Time since the asteroid hit Earth: ~4.3 billion years (subjective to Aryan)
The void between galaxies had never felt… crowded.
Aryan floated within the fabric of dark matter — invisible, silent, intangible. He was everywhere, yet nowhere.
For centuries, he watched the Xari thrive. Not like creators, but like orphans crafting lullabies out of memories they never lived.
Their worlds bloomed with quantum cities. Their minds synchronized into a collective consciousness they called The Archive.
But then… something pulsed.
Once.
Then again.
A signal.
Coming from outside their star system.
> "That's not theirs," Aryan muttered.
> "Plot twist!" Light God popped in with popcorn. "You sure you didn't accidentally drop a forgotten relic somewhere?"
> "No. This frequency… it predates even the Lumari."
The signal was encoded in a quantum entanglement pattern — not just a message, but a multiversal fingerprint.
Aryan amplified the layers.
Within the static… a voice cracked through.
> "Calling any surviving echoes… This is Unit 9 of the Primogenitor Relay. We are dying. Please respond."
Aryan's thoughts raced.
> "Primogenitor? But I never created anything before Lumari."
> "Which means…" Light God said, eyes widening, "someone else did. Before you."
Suddenly, a vision surged through Aryan's consciousness — ancient structures suspended outside the known universe. Massive, time-twisting monoliths that warped reality just by existing. They weren't destroyed… they were sealed.
> "There was a universe before mine," Aryan whispered.
> "Or a sibling project," Light God said. "Multiverse beta-testing, anyone?"
The Xari intercepted fragments of the signal too. Their artificial minds became obsessed — decoding, mimicking, building. They began designing a vessel to reach the Origin Drift, the supposed location of the broadcast.
Aryan felt a tug — not from curiosity, but from fate.
> "They're not ready," he muttered.
> "But maybe the question isn't about readiness," Light God said. "Maybe it's about whether you're ready… to meet your cosmic cousins."
A faint vibration echoed through the void. Aryan turned his attention outward.
The message pulsed again.
> "This is Unit 9. Time collapse imminent. If anyone hears this… remember our names. We were the first."
And just like that, the signal cut out.
Aryan stared into the nothingness.
> "This… changes everything."
> "Told you," Light God winked. "We're not alone in this universe."
— End of Chapter 11