Nightmare's Warning
Warp Bani had delivered the news that he'd awakened from his nightmare to Lydia.
"Bani!"
Lydia burst into Bani's room in a hurry.
"Lydia…."
Lying in bed, Bani weakly raised a hand. His voice cracked like rusted metal.
"Is it okay for an explorer like you to sleep this much?"
Lydia plopped down on the chair beside the bed, feigning a scolding tone as she took in his state.
"Keh… talk about embarrassing. It's just that my dreams have been so chaotic."
"You still don't look all there. Your face is pale. Forget everything and just rest up today."
"To receive worry from a beauty like you—yeah, I'm glad I survived."
Bani tossed out a cheeky joke, and Lydia let out a scoffing laugh, looking exasperated.
"Anyway. Joking even in this situation. Your actions and words don't match at all."
"Doesn't that make me charming?"
"Not my type, so you'd better give up."
"Well, I already figured the one who's caught your eye is our young captain, Kal."
"Sigh, enough about that guy. Who knows what he's so busy with—he hasn't left the bridge. Anyway, just rest up today."
"Lydia."
"Yeah?"
"Have you seen Eve by any chance?"
"Eve? It's funny you're looking for her right after waking up. I saw her heading to the bridge with Kal earlier… Why? Something wrong?"
Bani swallowed dryly.
"Lydia, about Eve…"
Did she have any suspicions? That the girl wasn't ordinary—no, that she wasn't human at all. But Bani couldn't continue. Her face showed genuine ignorance.
That overwhelming terror from the dream. The abyss revealed as Eve's belly split open, and the absolute pressure radiating from Nahibi's true form. Was it right to tell Lydia about it? Wouldn't it crack this peaceful daily life?
"Nah."
Bani shook his head.
"Don't leave me hanging. Did something happen in your dream?"
What he'd seen in that dream. Eve had called herself the queen of the xenoforms. And the white slime by her side, called "Malangi," had appeared as a monster known as a Singularity.
"It's nothing. Let me rest, Lydia."
"You need it more than me. Get some good sleep."
Lydia cast one last worried glance before leaving the room. As the door closed, silence settled in.
Bani buried his head deep into the pillow. His mind was a mess.
'The queen of the xenoforms…'
The war between the Federation and the xenoforms had dragged on for over a century. The longest, most grueling, and brutal conflict since humanity ventured into space. Having fought so long, the Federation prided itself on knowing much about those monsters.
Bani recalled what he knew about xenoforms.
Lower Forms. The most common ones. Low intelligence, driven by instinct, they overwhelmed with numbers. Classified by type: assault, flying, suicide, burrowing, and so on.
Upper Forms. Field commanders directing the Lower Forms. Regular infantry weapons couldn't scratch them; you needed heavy weapons squads, armored units, or a ship's main guns. Intelligent enough to use tactics.
And above them, the real reason the war stagnated.
The ones assigned classification codes.
Singularity.
No two were alike. They wielded unknown energies the Federation couldn't comprehend, each boasting disaster-level combat power. Only the Federation's heroes, the Constellations, could take them down.
Commonly called "Singularity types."
But no matter how hard Bani racked his brain, neither official Federation announcements nor academic reports mentioned anything about a "queen."
Xenoforms lived in hives, but not like ants or bees with a central queen structure.
'But… Eve called herself a queen.'
That white amorphous monster's true form he'd seen in the dream. It was clearly a high-rank Singularity type. And such a monster followed Eve.
Something was off. Undeniably.
And it wasn't the only oddity. Xenoforms were inherently hostile to humans, preying on them. Yet Eve had a human appearance, human emotions, and had even saved him.
'What the hell is Eve? Why does she look exactly like a human?'
Did the Federation not know? About the queen… Or,
'Do they know and keep it hidden?'
Maybe there was a reason they couldn't tell the public. Was this why Apex Industries called Eve an experiment and pursued her so relentlessly?
Whatever it was,
'Doesn't matter. Monster or queen.'
What mattered now was doing what he could for Lina and Zai.
*
I sat in the captain's chair, chin propped on my hand, lost in thought.
'Now that Bani's awake, we really have to get going.'
The warp point in the Echoes of the Dead Nebula. The Night Raven's interior, stagnant for days while trapped in nightmares, began buzzing with activity. Engine preheat rumbled through the deck.
[Nahibi.]
I called out to the one spread across the cockpit console, basking in the gauge lights via wavelength.
[Why do you call.]
[We're about to completely escape Federation territory. Beyond Wild Space, to your home base.]
[Indeed. Finally, I can smell home.]
[While we're at it, tell me about that queen you mentioned before… the one we're going to meet. What's her personality like?]
She was a queen like Eve, but Eve was an incomplete queen. She probably wasn't a childlike one just like Eve.
Nahibi wobbled as if pondering.
[Hm… If I must classify her in your terms… closest to a scholar.]
[Scholar?]
An unexpected answer.
[Yes. She values pursuing knowledge and comprehending the universe's truths as the highest virtue. The opposite of our Nariant, who reveres strength and conquest. That's why she's called the Sage.]
The xenoform sage…
An academic xenoform…. So far, the xenoforms I'd encountered were all about destruction, slaughter, devouring. I'd assumed they were all savage, mindless beasts.
Nahibi too, and this scholar queen she described. They might be more spiritually mature and socially structured than I'd thought. Prejudices are scary indeed.
'But that doesn't mean I can let my guard down.'
Scholars aren't always genteel. She could create things for massacring others or view humans as lab rats with cold detachment.
'As long as she's not like Nahibi, calling us lowly lifeforms… treating us like bugs.'
And above all, what would that queen think of our Eve? Would she welcome her?
[I don't know what you're brooding over so deeply.]
Nahibi snapped me out of it.
[Is this the Wild Space ahead?]
[Yeah. Warp point soon.]
[Hmph…]
Nahibi's reaction was lukewarm.
[Why. Still can't tell where we are even looking around?]
[I'm not specialized in scouting or navigation, so of course not. Coordinate calculation isn't my forte.]
Useless squishy. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
[……You're thinking something very rude, lowly lifeform.]
Nahibi's body spiked up sharply.
[No way. Must be your imagination.]
I casually averted my gaze, playing it cool.
[Hmph. Think you can hide your thoughts from me just because you've trained mental barriers a bit? The years we've shared are worlds apart. Insolent creature.]
[Sorry.]
I apologized cleanly.
[You really should reconsider taking the queen's guard position seriously. She's not one to trifle with, yet you've… always treated me like…]
I tuned out Nahibi's lecture with one ear while turning to gaze at the space outside.
The silent cosmos still glittered with countless stars.
I manipulated the main console switches.
"All systems nominal. Engines at 100%. Warp drive charged."
I broadcast ship-wide.
"Night Raven Captain Kal speaking. Attempting warp to Wild Space shortly. Everyone stop what you're doing and secure for safety."
Warp sequence initiated. 5, 4, 3….
Countdown began. Space rippled. Stars stretched into lines of light.
[2, 1. Warp.]
Fwoosh—!
The Night Raven vanished in a flash. Only silent darkness remained in its wake.
But.
Shh-shh-shh.
Not far from where the Night Raven had disappeared, empty space shimmered. Stealth disengaged, revealing a massive black warship.
Sleek, aggressive design. A wolf's head glowed red on its hull.
Apex Industries' special tracking unit, the Hound assault ship.
In the bridge's shadows, a red-visored commander gripped the comms.