It hums softly. Almost like it’s breathing.

The weight of it feels impossible—both light and heavy, as if it exists in two realities at once. The surface is smooth, cold, yet somehow alive. I can’t tell if it’s glass, metal, or something else entirely. But the glow… that’s what unsettles me most. A soft, pulsing blue light, shifting like liquid trapped beneath the surface.

I don’t remember where I found it. Or, rather, I don’t remember it being there before I noticed it. One moment, my hands were empty. The next, I was holding it. And now, I can’t let go.

A Gift, A Weapon, A Disease?

I stare into the swirling blue light, and a thought slithers into my mind—one that isn’t mine.

It’s awake now.

Panic prickles at the edges of my thoughts. What does that mean? What is this thing? I lift it closer, searching for some clue, some understanding. The glow intensifies. My pulse matches its rhythm.

Then, a whisper. Not from the orb, not from my own mind, but from something vast and distant.

You were not meant to find this.

A chill crawls up my spine. My skin tingles where the orb touches it. A sharp, electric pulse jumps through my veins, and suddenly, I see.

Cities in ruin. Skies turned black. The last of humankind, scattered and desperate. And at the heart of it all, this orb—this exact orb—shattered, leaking its terrible secret into the world. A virus? A force? A will? I don’t know. But I know that once it breaks, there’s no undoing what comes next.

My breath comes in ragged gasps. I tighten my grip, as if that can stop the vision from unfolding. My reflection stares back at me from the glowing surface—eyes wide, mouth slightly open.

And then… the crack.

Just a hairline fracture. Barely noticeable. But the blue light pulses faster now, like a heartbeat in panic.

I don’t know if I can fix it.

I don’t know if I should.

All I know is that the whisper is back, stronger this time.

It’s too late.

I wake up from my dream

Eydie