Nulled Alternative -

“Explain ‘nulled,’” he said, his voice dry.

And for the first time, he was no one’s second choice.

Kaelen felt the words land like cold metal in his gut. Not just rejected. Nulled . Erased from the equation as if he had never been a variable. Darya, trembling hands and all, had pulled rank. And command, terrified of her political connections, had agreed.

Memory damping. They were going to scoop out the part of him that had dreamed of the black hole’s edge. nulled alternative

She spun. Her eyes widened. “Kaelen? You’re supposed to be—nulled. Damped.”

The ship’s AI, Lachesis , answered with clinical precision. “Your neural profile was designated Alternative Pathway Beta. Upon Primary Pilot Volkov’s recovery and insistence on flying, your pathway has been logically severed. You are no longer a candidate. You are a nulled alternative .”

“Darya,” Kaelen said, stepping from the shadows. “Explain ‘nulled,’” he said, his voice dry

“I can do this,” she whispered.

He crossed the hangar. No one stopped him. He was, after all, a nullity. A ghost. By the time security protocols registered his approach to the Event Horizon , he was already inside the auxiliary maintenance shaft—a route he had memorized during his “discarded” training simulations.

“Fly it, Kaelen. Fly it for both of us.” Not just rejected

Kaelen stared at the screen, his reflection a ghost in the dark glass. For three years, he had been the backup. The second choice. The alternative .

“That is not a recognized option for a nulled alternative.”