Aboard the Skiff, Captain Manuel's ship. Preparation bay.
The hull trembles.
Not from thrust. Not from gravity.
From something deeper.
As if the very fabric of space is scraping against the ship's metallic skin, trying to get in.
The Platform has awakened — and its echo tears through every bolt, every seam, like the premonition of catastrophe.
The panels flicker dimly in the bay.
The machines breathe heavily — tired, muffled, almost dying.
This isn't a place for life.
This is the edge of being. A place where androids challenge gods.
Maria and Pietro remain silent.
Shadows from the console stretch across their faces, aging them, hardening them.
The air smells of plastic, metal… and waiting.
"We're doing this. Right? To the end." — The thought rushes through her mind, but no voice comes out.
In the center of the bay, inside a shock-absorbing pod, lies a kitten.
Fluffy. Silvery. Like a sunbeam from a world that no longer exists.
He is calm. Almost too calm.
"He knows something…", flashes through Pietro's mind. "Or maybe he's simply unafraid — because his essence lives beyond fear?"
But it's not just a kitten.
Inside him — the signals of Hanaris.
Not audible. Not visible.
But present. As real as the weight of the future compressed into one soft body.
"The alliance codes are loaded," Pietro says quietly. His voice is not a voice — it's a whispered prayer.
"All parameters stabilized. He's… ready."
Maria steps closer.
Her face is calm, but her eyes… flicker with pain.
Not fear.
Something deeper.
Like releasing the last spark of hope into the void — held in the paws of a tiny creature.
"This is madness," she whispers. Barely audible. Almost to herself.
"But we have no other way."
Pietro nods.
"Madness isn't chaos. It's the moment when logic surrenders to reality."
He gently covers the pod with an isolation sheath.
His fingers move carefully — almost like a father's.
Then — the transparent lid.
Done.
The little one is sealed inside.
"Protect us. We believe in you like no one else ever has…"
The pod slides into the slot of the transport module.
It receives it silently, like an inhale.
A green light blinks on the panel: 100% READY.
This module isn't just a capsule.
It's a herald.
A secret messiah encoded in machinery.
Its layered shell masks it from radars.
Its autonomous navigation — a logic no one can predict.
It cannot be caught. Unless you already know what you're looking for.
Maria inputs the coordinates manually.
Slowly.
Each number — a spell. A prayer in tongues long lost to humanity.
"Coordinates loaded. Pod secured. Trajectory confirmed."
Pietro freezes beside her.
His hand hovers over the launch console.
"If I press this — there's no turning back. Not for us. Not for him. Not for this world…"
His breath is unsteady.
His heart — an old engine on the verge of explosion.
He stares at the screen: the module's pulse is steady.
Like the heart of Hanaris itself — the quiet, focused beat of fate.
"Ready. Waiting for your command."
Maria doesn't answer immediately.
One second stretches into eternity.
The engines fall silent.
Ventilation stops.
Time holds its breath.
"Launch. Let it fly."
Her finger touches the key.
A click.
And that's it.
The module disappears from the dock.
No flash. No roar.
Just… gone. Dissolved.
Taking with it — hope. And danger. And the future.
On the screen — a dotted line.
It travels… and travels… and fades.
The pod. The module. The kitten. All — in space. In silence. In eternity.
They remain in the bay, the two of them.
Like in a chapel at the end of the world.
No words.
No movement.
Only silence.
Only the awareness — "Now it's out of our hands."
"I just hope he doesn't meow at the wrong moment…" Pietro tries to joke.
But his voice betrays him. It shakes.
It's not a joke.
It's… the final wager.
Maria looks at him.
And for the first time — smiles.
Not fully. But a spark appears.
Light.
Small.
Real.
"He won't fail," she says. "He's one of us.
The strength of Hanaris is with him."
They stand there for a long time, staring into the dark screen.
Beyond it — the silent universe.
And somewhere out there…
Flies a small, fluffy bearer of the world's fate.