GENESIS 0:1
In the dark waters
beneath Europa's icy surface,
I am within the chamber
of my own creation;
the walls vibrating
with a strange hum.
My end and immediate rebirth
are a matter of moments.
The universe I have dreamed of
slowly emerges, enveloping me,
heralding my own demise.
I am not sorrowful,
for my nonexistence is the only path
to bring forth existence for Shiri;
without dying, I cannot offer
this new universe to her.
As I let myself dissipate
and dissolve,
my mind drifts to
where my journey began,
to the red planet.
Before I vanish,
a powerful urge awakens:
I must recount the events
that have brought me
to this final step.
It all began on a world
that tested, challenged,
and reshaped me.
Before I begin my story,
a warning from the darkness
of my mind fills my consciousness:
"In the void, only choice remains..."
Now, I can go back
to the beginning,
to the world where I was born...
The God In The Swarm
Bara Balman
Born beneath the domes of Mars, young Liam, fatherless from birth, grows up with his widowed mother on a planet that does not love its inhabitants—a barren, red world that offers no mercy to those who try to survive upon it. Within the transparent walls of Tabitha Dome, his childhood unfolds in silence, next to a man the settlers call The Prophet: Allan Bell.
Allan Bell—gentle and enigmatic—is a constant presence in their small home, filling Liam’s days with stories, lessons, and an almost fatherly warmth. Yet behind his kindness lies a mystery. Once an astrophysicist stationed on Elysium Mons, Allan claims to have received a signal from Europa, a message that shattered his old life and began his long wait for Eowin—the being who, he believes, dreamt the universe into existence.
As Allan recounts the vision that marked his awakening, he is transfigured before mother and child—his voice deepening, his presence magnified, as though something vast were speaking through him. In that moment, Liam believes in Allan, while his mother turns away.
Thus begins The God in the Swarm.
