign, memories overlapping with possibilities that hadn't occurred in this reality.

"How much further?" Kara demanded after they'd been walking for nearly two hours.

"Not far," Alexei responded, though uncertainty plagued him. The crash site should be just beyond the next ridge, but his memories felt increasingly unreliable.

As they crested the ridge, relief washed through him. The evacuation pod lay partially embedded in crumbling ruins, its hull scorched from atmospheric entry and subsequent impact. Scavengers had indeed been at work – access panels removed, components stripped, but the structure itself remained relatively intact.

Nyara approached it with professional caution, examining external markings before entering through the shattered viewport. Alexei remained outside, his fractured mind suddenly reluctant to revisit the site of his arrival in the Dead Zone.

After several minutes, she emerged holding a small device – a personal identification module all NCD personnel carried embedded in their evacuation suits.

"Verification positive," she announced. "Neural signature matches, though with unusual degradation patterns."

The confirmation should have brought relief. Instead, it intensified Alexei's inner turmoil. If he was who the device claimed he was, why did his memories feel so fragmented? Why did he know things he shouldn't know, recognize people he'd never met?

"Satisfied?" Kara asked Nyara, her tone suggesting professional courtesy rather than trust.

"Conditionally," Nyara replied. "The neutral ground meeting can proceed as planned."

They returned to the settlement in strained silence, Alexei's condition deteriorating with each kilometer. The physical exertion combined with constant suppression of fractured visions left him exhausted, blood occasionally trickling from his nose despite his best efforts to hide it.

Back at the settlement, Commander Merrick called immediate council to arrange details of the neutral ground meeting. Alexei found himself included, though he suspected this was to keep him under observation rather than value his input.

"Commander Roth proposes the rendezvous at dusk," Nyara explained. "The abandoned observatory at the midpoint between our territories."

"Acceptable location," Merrick agreed after consulting with Kara. "Limited delegation – myself, Elder Voss, Sergeant Kara with four security personnel. And Alexei, of course."

"Commander Roth will bring equivalent numbers," Nyara confirmed. "No heavy weapons, standard sidearms only."

The arrangements proceeded with military precision, both sides clearly familiar with such negotiations. Alexei observed without comment, his fractured mind attempting to process implications rather than tactical details.

Roth was coming personally this time. Would she recognize the changes in him? Would she see the fracturing of his consciousness? More importantly, what did she want from him?

The meeting was scheduled for that evening, leaving little time for preparation. As the council disbanded, Elder Voss approached Alexei.

"Your symptoms are worsening," he observed quietly. "The nosebleeds, the disorientation. Whatever afflicts you is accelerating."

Alexei considered denial but abandoned it as pointless. "Yes."

"Before we depart, visit me," Voss instructed. "I have something that might help stabilize your condition temporarily."

Alexei nodded, willing to accept any potential relief, however temporary. The fracturing had reached point where maintaining normal function required constant, exhausting effort.

In his quarters, he allowed his guard to drop briefly. Blood flowed freely from his nose as fractured visions cascaded through his consciousness – the upcoming meeting playing out in dozens of variations across splinters of possibility. In some, alliance formed. In others, violence erupted. In particularly disturbing iterations, Roth looked at him with recognition not of who he was, but of what he was becoming.

An hour before departure, Alexei visited Elder Voss as instructed. The Elder's quarters reflected his dual role as spiritual leader and practical adviser – religious iconography sharing space with technical manuals and medical texts salvaged from before the Great Collapse.

Voss handed him small vial containing viscous blue liquid. "Distilled from plants that grow only in dimensional fracture zones," he explained. "Our medicine uses it to treat those suffering reality dissonance."

"Reality dissonance?"

"The technical term for what afflicts you – perception bleeding across multiple potential realities. Common condition in the Dead Zone, though your case appears particularly severe."

Alexei stared at the vial, fractured visions showing it as both medicine and poison across different possibilities.

"It will stabilize your perceptions temporarily," Voss continued. "Long enough for the meeting, at least. After that, we can discuss more permanent solutions."

Alexei uncapped the vial and swallowed the contents without further hesitation. The liquid burned like ice down his throat, spreading numbing cold through his system.

For several moments, nothing changed. Then, gradually, the fractured visions receded. Reality solidified around him, possibilities condensing into single present rather than kaleidoscope of alternatives.

"Better?" Voss asked, watching him closely.

"Yes," Alexei confirmed with genuine relief. "The fracturing is... contained."

"Temporarily," Voss emphasized. "The stabilization compound masks symptoms without addressing cause. And prolonged use has consequences of its own."

"What causes the condition?" Alexei asked, desperate for understanding while his mind remained relatively clear.

"The Dead Zone exists at intersection of multiple potential realities," Voss explained. "Most people perceive only the dominant reality, filtering out alternatives automatically. Some, however, become sensitive to these alternatives – particularly those with neural modifications or unusual consciousness structures."

Like NCD neural implants, Alexei thought. Or fractured consciousness.

"The meeting party departs in thirty minutes," Voss reminded him. "Use this clarity wisely. Your condition suggests you're perceiving something significant across these fractured realities."

The temporary respite from fracturing allowed Alexei to prepare himself mentally for the approaching confrontation. Without the constant intrusion of competing visions, he could analyze what he knew, what he suspected, and what remained unknown.

Roth was searching for him specifically. She had resources and determination. Her interest suggested value beyond simple extraction from the System. Why?

More troubling were the fragments of memory and knowledge he couldn't account for – recognition of Nyara, awareness of verification protocols, technical understanding beyond his claimed expertise. Were these bleeding through from alternative versions of himself? Or was his identity itself fractured?

As the delegation prepared to depart, Alexei recognized the approaching meeting as crucial inflection point. Whatever Roth wanted from him would shape his path forward in the Dead Zone. Whether ally or threat, her agenda would clarify his options.

The stabilization compound continued working as they journeyed toward the abandoned observatory. Reality remained cohesive, though Alexei could feel fragmentation lurking just beyond perception, temporarily contained but not eliminated.

The observatory appeared on distant ridge as sunset painted the Dead Zone in crimson and gold – a dome-shaped structure atop crumbling complex of buildings. Once dedicated to studying distant stars, now serving as neutral ground between factions claiming different territories.

As they approached, another group became visible approaching from opposite direction – Commander Roth's delegation, arriving with timing that suggested careful calculation rather than coincidence.

Alexei's heart rate increased despite his efforts at calm. Whatever happened next would fundamentally change his position in the Dead Zone.

For better or worse, the isolation phase of his journey was ending.