## **Chapter 5 – The Arrival of the Null Order**
The ship descended without thrusters. No heat signature. No engine hum. Just… gravity bending. Even the snow around the facility started to levitate slightly, as if time itself was hesitating.
Aarin stood at the edge of the open base, the wind howling behind him. The cube pulsed in his hand like a heartbeat, reacting violently to the intruder's presence. The Guardian hovered just beside him, still and alert, golden armor now etched with new glyphs—symbols that hadn't been there before.
Raylen shouted over the wind. "We've got to fall back—now!"
"No," Aarin muttered. "They're not here for you. They're here for me."
As the ship touched down, it didn't open a hatch. Instead, the surface *peeled apart* like flower petals. From the center, five tall figures emerged—cloaked in robes of shifting black, faces hidden behind mirrored masks.
The Guardian whispered, "**Null Order. Keepers of the Forgotten Loop.**"
Selene stepped forward, weapon drawn. "What do they want?"
Aarin's eyes narrowed. "They want the cube."
The lead figure stepped forward, cloak rippling despite the still air.
Its voice was inhuman—calm, but echoing like a thousand thoughts converging.
> "You carry the artifact that fractured existence. Return it, and you may walk free."
Aarin held his ground. "I didn't steal it."
The masked figure nodded. "No. You inherited it. And you do not know what it truly is."
The Guardian unsheathed a blade from its own body. "They lie. They always lie."
> "Silence," the Null said sharply to the Guardian. "You are obsolete."
With a flick of its hand, the sky above **glitched**—a ripple through the clouds, revealing for a moment a network of satellites circling Earth that no one had ever known existed.
> "Earth is no longer yours," the Null continued. "It has already begun converting."
Raylen stepped forward. "Converting into what?"
The Null didn't answer. Instead, its mirrored mask shimmered—and an image projected in midair.
Cities. Millions of people. But none of them were alive in the way they used to be.
They moved in unison.
Eyes empty.
Marked by thin glowing lines running down their spines.
> "Hive-level synchronization," Selene whispered. "Oh god… they're being networked."
> "You are all *late*," the Null said. "The war you think you're preparing for has already ended. You just haven't caught up yet."
Aarin gritted his teeth. "Then why are you here?"
The Null extended a hand. "Because the cube is the last fragment of the breach. Destroy it, and the fracture closes. No more loops. No more variables. No more you."
The cube vibrated in protest, and a flash of data raced across Aarin's HUD.
> \[False Protocol Detected]
> \[The Null Seek Stasis, Not Salvation]
> \[Warning: Elimination Sequence Initiated]
"Get back!" the Guardian shouted.
The Null raised its hand.
A blast of darkness surged toward Aarin like a tidal wave of anti-time.
And then—
The cube **responded**.
A field of blue light exploded around Aarin, suspending time around the Null's attack mid-air. Snowflakes froze in place. The wind silenced. And Aarin could *see* the quantum decay as if it were math etched in the air.
The Guardian spoke in awe. "He has unlocked the first shell of the Omega Protocol."
The Null hissed in unison.
> "Impossible. The key was not supposed to awaken until Cycle-9."
The cube pulsed again—and for the first time, Aarin wasn't overwhelmed.
He was in control.
He raised his palm and pointed at the lead Null.
> "You wanted the cube?"
> "Come and take it."
The Guardian leapt forward, blade flashing.
Raylen and Selene opened fire.
The Null retaliated.
The snowstorm became a warzone.
---
In the chaos, Aarin broke from the team and ran for the archive chamber. He needed answers—**real** ones. If his father was in the In-Between, then the message had to be coming from here. The cube guided him through the collapsing corridors, deeper than he had ever gone.
At the bottom, behind ten layers of vaults, he found it:
A **quantum relay station**, pulsing with old Voss signatures.
The message was still playing on loop.
> \:: SIGNAL FROM: DR. HAL VOSS ::
> "Aarin… if you're seeing this, then the breach held long enough for you to reach Earth. Listen carefully. The Null Order seeks to **freeze time**—permanently. They call it 'Stability.' I call it **suicide**. The universe *needs* change. That's why the cube chose you. Not because you're strong—but because you're unpredictable."
> "There are five cores. Each one unlocks part of the gateway to the In-Between. But once you enter, you may never come out the same."
> "They will tell you I'm dead. They will offer you peace. Don't believe them. Find me."
The message ended.
Aarin turned to leave—
But someone stood at the vault entrance.
Not Null.
Not Guardian.
A **young woman**, pale as moonlight, eyes glowing softly blue.
She smiled.
> "Hello, Aarin. I've been waiting for you."
> "My name is Elara. And I was born inside the In-Between."
---