Harabec Kion was raised in Sisters of EVE space, among refuge stations, Sanctuary survey teams, and hangars full of ships that came back missing armor, crew, or explanations. While other children learned prayers, Harabec learned probe geometry, relic encryption, and the sacred art of not touching the obviously cursed alien device until the scan finished.

Mostly.

The Sisters taught him that every lost ship had a story, every ruin had a purpose, and every unanswered question was an invitation. The Sanctuary spoke carefully of the EVE Gate, Sleeper enclaves, forgotten civilizations, and the old wounds buried in Anoikis. Harabec heard something simpler: there are doors no one has opened yet.

He began in an Astero, the Outlaw Star, a sharp little knife of a ship built for slipping through cracks in the map. Later came his Stratios, the Black Recluse, a darker, meaner machine with enough teeth to make pirates, drones, and overconfident capsuleers reconsider their life choices.

Now Harabec haunts wormholes, deadspace pockets, shattered ruins, and forgotten warzones in search of old technology, forbidden coordinates, and treasures sensible people leave alone. Sleepers have tried to kill him. Pirates have tried to rob him. Capsuleers have tried to explain why his discovery technically belonged to them.

All failed.

Harabec does not consider himself reckless. Reckless people fail to update their clone contracts. Harabec updates his frequently.

To him, exploration is not a profession. It is a moral obligation with poor insurance coverage. Somewhere beyond the next cosmic signature is a relic that will rewrite history, a cache that will make him rich, or a machine that really, really should have stayed buried.

Naturally, he intends to scan it first.

Then steal it.

Then figure out what it does.