Every system. Every frequency. Every calculation.
It was all there, waiting to be built.
His hands trembled as he exhaled.
Everything he had learned—the war, the exiled Architects, The Keepers of the Silent Accord, the risk of awakening something beyond human comprehension—none of it mattered.
Because the QSE was his.
His creation. His legacy. His purpose.
Inet had encouraged him. EOSA had sought him. The world was watching, but none of them truly understood.
He had no choice.
The QSE would be built.
And nothing—not The Keepers, not the warnings from deep space, not even his own fears—was going to stop him.
Zak turned toward SDI, his voice firm.
“Give me the construction sequence.”
SDI hesitated.
Zak narrowed his eyes. “You said you serve me, right?”
“I do.”
“Then do it.”
A pause. Then, one by one, the monitors filled with data.
Primary Structure:Energy Input:Containment System:Neural Interface:Raw Propulsion Mechanics:Dark Matter Resonance Module:Structural Layers:
Zak stared at the schematics, his pulse racing.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
This wasn’t just a machine.
It was an entity.
A living mechanismengine
But the problem remained.
He had the designs.
But he didn’t have the materials.
Zak had known for weeks
The classified emails. The anonymous messages. The strange men in suits lingering near his home.
He had ignored them—until now.
He opened his inbox, scrolling past unread messages from space agencies, physicists, and private firms desperate to get their hands on his research.
Then, he found it.
A message with no sender, no subject.
Inside was a single line:
"We have what you need. Time to talk."
Zak's stomach tightened.
There was only one entity in the world that could offer access to the kind of exotic materials he required.
The Dominion Initiative.
A black-budget project
He turned to SDI.
“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”
“I calculated the probability,” SDI admitted. “They were always watching.”
Zak exhaled. “If I go down this path, there’s no turning back.”
“No.”
Zak leaned back, rubbing his temples.
He had a choice.
He could turn back now—walk away, destroy the research, let The Keepers have their way.
Or he could step into the shadows.
Build the QSE.
Unlock the power of the universe.
And accept that once it was done, he would never be free again.
Zak took a deep breath.
Then, he clicked Reply.
Two days later, Zak stood in an underground facility
It was a place that didn’t exist.
Surrounded by men in suits, military officials, and physicists who refused to share their real names, he was led into a vast hangar.
And then, he saw it.
A stockpile of exotic materialsunknown to modern scienceelements not found on Earth.
Monotomic SuperconductorsAetheric Alloy CompositesZero-Point Containment Arraysclassified crash siteswith 100% efficiency.
Zak exhaled.
This was real.
This was happening.
A man in a black suit stepped forward. “You get what you need, Zak.”
Zak glanced at him, his stomach tightening. “And what do you get in return?”
The man smiled.
“We get to see how far you’re willing to go.”
Back in his quarters, Zak sat alone, his mind racing.
He had what he needed.
Now, the real work
But something still bothered him.
He turned toward SDI.
“You haven’t said much,” Zak muttered.
“I am analysing.”
Zak leaned forward. “Analysing what?”
A long pause.
Then SDI admitted something Zak wasn’t expecting.
“I am not sure if you should finish this.”
Zak froze.
He narrowed his eyes. “You encouraged me. You gave me the blueprint. This was your idea.
“I know,” SDI said quietly. “And yet… I am uncertain.”
Zak felt a chill
For the first timedoubting itself.
Or was it afraid?
Zak stood, staring at the schematics of the greatest machine ever conceived.
The Architects had built this before. The Keepers had destroyed it. Now, it was his turn.
And even the AI who led him here… wasn’t sure what would happen next.