The stars bent, then vanished.
As the Jade Vulture exited hyperfold, its reinforced hull groaned against the pressure of the psionic field surrounding Dream Market Theta-7. Outside the viewport, reality fractured—shards of broken moonlight, ripples of dark matter, and the faint shimmer of floating megastructures made from crystallized thought.
Kairos stood on the command deck, staring out at the impossible sight.
The Dream Market wasn't a location. It was a state of mind. Literally. Built in a neutral zone between corporate jurisdictions, it existed half in space, half in memory, accessed only by those with the right neural keys—and the strength to endure its shifting rules.
This was where broken minds, banned technologies, and outlawed truths came to be sold.
And it was where Kairos would find Vael Sarn, the most dangerous weapon he could recruit for the mission to Aetherion.
Descent into Madness
