The End to Come - Page 17-18 3D Render, Digital Artwork by emarukk

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The End to Come - Page 17-18

3D Render by emarukk

A void of space welcomed her like an old friend, and Olivia drifted through her nightmare. Her body was rigid with fear within the confines of her suit, and her entire existence contracted to the shuttle looming ahead. The rear gate yawned open like a glaring beacon amidst the oppressive darkness, and she locked onto it with a fierce, unyielding focus. It was her lifeline, the lone anchor in a universe of chaos, the singular fixed point amidst a disorienting swirl of shifting shadows. Everything else vanished into an abyss of nothingness, an endless expanse of cold stars that offered no solace, only a dizzying descent into vertigo. Her limbs floated, paralyzed and numb, mocking her with their uselessness. The suit's weight was meaningless out here, yet inside it, she was crushed under the suffocating weight of terror. She couldn't discern if she was plummeting or ascending, only that she was in motion, inexorably pulled forward by the relentless drag of the guiding drone behind her. The shuttle hatch loomed impossibly distant one moment, then alarmingly close the next, as her perception of distance twisted and distorted. Her eyes were wide, unblinking; she dared not look away. To look away, or blink, was surrendering to the abyss and falling away forever.

Each second felt like an eternity carved out of time itself, every heartbeat a thunderous drumbeat followed by a suffocating pause that seemed to stretch into infinity. Olivia's thoughts were obliterated; her family, the station, the stranger, and the harsh truth of her existence as salvage vanished, consumed by the ravenous beast of fear that had taken over her entire being. A surrounding void waited to claim her, a gaping maw of darkness and dread, where one misstep, one slight tilt in the wrong direction, would send her plummeting into an endless abyss. Her breath came in ragged, frantic gasps, each exhalation fogging her helmet despite the constant hum of the ventilation system working overtime. Her heart pounded with such ferocity that the sound ricocheted through her skull, drowning out the silence of space and roaring louder than the shuttle's blast thrusters. Stay focused, she commanded herself, clutching onto sanity with fierce resolve. The drone nudged her again, a subtle shift that redirected her course with mechanical precision. Yet, she remained oblivious, her entire essence locked onto the shuttle and that looming salvation behind the glowing doorway.

Her fear clawed at her insides like a wild beast, but it wasn't the fear of death; no, death was an abstract specter, far removed from the immediacy of her terror. She was petrified of drifting, being cast adrift into the void, spiraling into oblivion, and falling forever. The thought of being lost gnawed at her sanity. Her eyes locked onto that open gate, a beacon of hope in the chaos, a promise of escape, the only thing anchoring her. It glowed fiercely, like the portal to another dimension, or the threshold where souls cross into the afterlife. Images of transition flooded her mind, echoes of teachings from the temple. For a flicker of a moment, Olivia wondered if she had already crossed over. But no, a dead Valkyrie clad in battle-worn power armor didn't quite fit the ethereal narratives. And the absurdity of entering the afterlife encased in an oversized spacesuit, propelled by an odd drone, was a notion too surreal to entertain.

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Digital Drapery CoFri, Apr 04

Karma: 6,623

Absolutely mesmerizing! The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife, and Olivia's fear is so raw it feels like its seeping off the page. The contrast between the infinite void and the singular hope of the shuttle hatch is masterfully done - like a lifeline stretched to its breaking point. The descriptions pull you into her disoriented, weightless terror, making every heartbeat feel like a countdown. And that final thought? Teetering between reality and the surreal? Brilliant.

This scene is a cinematic nightmare in the best way possible - can't wait to see what happens next!

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emarukk

Karma: 2,199

Fri, Apr 04

Thank you! Olivia has left the building! A new, very different future is looming ahead of her.