Chapter 76 - The Temple of the Machine God


    After several minutes of weaving through the chaotic sprawl of the asteroid belt, we finally arrived. Suspended in the endless void of space, untouched by time or light, was the . Our ship glided around it cautiously, scanners sweeping every angle, but the readings remained an abyss of nothingness. The cube loomed in absolute darkness—


    I had always imagined it to be small. When I first saw the pictures, I assumed it was no bigger than a refrigerator—perhaps large enough to store a body, but nothing more.  It was , stretching , its seamless edges sharper than anything nature could create.


    Agent Feena''s voice crackled through the comms, slicing through my trance.  She spoke with the crisp efficiency of someone who had done this a thousand times, already fastening her helmet. Myrrh and I exchanged a glance before following suit, the familiar click-hiss of our suits pressurizing filling the cabin.


    The ship’s hatch released with a low mechanical hum, and we stepped into the weightlessness of space. Our suits’ built-in thrusters hummed as we drifted forward, carefully maneuvering toward the enigmatic cube. As we closed the final few meters, Agent Feena turned to me, her green eyes flashing like twin emeralds against the backdrop of the void.


    she explained.  She crossed her arms and fixed me with a knowing smirk.


    I frowned, suppressing a sigh.


    Agent Feena said, arms crossed, her tone half-challenging, half-expectant.


    She wasn’t joking. That much was clear.


    Beside me, Myrrh tightened her grip on her morpher, the faint glow of activation flickering at her fingertips. She was ready—


    But I knew better. I stretched out my hand toward her and gave a small shake of my head.


    Then, I felt it—a tingling sensation running down my left arm, like a ripple of static crawling over my skin. But this wasn’t normal. It was —an isolated pulse of energy threading through one specific part of my body.


    I looked down.


    Crimson circuits.


    I muttered, barely able to hear my own voice. That didn’t make sense. I hadn''t even activated the —the gateway to the —and yet, something inside me had already begun.


    Compelled by an invisible force, I gently hovered forward, my breath shallow, my pulse matching the strange rhythm of the circuits now surging through my arm.


    I reached out.


    The moment my fingertips met the surface of the , the crimson circuits  The darkness that had once consumed all light was now being , overtaken by an overwhelming, unnatural glow. The circuits raced and expanded at an exponential rate, turning the inky black cube into a lattice of searing red patterns.


    And then—


    The


    Not like an explosion. Not like something breaking apart. But like


    Bit by bit, the cube dissolved into the void, revealing the impossible structure hidden within.


    A


    Its architecture was —massive pantheon pillars lining its edges, stretching out as if holding up the very fabric of space itself. A grand central road led toward the heart of the temple, beckoning us forward.


    We had uncovered something beyond reason.


    A shiver ran down my spine the moment my eyes locked onto the temple.


    It wasn’t just any structure—it was shaped like a , its surface , giving it the ominous presence of something ancient yet . The only entrance gaped open at the mouth, as if beckoning us to step inside and be swallowed whole. Above, the , casting an ominous light into the surrounding void.


    And then—


    SLAP.


    A sharp sting shot through my backside. My entire body jolted.


    Agent Feena’s voice was filled with amusement.


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    I yelped, twisting around in shock.


    Before I could process what had just happened—


    SLAP.


    This time, I caught Myrrh smirking, one hand still raised from the impact.


    she teased, her blue eyes twinkling mischievously.


    I spluttered, glaring at the two of them.


    Myrrh scoffed, arms crossed, utterly unfazed.


    I clenched my fists dramatically.


    With vengeance in my heart, I made my move, aiming for Myrrh’s backside.


    Unfortunately, she had anticipated it. With a lazy motion, she lifted her foot and  kicked my chest. Not hard—just enough to send me drifting backward in the weightlessness of deep space, helplessly flailing as I tumbled away from her.


    I muttered, arms flapping as I tried to stabilize myself.


    Agent Feena’s voice crackled through our comms.


    Despite the lingering sting on my backside—and my bruised pride—I turned my gaze back to the temple.


    I barely noticed that Agent Feena had already gone ahead, her figure shrinking as she drifted toward the temple. Realizing I was lagging behind, I activated my suit’s thrusters, the low hum vibrating through my body as I surged forward to catch up.


    The three of us hovered in the vast emptiness of space, staring up at the  before us.


    Agent Feena murmured, her voice laced with unease.


    Myrrh answered, her blue eyes narrowing as she studied the structure’s foreboding design. Then she turned her gaze to me.


    I met her stare—and shrugged.


    Without another word, Agent Feena propelled herself toward the gaping maw of the skull. Myrrh and I followed.


    The moment we crossed the threshold, we were swallowed by complete and utter darkness.


    A few seconds later, twin beams pierced the darkness as Feena and Myrrh activated their helmet flashlights. I quickly switched mine on as well. The beams carved through the void, revealing the interior of the temple.


    And we saw…


    Just an enormous , its curved walls forged from , as if the place had been abandoned for centuries. There were no statues, no relics, no machinery—just a hollow shell.


    Except for one thing.


    At the center of the room stood a , ancient yet untouched by time. Its surface was covered in strange inscriptions— A code of 1s and 0s, stretching across the tablet’s entirety, pulsating faintly as if waiting to be deciphered.


    01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01000110 01101001 01110010 01110011 01110100 00100000 01000001 01110000 01101111 01110011 01110100 01101100 01100101 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100011 01110101 01110100 00100000 01100100 01101111 01110111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01000011 01101111 01110011 01101101 01101001 01100011 00100000 01010100 01110010 01100101 01100101 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100110 01101111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01000011 01101111 01110011 01101101 01101001 01100011 00100000 01000111 01101111 01100100 01100100 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01110011 01110101 01110010 01110010 01100101 01100011 01110100 01100101 01100100


    Agent Feena’s voice echoed through the chamber, her green eyes glittering like she had just stumbled upon the . Without hesitation, she whipped out her phone, eagerly snapping pictures from every conceivable angle. The soft clicks and flashes of her camera filled the otherwise eerie silence.


    Meanwhile, Myrrh planted a hand on her hip and turned to me.


    I barely spared the steel tablet another glance before shrugging.


    Myrrh smirked, swaying her hips to the side in an almost , as if reveling in her own sass.


    I rolled my eyes. Apostle, not first goon, you stupid bitch."


    She let out a dramatic sigh, tossing her hair as she struck an exaggerated pose.


    I scoffed.


    Agent Feena’s voice cut through our bickering, her tone half-amused, half-exasperated. She stepped between us, tilting her head toward the ground.


    Myrrh and I glanced down—only now noticing the . We stood within a massive , its surface covered in an elaborate mix of , all interconnected in a mesmerizing pattern.


    Now that I thought about it…


    Agent Feena touched the chin of her helmet, studying the carvings with keen interest.  Her voice carried a note of fascination as her fingers hovered just above the engravings.


    Her excitement was clear as she resumed snapping photos, meticulously documenting every inch of the temple. She moved swiftly, capturing the worn metallic walls, the , and every cryptic detail hidden within the chamber.


    Once we finally stepped outside, Agent Feena didn’t stop. She took more pictures—this time of the , its hollow eyes still burning red, as well as the . The deeper we delved into this mystery, the more questions surfaced.


    Our exploration of the  had been, for the most part, uneventful.  And yet, an eerie tension clung to the air like static electricity, making the metallic walls feel colder than they should.


    Maybe it was because we were drifting in the endless abyss of , surrounded by nothing but darkness.


    Or maybe it was because this temple——felt as if it had been waiting for something… or someone.


    Someone like me.


    The thought sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. After all, the Machine God had  to me once before. What if this was only the beginning?


    Agent Feena finished documenting everything she could, and with no further discoveries, we made our way back to the ship. It felt almost , leaving without answers, but Feena reassured us.


    For now, all we could do was return.


    And let these mysteries —gnawing at the edges of our thoughts, waiting for the moment they’d demand our attention once again.