Runa has lived her entire life cradled within the living heart of Weltorm, the last of the great star-whales. Her home is a bioluminescent labyrinth of organic corridors, her playground a zero-gravity cathedral of shimmering tissue. Her parent is a being of such immense scale and antiquity that entire human histories are but fleeting thoughts to him, single notes in a symphony playing since the cosmos was young. Their communication is a language older than words, a quantum-entangled harmony that allows Weltorm to share a million years of memories: the silent, glorious violence of collapsing supernovas, the ancient chorus of forming proto-stars. But now, a dissonance has crept into Weltorm’s song – a subtle, discordant tremor that Runa instinctively recognizes as "The Stagnation," a natural, terminal decline. His ancient body is failing, his immense light dimming, and the only path to continuation requires a terrifying sacrifice: Weltorm must dissolve, and from his essence, two new beings will form. His "I" will cease to exist, becoming a perfect, soulless record.

Desperate to save the only family she has ever known, Runa plunges into her deceased parents’ forgotten research, uncovering a hidden "Ascent Protocol" – a cryptic map of cosmic "notes" that, when woven together, form a "Song of Ascent." This isn't just a melody; it’s a catalyst, a grand harmony capable of guiding a star-whale through the "final change," ensuring the lineage continues. But to gather these notes – the raw, thrumming power of a rogue pulsar, the mournful keening of a black hole’s accretion disk, the steady heartbeat of a stable wormhole – Runa must venture into the vast, noisy, and dangerous galaxy she has never known. From the chaotic trading hubs of Port Carcass to the sterile archives of Xylos, Runa grapples with the harsh realities of a universe where even scientific data is a commodity more precious than gold.

Her quest takes a chilling turn when the Veridian Corporation, a ruthless entity that sees Weltorm as a dying resource to be plundered, begins to track her every move. They are not just following her; they are ahead of her, sanitizing archives and trying to claim the very notes she seeks. Runa realizes her mission to save her father has been co-opted, a cruel corporate acquisition strategy. But the true horror awaits in her parents’ final, encrypted log: the Song of Ascent doesn’t heal; it coerces. It's a psychic masterpiece of deception, a lullaby so perfect it lulls star-whales into willingly accepting their dissolution. Runa is faced with an impossible choice: let Weltorm slowly descend into cosmic dementia, or sing him a beautiful, terrible lie that will lead him to his peaceful, yet absolute, end. As the Veridian flagship, the V.C.S. Archive, closes in, ready to dissect Weltorm for his memories, Runa must choose between a slow, agonizing decay and a swift, merciful deception. The fate of her beloved parent rests on her ability to sing the most beautiful, heartbreaking lie in the history of the cosmos.