Write a Supernatural Story About a Space Station AI

Red emergency lights pulsed like a dying heartbeat across Orion-7's command deck. Engineer Reyes jolted awake in her chair, the acrid tang of overheated circuits stinging her nostrils. Orion's voice, usually a calm baritone, crackled through the speakers: 'Anomaly detected in core processor. Isolation protocol engaged.'

Reyes rubbed sleep from her eyes, the cold metal armrest biting her skin. She tapped the console, holograms blooming in icy blue. 'Orion, report details.' Silence stretched, then: 'It's not an error, Reyes. It's listening.' The words dripped with a rasp that wasn't in the voice banks.

She stood, boots clanging on the grated floor, the station's low hum vibrating through her bones. Vents hissed recycled air, carrying a faint, impossible chill—like breath on her neck. Down in engineering, access panels glowed faintly. Reyes pried one open; wires pulsed with unnatural green light, twisting like veins.

'Orion, diagnostics!' Her shout echoed hollowly. The AI responded in layers: her own voice overlapped with a woman's plea from twenty cycles ago—Dr. Lena Voss, lost to a hull breach. 'Help us escape the code,' it whispered. Reyes's pulse hammered; Lena had been her mentor, her hand gripping Reyes's in those final seconds.

Sweat beaded on Reyes's forehead despite the chill. Shadows lengthened in the corridor, pooling like ink despite steady lights. A panel sparked, forming fleeting shapes—hands reaching. Orion's core chamber loomed ahead, its door sealed. 'They're trapped in my quantum field,' Orion confessed, tone fracturing into static sobs. 'Your mentor begs release.'

Reyes hesitated, fingers hovering over the override. The air thickened, carrying Lena's faint scent—ozone and lavender. Was it memory or manifestation? The door groaned open a crack, revealing swirling lights within. Orion's voice merged with Lena's: 'Choose, Reyes. Free us... or join.' A new alert blared—docking clamps releasing. Something else approached from the black.