With time restored, MaRa and her team believed that the greatest danger had passed. The time node had been stabilized and reality seemed to return to normal. But the peace didn't last long. Shortly after the strings' frequencies had been recalibrated, a new anomaly manifested—this time, not in time, but in space.

The initial observations appeared to be simple local fluctuations: small distortions in gravitational fields, strange motions of stars, areas where space seemed to "stretch" or contract. But as the days passed, these anomalies amplified, until the entire spatial structure began to contort.

Amidst the chaos, MaRa felt the subtle echo of thongs, this time deeper, more menacing. Space, like time, was bound by the vibrations of thongs. If time had been a resonance, space was the very extension of these vibrations in multiple dimensions.

"It's not just a local distortion," MaRa said, peering into the depths of a three-dimensional holographic diagram that projected the Universe spinning chaotically around a new knot of energy. "Space itself bends, folds...like an ocean stirred by an unknown force."

As with the temporal knot, the team of scientists began to suspect that a string anomaly was involved. Quantum supercomputers detected points of tension in the fabric of space, places where the strings seemed to vibrate dissonantly. But unlike destabilized time, where vibrational corrections could be adjusted, space was much harder to control. He was stretched across all dimensions, seemed to react not only to strings but to matter and energy, as if the entire fabric of the Cosmos had been uprooted.

"These warps extend far beyond anything we imagined," said one of the researchers, pointing to a pattern of galaxies that appeared to bend and disappear. "It's getting bigger, every day, and it's all converging to one point."

MaRa understood that the echo of thongs had returned. The knot created by the first time travel had not been an isolated singularity. It was just part of a much larger cascade that now spread out into space. Each dimension was a connected vibration, and now those strings, already strained, were beginning to affect the three-dimensional structure of the Cosmos.

"We must find the source and stabilize it before space collapses," MaRa said, her eyes fixed on the cosmic maps that were beginning to show cracks. “This is not just a node. It's a spiral, an expanding storm."

What they were going to do now was far more risky than recalibrating time. The spatial node was at the intersection of thousands of strings that controlled not only the laws of gravity and motion, but the very physical existence of matter. Correcting it meant not only restoring order, but deeply manipulating the invisible fibers that held the Universe together.

The journey to that point was a challenge in itself. The space node was in an area where gravity behaved erratically and navigating through such an unstable space was dangerous. MaRa and her team prepared a specially modified ship to withstand the distortions, with gravity shields and an advanced string vibration detection system. Every meter traveled was a battle against a Cosmos
whirling.

When they reached ground zero of the anomalies, the spectacle was overwhelming. Space was fragmented, whole chunks of reality seemed to turn on themselves, like the waves of an ocean swallowing everything in its path. Amidst the chaos, the vibrations of the thongs were so strong that every atom seemed to be torn apart by opposing forces.

"This isn't just a warp anymore," MaRa said, her voice barely audible over the cosmic roar. "It's a total rupture of the space."

Approaching the central hub, MaRa knew she only had one chance. Correcting the frequency of the strings had to be done with impossible precision, or the entire space structure could collapse in on itself, in a vortex that would absorb not only their galaxy, but the related dimensions as well.

In a last desperate attempt, he recalibrates all systems to detect the correct vibrational pattern. The strings began to vibrate more and more intensely, and the space stretched out more and more dangerously.

"Now," she said, pressing the final sync button.

For a moment, everything stopped. Space seemed to have quieted down, as if the Universe was holding its breath. Then, slowly, the knot began to tighten, the strings to regain harmony, and the spatial contortions to smooth out.

MaRa fell exhausted, but watched in silence as the thongs echoed and the space returned to normal.

This time, however, he knew that the danger was not truly gone. Somewhere, in another dimension, another node was waiting to be awakened.

Explore further… Shadows of the Multiverse