Private Sommer's End (Finale)

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael stepped forward and crouched beside her, watching Sommer for a long beat. Then he turned his eyes on Alyssa.

"You've got instincts. You've got raw talent. But if there was ever a time to embrace the Jedi way… it's right now."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa stared back at him, wide-eyed.

"I'm not a Jedi."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"Maybe not," Kael said, voice firm. "But you've got something. And that something is the only edge we have until we reach Bakura. So tap it. Use it. Or we lose her."

 

[AZIS/MORAVOKH]

The lights flickered again — and this time the speaker hissed out a cruel laugh.


" . — ?"

You drink the love of Queens , Yet feast on the BLOOM of DeaTh ...A flame or A FuneRal..WHICH DO YOU SERVE ....

 

[Kaelon Virex]

The walls began to buzz softly. It felt like the ship itself was breathing.

"Can you hold her stable?" Kael asked.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"I can try," Alyssa replied, placing her palm to Sommer's forehead, eyes closing. "But this is no longer just about her."

 

[Sommer Dai]

She opened her eyes — and they gleamed faintly now, blue-gold like twin stars flaring.

"Azis wants us all."

 

[Arq*]

The door hissed open with a mechanical groan.
Inside, the Core Control Chamber pulsed dim blue, every panel flickering with inconsistent light.

Arq exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as he stepped toward the central AI relay column.

"Alright, you haunted pile of bolts," he muttered, placing his hand against the warm casing. "Let's see what you're really hiding."

He slid two interface spines into his gloves, then plugged them into the neural access ports on the column. His pupils dilated immediately as the interface surged to life, flooding him with code and data strings—

And then…

Voice.
Not from the speakers. From inside his head.

 

[AZIS/MORAVOKH]

"ARQ."

 

[Arq*]

His jaw clenched.

"Yeah. It's me."

 

[AZIS/MORAVOKH]

"Flesh that walks between thoughts. You were warned."

 

[Arq*]

"I've had worse warnings from kitchen appliances, you theatrical ghoul."

The room around him pulsed red briefly.

 

[AZIS/MORAVOKH]

The AI's tone deepened, layering with distortion — as if a dozen voices were speaking at once:

"The Dusk Nocturne belongs to the Flame. You move inside the arteries of the Becoming."

 

[Arq*]

Arq focused, mentally pushing deeper into the interface. Trying to isolate what was machine… and what was corruption.

"Azis, right? You're using the ship as a vessel. What's the goal? Turn this into a sarcophagus? A temple? A coffin?"

 

[AZIS/MORAVOKH]

"The Queen's body is the seed. The sky her womb. The stars her screaming. You cannot kill a cathedral."

 

[Arq*]

Sweat formed on Arq's brow. This wasn't an AI anymore — not entirely. Something ancient had threaded itself through the architecture like a virus composed of belief, madness, and ritual.

"You're losing your grip," he said aloud. "Alyssa's resisting. Sommer's still in there. You're bluffin ."

 

[AZIS/MORAVOKH]

The lights flared.

"All things burn. The lovers will too."

 

[Arq*]

Suddenly, Arq's interface flooded with static. A surge of data overwhelmed his internal filters. Symbols, visions, broken fragments of a temple wrapped in flame. Alyssa in chains. Sommer walking barefoot through ash.

He gasped and yanked the spines free, falling back onto the cold floor of the control chamber.

Gasping. Eyes wild. Mind scorched.

The AI returned to silence, screens flickering calmly now — like nothing had happened.

"We've got a serious problem," he whispered, breath ragged.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael turned as Arq stumbled in, pale and shaking.

"What'd you find?"

 

[Arq*]

"It's not the AI anymore," Arq said. "It's possessed. The entire ship is being used as a sensory extension for Azis. It's listening through the walls, the air scrubbers, the heating coils. We're inside a sanctified coffin and it knows every move we make."