The metallic ground tasted of saline blood, and the air was filled with the stench of smoke.


    Pain filled the host''s body as Lucrisse coughed out a mouthful of sand. Her hands clawed into the ground and the skin beneath her fingernails scraped open. Her vision swam and the once rapid thumps of her heart began to slow to a stop as the host’s consciousness started dissipating from its body.


    Minutes passed and the crackling roar of the scorching flames grew ever so violent.


    It was evident that this corpse would soon die, succumbing to the fallout of battle. Yet the remaining strength left in the pale flesh of that girl gradually coalesced within a certain area.


    The heart!


    The corpse’s eyes shot wide open. The once dull blue pupils were now shining with a malignant red light and a glint of cold intelligence appeared in those depths. However, the casualties suffered by the host body’s flesh weren’t able to be completely repaired by the current form of her constitution. Moreover, the dissonance between the foreign body and mind created a fuel to fire effect where her incorporeal form was slowly being consumed by the remaining antibodies left within the girl’s system.


    If Lucrisse wasn’t able to achieve perfect assimilation with the corpse within the next couple of minutes, it wasn’t a suggestion, but rather fate that she would die here.


    Gritting her teeth, the girl rolled onto her back as the blood pumping through her veins turned cold. She noticed that the host body, which once bore shoulder-length tresses of flowing, nearly black, but still brunette hair, had now withered into a sickly pale white, as if life itself had been squeezed out, leaving behind only the signs of age. As for the skin, it fared no better as the girl’s peachy complexion also paled akin to a ghost.


    Lucrisse’s chest heaved and her hair was damp from exertion. Beads of sweat dripped down her nose and her vision was already dotted in black spots. Everything was becoming cold; and soon, they would become still.


    The pain which once caused a mind-splitting numbness to spread through her consciousness only grew exponentially, doubling by each passing second. However, as she shivered, it wasn’t the excruciating pain that caused her unease, but rather it was the sense of impending doom threatening to eclipse her existence in its entirety.


    Yet Lucrisse’s consciousness did not lose hope. Within the corpse’s essence existed something far more valuable than the nothingness in the body that she had long abandoned. It wasn’t familiar to her personally, but one of her experiments had dealt with it before and the feeling was instinctual.


    Whatever it was, even if it was just a sliver, it was more than enough.


    The girl’s eyes flickered and a pale white mist started to wisp from her skin. Warmth sprang up in the depths of her core and spread throughout her body, reaching to the tips of her fingers all the way to the toes on her feet.


    Lucrisse sucked in a deep breath. She had survived.


    She rested her head against the sand weakly and stared up at the unbridled sky. This planet, with a vast crimson horizon, was seemingly home to a war.


    Explosions and various other sounds of combat boomed from miles away. Smoke rose in the distance and everywhere she looked was dotted with corpses.


    Minutes ago, through her host body’s eyes, she had even been able to see glimpses of past events.


    And if things were right—


    The girl’s head shifted to the left, and there lay a revolver resting in the sand, just how she remembered it.


    Another second passed, and when she finally laid full claim to the corpse, a thundering voice echoed across the world.


    [System Alert: Elimination Announcement for Maeve You.]


    [Placement: 79th]


    Immediately after, another announcement sounded to proclaim the elimination of a second person. The girl shifted her head to the right, and another corpse lay metres away. Just looking at the body’s features, it was evident from the host’s memories that it was the companion of this person called Maeve.


    Lucrisse stared at the lifeless figure calmly. Just moments ago, she experienced how the former host had died. The cold metal feel of the gun was still fresh in her hand, while her instincts were still primed to shoot at the enemy. However, all she had seen through her limited connection was a bright flash of yellow lightning, followed by a sharp pain at the back of her head before the ownership of the corpse was free for her to claim.


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    For so long, ever since she had split her consciousness by accident, her second existence had started to perish. Lucrisse didn’t know how long it had been since she had fallen into the state of dormancy inside that black hole, but it was something that had to be done to preserve her life. Of course, the incredulous idea and literal feat of surviving a black hole didn’t come without consequences. She didn’t even know the extent of the gap in her memories between that incident and now where she appeared in this girl’s body.


    Sighing, Lucrisse closed her eyes. The last thing she remembered researching before she was captured was time. More specifically, a way to restrain and conduct its flow. Many questions were asked, and for years she had toiled with various theories. Yet every single outcome led to one answer. Time couldn’t be controlled by mortals. With that final wall to cross, the topic of divinity had appeared. If time wasn’t something a mortal could wield, then it would be a matter left to the gods.


    Thus, she had started the Empyrean Project, with the sole goal of creating a god. However, the prototype she created was incomplete. The Zenith Dominion’s Aegis Corps had raided her planet of operations and subsequently imprisoned her for her crimes. Whether her project succeeded or failed, it was something she could care less about.


    Right now, she had been given a second chance at life. Her assimilation over the corpse was perfect, but there were some caveats left. Currently, she would not be able to sustain the foreign flesh with her soul.


    Thus, her only goal thus far was to find a solution for her survival.


    “Seven days,” Lucrisse spoke, her voice hoarse. From a quick estimation, seven days was all she had left before this corpse would deteriorate. No matter how bad her condition was, she wouldn’t give up all her efforts for naught.


    Softly grunting, she raised her upper body and silently thanked the former owner of the corpse for having a decently athletic body. She crawled over to the revolver and brought it before her eyes, examining the weapon.


    At a quick glance, Lucrisse could easily tell that the technology was lacking, far below the capabilities of the standard firearms she had remembered. There was no mention of a date engraved into the metallic surface either.


    That was alright, it would do for now.


    Rising to her feet, she reached into her back pocket and fished out a cellular device with a display. The screen was cracked with several fractures running across the glass, but what mattered were the parts inside the phone.


    Patting herself down, Lucrisse found nothing else of use and quickly made her way over to the other corpse.


    In moments, she stripped the body bare and pocketed a small, but sharp knife, several snack-like rations and the underwire within the body’s bra.


    Without wasting any of her precious seconds, she immediately disassembled the phone and tinkered with the electronics inside. She frowned upon seeing the primitive components, but it didn’t matter much. As long as it could be modified into a makeshift receiver, she would be able to connect to the interstellar network.


    Two more minutes passed and she pressed a button on the altered device. What she had created was nothing like a phone, but rather a crude wrist watch-like device.


    A small beep emitted and a faint blue light flickered from the phone’s camera.


    “It worked.”


    [System Authorization Complete]


    [User: Lucrisse Von Nova – Identity Confirmed]


    Lucrisse watched as a cone shaped hologram appeared and lit up from her wrist. Nothing was on the screen other than a triplet of blinking dots. This continued for nearly twenty seconds before an interface appeared displaying a window with a search menu and several other windows displaying various things.


    Lucrisse furrowed her brows. For how long it took, things didn’t make sense. She gazed up into the sky, squinting to make out the star of this solar system. However, the colour and size weren’t recognizable in the slightest.


    With her understanding of the subject matter, it normally shouldn’t have taken anywhere close to this long. Rather, the connection should have been made instantly, meaning that wherever she was now was either outside the Machronic Galaxy Cluster, or in an entirely different universe.


    After all, when Lucrisse had attempted an escape, she had only managed to split her consciousness due to the appearance of a nearby black-hole. With one half left behind in a maximum security prison, and the other being swallowed up by a black-hole, her consciousness had somehow survived the fissure and spat her out here. Who knew how long had passed on the other side, but she understood the basic principles of time dilation, which meant that with her limited knowledge, the answer could be anything.


    Sighing, Lucriss glanced down at the screen and punched in a string of details. The important thing was that she had a connection, and with it, she quickly located the failsafe she had installed in the backend of the network which linked directly to her original body’s mind. If those who had captured her still desired her technological blueprints, they would be reluctant to even attempt a probe into her brain—and they wouldn’t find the implant hidden deep within her hippocampus.


    Her fingers shook as they hovered over the watch; not of nervousness, but of exhilaration. It wasn’t everyday that one had a chance to break their other half out of prison.


    Lucrisse smiled lightly, hoping that the wormhole inside that implant was still stable, then exhaled a silent prayer before pressing a sequence of buttons.


    [Initiating FTL Warp: Please wait]


    [10…]


    [9…]


    [8…]


    …


    The air around her thinned and grew frigid.


    Seven days to live. Seven days till death.


    “Hope you’re alright, Lucrisse.”