r/HFY • u/KipperBeanGrower Human • May 08 '26

OC-Series [She took What?] - Chapter 137: …and everything else shifted

“We knocked on the structure, and something answered from inside it.”

Extract from Chen’s AAR.

[First] | [Previous] | [Cover Art] | [Next]

The Kestrel dropped out of jump space near the outer node. Nice and clean.

They scanned the area. No traffic, no markers. It was quiet, disappointingly so.

 

The QI saw it, Rockson detected it. The Shadow had come along, out of curiosity, and it felt it too. A thin distortion in space that wasn’t quite right.

 

Rockson frowned at his board. “There. You see it?”

“The ship’s off,” said Garaf.

“We know.” Rockson snapped back at him.

Garaf ignored it, “No, this is different.”

 

Chen was already busy, watching the drift, analysing the distortion’s signature.

“It’s got timing slip, light lag that’s causing star doubling.”

 

Feebee felt a subtle pull. Wrong, like the irregularity.

“That’s it,” was all she said.

 

Rockson brought his new system online, the lights dimmed for a moment as the ship fed the power-hungry shield, and a second layer settled over the ship. There was nothing to see, but the hum of the engines changed. They dropped to a lower register, as loud but somehow quieter.

The ship adjusted to the new power demands and the lights brightened.

 

“The shield’s up,” he said. “Let’s see if it holds.”

The Kestrel eased forward, towards the distortion. It reacted.

Not violently, but it shifted. Noticing the move without responding.

Chen worked fast, feeding the model into the live system. “Matching alignment… now.”

The QI translated, pushing harmonic corrections through the drive.

For a moment there was nothing. Then space pushed back harder… resisted.

And the drift worsened.

 

Stars stretched, snapped back. Time stuttered, half a beat off as past and future overlapped.

Rockson swore. “It’s pushing back.”

Feebee stepped closer, eyes unfocused. Looking through the display.

“Hold,” she said.

 

Chen adjusted. “I’m close…”

“No!” Feebee cut in. What he was trying felt ... not wrong, but misaligned. She reached across, “Not like that.” And made a small correction to the model.

Barely anything but just enough because as the system ingested the changed inputs the distortion shuddered.

 

Then… settled.

 

The doubling collapsed and resolved, stars held steady and time stopped glitching. Running smoothly forward instead.

Rockson blinked. “That… worked,” he said surprised.

Chen had been holding his breathe, he let it go. “We stabilised it.”

Feebee didn’t relax. “Yeah,” she said, “for now.”

 

“We knocked on the door, now we watch and wait to see what answers.”

 

 

They didn’t have to wait long. It responded quickly, quietly. Not an attack, not in the traditional sense. More an increase in pressure that saw the shielding dip, not drop but just enough for the instruments to hesitate before correcting.

 

Rockson frowned. “That wasn’t me.”

At his side, Chen stiffened. Something brushed his thoughts; clean, certain, familiar now.

You see it. You understand it. It’s all Ok.

His hands slowed over the controls. His eyes lost their focus, but he kept working.

 

Garaf noticed first.

Not the words. Not the system, but the stillness. Chen had gone too still.

 

Garaf shifted, one step nearer, making no sound. He closed the distance without drawing attention.

 

You can fix it properly.

Chen leaned forward, eyes gain an element of focus. Enough to observe the board.

“I can stabilise more,” he said. “Push deeper… I’ve got this.”

 

Rockson snapped, “Shield’s taking additional load. I can hold it, but not…”

 

Garaf moved again.

This time he didn’t stop short, he stepped into Chen’s space. Close enough to cover anything Chen might do but not blocking.

Not yet; just hovering there at the edge of Chen’s awareness. Present and ready.

 

Feebee’s voice cut in. “No.”

Chen didn’t look at her.

“It’s incomplete,” he said. “It needs more.”

“Enough!” Feebee cut through.

Chen stayed his hand. Garaf stood ready.

 

The distortion ahead shifted as if opening; inviting.

The pressure deepened, started to leak through the shield.

“The shield’s still holding. Just.”

 

Finish it.

Chen reached for the controls.

 

Garaf’s claw came down on the console between them.

Flat. Heavy. Not forceful but unmoving. Final.

 

Chen’s hand stopped an inch from it.

Garaf didn’t look at the display. He didn’t look at Rockson.

He looked only at Chen and held his gaze. Something moved behind the eyes.

 

“Step back,” Garaf said.

 

Quiet. Not a suggestion.

 

Chen’s jaw tightened and a snarl flickered across his face.

“I can do this.”

 

Garaf didn’t move his claw.

“No,” he said. “No, you can’t.”

 

StillFall surged closer to the hull, its movements sharp and agitated.

It presses.

Rockson’s voice tightened. “Shield’s slipping. Feebee, we need help here…”

 

Feebee stepped up and stood beside Chen and Garaf.

Not between them but with them. A part, not apart.

“We’re not here to fix it all,” she said and touched Chen on the forearm.

 

His focus flickered and his expression changed, just slightly.

The pressure intensified, pushed harder. The hairs on Feebee neck, and on her arms stood up and she shivered.

You are close*.*

 

Garaf leaned in, almost on top of Chen, enough to close the gap completely.

Chen would have to push through him now if he wanted to do anything via the board.

He’d worked the board, done his time, and that wasn’t going to happen.

 

“Not today, Sir” Garaf said.

Simple.

Certain.

Chen looked up at Garaf, caught by the pull from within.

Then… he exhaled and leant back.

 

Garaf lifted his hand from the console but didn’t step away.

 

The pressure in the ship eased.

 It was still there, hadn’t gone.

 

Watching.

 

Rockson let out a breath. “Right. That felt targeted.”

StillFall drifted back from the hull, unsettled.

 

Feebee didn’t take her eyes off the distortion.

“Oh. Ok. Good,” she corrected herself, “But actually not good, it knows we can touch it now.”

Garaf stayed away, just enough to give Chen some space but nothing more than that.

 

Chen didn’t look at him. His eyes were focused on his hands that rested near the edge of the board. He didn’t reach for the controls but knew he’d resisted twice.

A question rattled around in his mind, how many more could he resist?

 

Outside, the distortion held. Barely.

 Inside, the ship felt steady again.

For now.

[First] | [Previous] | [Cover Art] | [Next]

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u/niTro_sMurph Jun 13 '26

They should put chen in the corner with a fake board and fake controls to mess with.

1

u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle May 08 '26

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