Chapter One: Call of the Depths

The moment **Kayan’s** hand brushed against the gateway, a cold shiver coursed through his entire being, as if the polished metal were scanning his genetic code and analyzing his racing heartbeat. The black marble was not merely inanimate stone; it felt like a sentient substance, a hybrid tissue of nature and machine, breathing softly in the profound stillness of the desert night. Slowly, the ancient etchings on the metallic artifact he carried began to glow with a brilliant cyan radiance, their rhythmic pulses synchronizing with a deep, mechanical groan emanating from behind the walls—a sound like a mechanical giant waking from a slumber that had lasted for millennia.

"Are you ready to remember what everyone else has forgotten?"

The voice did not travel through the air. Instead, it resonated directly within his skull, clear and piercing, like a whisper from an old friend. **Kayan** took a sharp step back, his heart hammering against his ribs like a war drum. He vividly recalled the warnings of the elders in his humble village—tales told around campfires about "Cursed Doors" and the "Lost Era Technology" that was said to have set the sky ablaze. They claimed that meddling with the past was an explicit invitation to oblivion. But to **Kayan**, true oblivion was staying in a village that was slowly suffocating, trapped between the walls of poverty and the relentless, hungry encroachment of the desert sands.

He pressed his palm against the surface once more, this time with all the willpower he could muster. The ground beneath his boots groaned in a muffled tone, and the massive marble blocks slid back with a haunting, fluid grace without making a single screech, revealing a corridor that spiraled down into the dark unknown. A gust of air rushed out—unnaturally cold and crisp, carrying a strange scent that blended the aroma of ancient machine oil with the fragrance of wildflowers that no human had encountered for ages.

As **Kayan** began his descent, fluorescent lights buried in the ceiling flickered to life automatically with every step he took, as if the facility were regaining consciousness at his presence. At the bottom of the slope, the corridor opened into a legendary hangar, its scale far surpassing the imagination of any modern architect. In the center lay a colossal starship, its hull shaped like a polished black dagger forged from a material that refused to reflect light. Though coated in a fine layer of historical dust, it retained a terrifying, royal majesty.

As he approached the vessel, a holographic projection suddenly erupted from the floor, taking the form of a woman in glowing white attire that flowed like liquid. She looked at him with unblinking eyes—eyes that held the wisdom of ages—and spoke in a calm voice: "User 0-14, you are significantly behind schedule. The 'Arknos' bio-system is in a critical state, and energy reserves are only sufficient for one final voyage to orbit. Shall we initiate the launch protocol and activate the shields?"

**Kayan** stood frozen, his breath hitching as mist in the cold air. He knew nothing of orbits or energy shields, but he realized at that moment that his mundane life behind that gate had evaporated. He now held not just the key to the stars, but the weight of an entire history thrust upon his shoulders in a single heartbeat.

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