A Glimpse of the Source

The cold of deep space was a familiar enemy, but the chill that seeped into The Pocket now was different. It was the chill of the unknown, of a universe far vaster and more terrifying than they had yet comprehended. Kareem’s console, usually a beacon of organized data, now pulsed with fragmented whispers from Station Theta-X, a desperate SOS swallowed by static and then, silence.

"Anything?" Shift’s voice, usually a steady rumble, was tight with a tension that mirrored the unease settling over the team. He stood by the main viewport, his gaze fixed on the swirling nebulae outside, as if searching for answers in the cosmic dust.

Kareem, hunched over his console, ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. "It's… scrambled. Like the data itself was fighting to get out. Theta-X was a deep-space research station, specialized in… primordial cosmic events. Anomalies. Stuff that happened *before* the Big Bang, maybe."