Read the book: «Universe Аeternov. Book three: A Heart in Ashes»

Andrey Sopelnik

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ISBN 978-5-0068-7868-6 (т. 3)

ISBN 978-5-0068-7869-3

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UNIVERSE

AETERNOV

Book three:

«A Heart in Ashes.»

Andrey Yuryevich Sopelnik.

Creative pseudonym: Andrey S.

Rostov-on-Don.

2025.

For everyone who loves Fiction, the Russian heroes of the Universe.

Book Three: «A Heart in Ashes.»

Chapter 1. The Ring of last hope

At the very edge of the multiverse, beyond the Chrono-Shield and beyond any memory, lies a world that even the songs have forgotten about.

There is no Aeternov here.

There Is No Sand of Time.

There is no Elyra singing lullabies to dead worlds.

There is only Cybernexy here.

A planet assembled from the wreckage of an ancient war between Light and Darkness; a world where cities grow from rusty towers and cracked screens, and the sky is replaced by a holographic vault on which the harsh phrase

«THE WINNER IS THE ONE WHO REMAINS» burns with eternal flame.

They don’t believe in redemption.

They only believe in the ring here. The Ring of Last Hope.

Every Saturday, Destiny Fights take place in the Zero Heart Arena – not for the sake of fame or power, but for the sake of energy.

The losing team gives its Core to the winners.

And without him, you’re no longer human.

You’re trash among the scrap metal.

Today, a couple appears in the ring, whose names are still capable of making even the titans of Darkness tremble.

ALEXEY MEKHANIK is the last of Aeternov’s Steel Shields, whose body is forged from a military alloy, and whose soul is made up of poems and old watches., And next to it is KITTY THE LION, a former fluffy cyber-cat, now a living embodiment of Light in steel: laser eyes, crystal armor of hope, a plasma whip tail and in his chest an Eternal Pulse Crystal, given to him by Julia from the Village of Pure Hearts.

They are opposed by a Team of Bad Guys – elite creatures of Darkness, grown in the laboratories of Mechanos-9.: – Wrath-9, a cyborg with saws instead of hands;

– Shadow Fang, a killer chameleon that disappears even from the chrono code;

– A mad mammoth, a four-meter tank with a chest pain reactor.

Thousands of viewers – cyborgs, Mechanicals, creatures cut off from emotions – do not clap.

They charge the arena with a current of anticipation.

THE BATTLE BEGINS.

Referee – A robot with an old Knox face, still an «old» model, raises its hand:

– Launch!

Wrath-9 rushes in first, roaring like a dying reactor.

Alexey meets him not with a punch, but with a word.

Quietly, as if he were praying:

«My chains are made of steel. My oath is from the light.»

At the same moment, Kitty the Lion soars up, leaving behind a trail of stardust and sparkling arrogance.

– Hey, Anger! Have you heard the joke about the cyborg who forgot to feed the cat? So here he is in front of you! And he whips his tail across his opponent’s jaw.

The arena flashes blue.

The audience sobs with energy.

The Shadow-Fang disappears, disappearing into thin air.

But Vika, hiding behind the scenes and looking through the Mirror of Silence, whispers into her earpiece,

«He’s on the left.» Under you. He’s… afraid of laughter.

The lion purrs softly and releases an impulse of humor.

Shadow Fang materializes, trembling, with wet eyes.

– Did you… tell me about my mom?». – He croaks.

«No, – Lev smiles softly. – I told you about the laser pointer. And you remembered what a kitten you were.

The Mad mammoth roars and goes to ram.

Alexey doesn’t move.

He opens his chest plate, exposing his Core Heart.

– Hit me, – he says. «But know this: even if you break me, I won’t stop being human until you forget that I was.»

The mammoth freezes.

A memory flashes in his eyes: his little daughter, the alarm clock that he once fixed for her before going to bed.…

At that moment, the Lion flies up on his back, turns on the «Space Massage» mode, and launches a laser dot directly at the back of his head.

«Go to sleep, Uncle. Tomorrow is the sun.

The mammoth kneels down.

Then he cries with thick oil.

victory.

The referee raises Alexey and Lev’s hands:

– THE WINNERS ARE THE TEAM OF LIGHT!

The crowd explodes – not with voices, but with the energy of pure faith.

The heart-Cores of the defeated remain in place: Alexey does not allow them to be taken away.

He puts his hand on Wrath-9’s shoulder:

«You’re not a monster. You’re a tired hero. Get some rest. We’ll wait.

The lion approaches the Shadow-Fang:

– Do you want another joke? About the cat who saved the universe just by keeping it awake?

Shadow-Fang nods.

And for the first time in a hundred years, he’s smiling.

Chapter 2. Run through the crystal of hope

After their triumph, dazzling as the flash of an ancient supernova heart, the air still trembled above the ring of Cybernexia.

The crowd, which knew neither compassion nor tears, but was still able to believe in the power of victory, dispersed like the smoke of molten stars when Alina approached Alexey and Lev.

She walked softly, as if she were made of light, and her eyes, two attentive galaxies, carried a warning.

«I need your experience,» she said softly, but in such a way that the noise of the arena receded. «Knox is calling.» Darkness is already breathing in the seventy-eighth. Join the «Fist of Retribution»

Alexey lowered his gaze. The Core heart hidden in his chest shimmered with a warm exhale, like the sun sinking over the edge of the chronogorizon.

– I’m sorry, Alina, – he replied. «We are not warriors. We are runners. And today our path calls. The last race of the season is not waiting for heroes – only those who know how to move forward, even when time is turning their backs.

The lion, curled up in a furry ball on his shoulder, purred, vibrating with the frequency of the chronodrive.:

And besides, if we leave, who’s going to tell the world the joke about the cyborg who forgot to feed the cat? A world without laughter is a desert without sand.

Alina tried to smile, but there was something dark in her smile, like the shadow of a distant room.

«Then run, – she said. – But know this: when the time comes, I will call. And you will respond. Because you are unique.

The world moved around her, and Alina disappeared in a whirlwind of light and a chronoscope.

1. The start of the «marathon without return».

On the edge of Cybernexia, where the holographic sky always repeats the same words – «THE WINNER IS THE ONE WHO REMAINS» – runners from all the worlds that space has managed to forget gathered.

They stood side by side here:

Ferronia’s mechanicals are exoskeletons, similar to forges that went into battle.

Pyrolia’s fire – jumpers – flames leapt from their footsteps, as if the earth itself was ignited by their determination.

The Etherians were from Melody – their every step rang like a note that could wake up a sleeping comet.

The cyber-beasts of Somnium are creatures that cross dreams as easily as the desert.

Ghoul runner shadows are alive with twilight and fear, squeaking with the despair of those who falter on the track.

The prize shone on the pedestal:

The Eternal Pulse Crystal is an artifact of such power that it could ignite an extinct Core Heart or restore lost memory even to those whom oblivion had eaten almost completely.

Alexey took out his flying boots «Star Dog-9», forged on Pyrolysis from the tears of the blacksmiths and the ashes of hope.

«I’ll put them on, – he said, buckling his seat belts. – Today, the highway is not just a path. She’ll be checking the soul, not the legs.

The lion, sharpening his claws on a stone, grinned:

– And I can reach the first space speed even without shoes. Especially if there’s a moon-sized laser pointer looming ahead.

«Then hold on to your tail, brother, – Alexey smiled. – Today we are bringing the light to a place where it is no longer expected.

2. The highway. The path through hell.

The marathon was known for its brutality, as if Cybernexia itself had decided to test every nerve.

1. The Desert of Forgotten Names.

The sand here stole the memory.

Every step was filled with the pain of loss: I forgot why I was running, who I was, who I loved.

2. Mountains Of Broken Oaths.

The rocks are as sharp as treason.

And chrono traps hid in the cracks: if you make a wrong step, time will go backwards, erasing the future.

3. Fragments of the Last Breath.

It was possible to jump only with faith.

Doubt, and you will fall into the abyss, where the echo carries the voices of those whom history has erased out of pity.

4. Lakes of Mekhanos-9.

These artificial reservoirs were inhabited by transforming Mecha – Beasts, the remnants of cyborgs rejected by factories.

They weren’t stealing lives; they were stealing speed.

Race.

The starting signal was not a sound, but a flash of light, like a stroke of fate on the heart.

Alexey soared up, his boots leaving a trail of blue flame behind him.

Leo turned into a plasma comet; his eyes flashed like two searchlights of hope.

– Attention! «Stop it!» he barked. – Lakes ahead! The monsters can already sense our microchips!

Iron Hydra burst out of the black water – multi – headed creatures, each jaw of which was a saw, each eye was a death radar.

Alexey raised the shield of the Core-Heart.

The lion soared higher – and released a wave of humor-impulse:

– Hey, you guys! Have you heard how cyborg was afraid of water? So that’s how he died dry!

One of the hydrae grunted… and then she laughed softly and crumbled into rusty dust.

– That’s it! Alexey shouted. – Humor is our armor!

The finish of the first section.

The road of Revelations opened up before them, thin and bright, like a memory that you are afraid of losing.

Every runner here has seen his past.

Alexey is a daughter laughing in the wind of a vanished world.

Leo is himself, a little kitten chasing a laser dot like a new universe.

But they didn’t stop.

They knew that the past was a light behind them, but the path leads forward.

They crossed the finish line at the same time.

The crowd exploded – not with fear, not with rage, but with a rare feeling that Cybernexia had long since lost, hope.

Chapter 3. The sand that steals names

1. The desert of forgotten names.

After winning the Marathon Without Return, Alexey and Lev did not go to the arena. It was not fame that called them, not the brilliance of crystals, but the path – the one that is measured not by steps, but by losses. And their path led through the Desert of Forgotten Names – a space where time does not flow, but evaporates, where the sand does not rustle, but whispers.

«They don’t store memories here. They’re taking her away here for the right to move on.»

The sky above the desert was not a sky, nor a mirror, nor darkness, but only the pale skin of the world, on which dents of forgotten destinies appeared. The further the traveler went into the depths, the paler his reflection became, as if reality itself refused to remember him.

The sand here was alive. It burned my skin not with heat, but with a touch that dimmed my memories, draining away like moisture into dry earth.

One step and you forget the name of your first love.

Two steps is the goal of the path.

Three is one’s own self.

2. Alexey: steel against oblivion.

Alexey walked ahead. His armor, forged by the masters of Ferronia from tears and oaths, glimmered dully – the sand sharpened it from the inside, like a worm into the bark of a tree.

«My chains are made of steel. My oath is from the light…» he whispered, as if praying to hold himself back.

But on the tenth step, the sand touched the Core Heart.

And he forgot.

Not everyone, just her.

Daughter. Name. Voice. A smile after the rain.

The memory disappeared, leaving an empty crystal with a thin crack in his chest, as if no one had ever lived there.

«Who… who am I?» – He croaked, getting down on one knee. «Am I… a soldier?» A mechanic? Or is it just… a chip?

The sand replied with a rustle like the breath of a dead wind:

«Stay. Forget. Pain is an illusion. Memory is a chain.»

And at that moment, a quiet, almost homely purr sounded behind him – not the hum of a combat engine, but a soft sound that recalls the warmth of the hearth.

– Hey, steel grandpa, – said the Lion, – don’t listen to the sand. He’s lying. You’re not a bummer. You’re a dad. And even if you forget everything… I remember for both of us.

He put a warm paw on Alexey’s chest, right on his Core Heart.

And with that touch, the memory returned – not as an image, but as a feeling.:

warm children’s hands, the smell of wet hair, a whisper: «Dad, are the stars sleeping too?

«Alexei’s eyes flashed with tears, oil, and light.

– Thank you, brother…

– Just know that if you fall, I’ll pull you out by the tail.» Even if you don’t have a tail.

3. Leo, laughter versus silence.

The lion, of course, did not need flying boots. His body is living plasma; his mind is a chimerical mix of quantum logic and feline stubbornness. But even the sand had prepared a test for him – he stole not the memory, but the meaning.

In the middle of the desert, the Lion suddenly stopped.

«It’s strange… – he muttered. – I don’t remember why I liked laser pointers.

The sand whispered,

«They don’t mean anything. You’re a machine.

Laughter is a program.

Friendship is a mistake.»

The lion sat down right on the hot swell. His main dimmed, and his laser eyes went out.

«Maybe… Am I really just a joke machine? Maybe everything I did… was for nothing?

Alexey approached in silence. He took off his glove.

And he scratched the Lion behind the ear, just as he had on their very first day in the Valley of the Whispering Machines.

«You’re not a machine, – he said softly. – You are a cat who became a lion so that the world would not forget to laugh.

And Lev remembered.

Not a pointer, but why he needs it.

Because a dot on the wall is hope.

Because the game is life.

Because laughter is something that even the Darkness couldn’t erase.

He jumped up, shook his mane, and it burst into little stars.

– Well, little sand! «Stop it!» he barked. «Try to take my memories!» But jokes… jokes are sacred!

And he shot a laser beam into the mirror sky. Where his name was already disappearing, a fiery inscription flashed up:

«KITTY-9 „FLUFF OF DESTRUCTION“ IS NOT FORGOTTEN»

The sand shook.

And he retreated.

Finish: the name that remains.

When they came out of the desert, neither the arena, nor the crowd, nor the glitter of crystals were waiting for them.

A stone was waiting for them – simple, warm, with a single word:

«REMEMBER.»

Alexey put his hand on it. The lion has a paw.

The stone glowed – not brightly, not solemnly, but the way a heart that has chosen to live glows.

«We passed, – Alexey said quietly.

– You bet! Lev snorted. – I even told the sand an anecdote about a cyborg who forgot to feed a cat. He was so upset that he gave me back my memory!

Alexey smiled.

«You’re a miracle, brother.

«I’m a cat with laser eyes and the soul of a poet,» Lev corrected importantly. – And now I know for sure that

in worlds where names are stolen,

in conditions of war and oblivion,

the real name is erased only when those who pronounce it cease to live. And we won’t stop.

Chapter 4. Mountains of Broken Oaths

The test begins.

After their triumph in the Desert of Forgotten Names, where Alexey and Lev not only preserved their memories, but also restored their voice to dying names, the next stage of the «Marathon of Return» awaited them.

A stage that rarely passed in one piece.

The stage where it wasn’t the bones that crumbled, but the oaths.

Mountains Of Broken Oaths.

Of the ten teams that started at dawn, only three made it to the foot of the spurs.:

1. Team of Light – Alexey Mechanic and Kitty the Lion.

2. The Bad Guys’ team is tired but unbroken; they lost the Mad Mammoth in the Lakes of Noise, but they didn’t turn back.

3. The Ghoul Shadow Brothers are ghostly runners whose cloaks are made of black sand and whose compass eyes indicate the enemy’s deepest fear.

The finish is one.

There is only one prize.

And only one team will receive the Eternal Pulse Crystal, which can not only restore the Core Heart, but also restore the lost tomorrow.

Mountains of broken oaths.

The rocks of these mountains were not only sharp with stone; they were sharp with the essence of betrayal. Each fragment was once someone’s promise, broken under the pressure of circumstances or weakness. Each crack is a chrono – wound in which time flowed backwards, forcing the runner to see the moment when he took a wrong turn.

– Careful, – Lev said softly. His laser eyes glided smoothly along the path. «Even your own shadow can seduce you here.»

Alexey activated the Core-Heart shield and stepped in first.

«We’re not running from the past, – he said. «We’re running through it.

Chrono traps.

The first path met them with a sudden lapse of time.

Alexey

In an instant, he became a soldier of the Chrono Galaxy again. In front of him is a tactical selection screen:

on the left is the name,

on the right is the Sand of Time, for which his squad was responsible.

The voice of command thundered in his ears:

«Sacrifice is necessary. You are not the father. You are Aeternov’s shield.

But Alexey, who had passed through the Desert of Oblivion, did not flinch.

«I’m both, – he whispered. «And I choose memory over emptiness.»

From his breast pocket, he took out an old hologram of his daughter – a barely lit face laughing towards the world – and carefully placed it on the stone.

«I remember you.» And that’s enough.

The rock beneath him trembled – and parted,

allowing him to pass on.

His trap was different.

He saw himself – not as a Lion, not as Kitty-9, not as a living plasma creature, but as a cyber-cat from the Mekhanos-9 laboratory, forgotten in a corner of a noisy workshop.

The voice of the inner AI sounded like an icy verdict:

– You’re a mistake. You are not needed. You’re a waste.

But the Lion only snorted – briefly, loudly, defiantly.

«A mistake?» Me? I am the fluffy apocalypse! Even if the whole world forgets my name…“ he switched on his laser eyes, „the dot on the wall will still be waiting for me.

The chrono-trap flared up, then crumbled to ashes, as if admitting defeat.

A trail of glowing footprints remained behind him, as a reminder that laughter is stronger than programs.

The battle at the top.

The peak met them not with the wind, but with enemies.

The Bad Guys and the Shadow Brothers had been the first to climb up here, and now they stood like a wall, as if the mountain itself had decided to give them the last test.

«You won’t get through!» Wrath-9 growled. His saws spun so fast that the air screamed.

– And we are not going to pass, – grinned the Lion. «We’re going to fly.»

Alexey activated the flying boots «Star Dog-9», and Lev activated his legendary «Space Massage» mode, which usually caused existential panic among enemies.

He jumped on Wrath-9’s back and shouted right into his ear.:

– Hey, buddy! Do you want a joke about a cyborg who was afraid of heights?

«There he is!»

And he turned on the laser pointer right above the back of his head.

Anger-9 froze, struck not by pain but by delight. His saws slowed down and then dropped completely. He collapsed to his knees, dreaming of a personal pointer.

The Shadow Brothers tried to disappear into the shadow of the mountain, but at that moment, Vika’s quiet voice – watching the marathon through the mirror of silence – whispered:

– They are afraid of laughter.

Their vow is to remain silent.

Leo instantly took the hint.

And without hesitation, he began to sing. Fake, noisy, but with such joy that even the rocks trembled:

When two Shadows rushed forward,

One stumbled, suddenly… and smiled!

And having stopped being silent, I understood —

Being human is sometimes more important than darkness.…

The Shadow Brothers froze.

And then they burst into tears with butter.

– We… forgot how to laugh,» one of them whispered.

Alexey came over and put his hand on his shoulder, gently, as if he were a brother.

«Nothing.» We will remind you.

Chapter 5. The Fragments of the Last Breath

Three teams. One way. No going back.

After winning in the Mountains of Broken Oaths, where the past was a trap and memories were a weapon, only three of the ten teams that started the Marathon of No Return reached the final hurdle:

1. Team of Light – Alexey Mechanic and Kitty the Lion.

2. The Bad Guys Team – Wrath-9 and Shadow-Fang (The Mad Mammoth never recovered from the laser pointer).

3. The Shadow Brothers from Ghouldom are ghostly runners with black sand cloaks and compass eyes indicating fear.

The last obstacle before the finale was waiting for them – the Last Gasp.

Chasms where there is no bottom, where the air is buzzing with the cries of forgotten destinies, where neither speed, nor strength, nor cunning can save.

There is only one law in force here:

You can only jump with faith. Doubt – and you fall into the abyss, where erased destinies scream.

The first leap is faith in a friend.

The first cliff is a hundred paces wide. There is a void underfoot, filled with the echo of forgotten names.

– Well, steel grandpa, – snorted the Lion. – Are you afraid?

«I’m afraid, – Alexey answered honestly. – But not the abyss. I’m just afraid that you’ll decide to build a «space massage» right in flight.

– Only if you ask!» Lev chuckled.

Immediately, he jumped – not forward, but upward, leaving a trail of stardust and jokes in his wake.

– Hey, Anger! «Stop it!» he shouted as he walked. – Did you hear the joke about the cyborg who was afraid of heights?

Alexey looked at his friend, not at the shoes, but at the belief that he would not betray him.

And the moment the steel legs lifted off the edge, the abyss fell silent.

Faith is not the absence of insurance. Faith is to jump without even seeing the bottom.

Bad guys – doubt is like falling.

Wrath-9 growled:

– We are not children! We will not jump like fools!

He activated the pain reactor and rushed forward. But as soon as he got off the ground, the abyss began to speak.:

«You’re not a hero. You’re a machine with saws instead of hands. Who loves you?»

Doubt seeped into his steel like rust.

«No… I… I’m needed!» «Stop it!» he shouted.

But it was too late.

He fell. Not down. And into the abyss of erased destinies, where those who have even forgotten the songs scream.

Shadow Fang reached out his hand, but only grabbed the void.

– He’s… gone, – he whispered. – It’s not even in the memory of time.

Shadow brothers – faith in fear.

The Shadow Brothers didn’t jump. They dissolved, becoming invisible, trying to deceive the abyss.

But the abyss does not deceive.

«You are not hiding from us. You are hiding from yourself,» the erased destinies whispered.

One brother remembered for a moment how he was afraid of the dark when he was a child. How a mother sang a lullaby… How he died for the first time and cried with oil.

– I… don’t want to be a shadow…» he whispered.

And he fell.

The second brother froze on the edge. I looked at Alexey and Lev, who were already standing on the other bank.

– Why don’t you fall? «Stop it!» he shouted.

«Because we’re not alone, – Alexei replied.

«And you?» – Lev asked. – Are you alone?

My brother fell silent. Then he jumped. Not with faith in victory, but with faith that someone will catch his fall.

And a miracle happened.

The abyss caught him, as a mother catches a crying child. He landed on the other shore, trembling but alive.

«You are not a shadow,» said the Lion, holding out his paw. – You’re the one who still remembers how to be afraid.

The finish line is not a prize, but a memory.

On the last cliff, there was an Eternal Pulse Crystal, pulsating like a living heart.