As he walked along the gleaming metal corridors, he found himself turning on his lightsaber and dragging it sizzling along the wall, where it left a long jagged scar. He had long used his weapon in this way to vent his emotions, and the First Order had learned not to bother him about it, lest they end up on the receiving end of the light blade instead of inanimate objects.
Wandering in the general direction of his quarters, he replayed the girl's memories in his head.
The residue of her thoughts left him feeling weak and horrified, and that made him angry. But he also felt a kernel of fear, the thought that maybe this was not a trick, and that everything he knew of was in terrible danger. Distractedly, Ren sunk the lightsaber deeper into the wall, ignoring the hissing pops of liquid metal that followed in his wake.
He reached an intersection in the corridors and wavered for a moment. Part of him just wanted to go to sleep and shut out everything he'd experienced that day. Another, larger part of him wanted to go to Snoke's audience chamber and call the old sith lord up on the holograph so he could get his advice. But the thought of telling Snoke that he had fled before finishing his interrogation stung, and before he knew it, he had turned on his heel and started striding back the way he'd come, flicking the switch to turn his weapon off as he was filled with a new sense of purpose. He would dive into the girl's mind again, and wrest the truth from her. This time she would not deflect him with these hallucinatory visions. Even as he thought this, a tiny worm of truth sniggered inside him, taunting him that he probably wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway.
The girl seemed to be dozing as he entered the dark metal room, but she roused quickly, almost as if she sensed his presence. She watched him with wary eyes, puffy with fatigue and emotion. Kylo Ren hovered in the doorway for a moment, unable to rid himself of the crawling sensation of horror as he remembered the vision he'd shared with her. Finally, feeling a little ridiculous, he strode forward, reaching out one black gloved hand.
The girl - her name is Alia, a small still voice inside him announced, and he thrust it aside ruthlessly - let her head drop onto her chest in an attitude of despair. Clenching her restrained hands into fists, she raised her face towards him, and he almost recoiled at the depth of emotion there.
"Watch to the end this time," she spat in a low voice, "Then you'll know it's true."
"Quiet." Ren retorted, thankful of the added gravitas his mask gave to his voice. "We'll see. We...will...see."
He clenched his teeth and pushed forward with his mind, steeling himself against any resistance or distractions.
Almost immediately he felt her drop her defenses and experienced a dizzying sense of vertigo as he found himself back on that platform. Above him the sky was black and filled with a brooding presence. He endured helplessly as she screamed in horror and then again in pain. The machine she was locked into seemed to be taking her apart molecule by molecule. He wasn't sure how it was possible but he had a visual impression from her perspective as her spaghettified, broken down form streamed into something darker than the surrounding malevolence. a black hole. There was a glint, and to his horror, he saw a momentary glimpse of his mask, watching what must've been the tiny singularity his doomsday machine had conjured.
Kylo Ren's stomach flipped with the realisation that it was he who had opened a gateway to this consumed universe. The sense of disorientation increased as he became more and more merged with the girl's consciousness. His point of view shifted, and now he saw through his own eyes, back through the pinpoint of the singularity. He saw that universe go dark, and something darker than that blackness reaching out with tendrilled fingers. Towards the gate that he'd created for it.
Suddenly light started to pour into the scene, obliterating all else. He felt himself losing awareness. Unsure if this was merely her memories or present time, he struggled helplessly for a moment and then plunged into oblivion.
Ren came to lying sprawled on the metal floor, his head throbbing. Alia lolled unconscious in her bonds, and as he pulled himself shakily to his feet Kylo felt again the surge of horror and despair that had dominated her emotions. He had no energy left for his usual shield of anger, and it was an effort to limp over to the side of the interrogation table.
For long moments he stood leaning over her, disturbed by a subtle feeling of connection. She looked how he felt; face ashen with strain even in sleep. Dark circles surrounded her closed eyes and her grey-brown hair was dark with sweat, clinging to her forehead. Absently his gloved fingers brushed the strands away.
The motion calmed him somehow, and he found his thoughts turning to what he'd experienced, searching for a plan of action. She couldn't be lying, not even subconsciously, he'd dived deep enough into her psyche to be sure of that. She represented a link to a dead universe, a warning of a threat so great he had difficulty comprehending it.
Kylo Ren was used to thinking in terms of the Dark and Light Side of the Force, and he'd allied himself firmly with darkness, violence and chaos. But what he'd seen in that other universe made all that seem trivial. He cursed inwardly at the petulance of his reaction; but how could he be a Sith Emperor of the Galaxy if it was a consumed husk? Nothingness seemed infinitely worse than chaos.
Coming to a decision, he turned away from Alia's prone figure, striding purposefully out of the room and along the gleaming corridors towards the holographic audience room. Supreme Leader Snoke must be told, and quickly.
"Your gullibility concerns me."
Ren's heart sank as the first words of Snoke thrummed and echoed through the gloomy chamber. A more than life-size holograph of the Sith master glittered and wavered in front of him, forcing him to crane his neck to look up.
Fear warred with anger inside him; he thought he'd explained the situation objectively, and he resented the implication that Snoke didn't trust his judgement. He was no longer a child; and only really still an apprentice because he hadn't disposed of his fearsome master. That day must come soon, he told himself. Kylo Ren had already killed one father, what was one more?
"She couldn't hide anything, not even subconscious programming. Those were real memories." Ren said defensively. "We must stop the tests."
The old Sith lord gazed down at him with lowered brows, eyes glinting. "No." He raised a hand to stop Kylo's spluttered response.
"You will bring the girl to me, and I will make sure. Continue the tests."
"You can't!" Protested Ren urgently. "That ..thing is waiting on the other side!"
Almost immediately he knew he'd said the wrong thing. Snoke frowned and leaned forward to gaze at Kylo Ren more closely.
"Can't?" His voice boomed, and Ren heard the malice in it. Now nothing he could say would convince Snoke of the threat - even if he did see it for himself in the girl's mind.
Lord Snoke was many things, but tolerant of dissention was not one of them. Over the years Ren had become aware that although the ancient sith lord could be manipulative and adaptable, he had a serious blind spot when it came to anyone questioning his will.
"As always, your will is law." Muttered Ren hastily, bowing low before the hologram.
Snoke nodded brusquely, and the shimmering holograph faded into the background gloom of the audience chamber.
Ren stood there in the dark, fists clenched, felt lost and alone; bereft of his malicious master's guidance. The threat was real, he was convinced of it. But he had made an error by challenging Snoke that way. And now the old sith lord's pride would doom them all.
Kylo Ren walked slowly back along the corridors to the bare cell he called a room. Its only adornment was the twisted and battered helmet on a low table. He hardly even noticed slumping to sitting on the edge of the bed, so deep in thought was he. He'd had crises of faith before, specifically around the time he'd killed his father. But he'd always stayed true to the Dark Side, to his master Snoke. Ren had seen his destiny was tied to that of the First Order, the Knights of Ren, and Snoke in particular.
But now...now he felt the siren call of rebellion. For the first time he contemplated that his goal of galactic domination might be better achieved alone. Absently, he picked up the battered helmet of his grandfather Darth Vader and let his fingers run over its jagged ridges and interrupted curves. It seemed as if his whole life had led up to this point, this decision. To stay safely within the confines of his master's teachings, or to act on his own experiences, his own judgement.
His fingers gripped the metal mask until his gloved knuckles turned white. No, to reject the girl's visions was to allow annihilation, and for all Ren's nihilistic angst, he wanted very much to rule over a galaxy, not to face the entropy of all he coveted.
In that split second his mind was made up; he jumped to his feet, and in spite of his fatigue, strode from the room with new purpose. He grabbed the first stormtrooper he saw, and barked his orders.
"Prepare the prisoner in interrogation room one and take her to my shuttle." He growled, confident that his orders would be obeyed, just as they always were.
The stormtrooper saluted smartly and jogged away to fulfill his command. Kylo Ren watched him leave for a moment, and then shook his head as if to clear it. For a moment he'd thought he'd heard a whisper in the back of his mind.
Maintaining an intimidating gait, he walked quickly, fingering the hilt of his lightsaber as he did so. The populace of the base moved unobtrusively out of his way as he passed, and he reflected on how their fear of him would allow him to put this mutinous plan into action.
As Ren paced towards the control room for the singularity weapon, his thoughts turned towards the girl, Alia. It annoyed him that he knew her name, that her arrival had changed the arc of his destiny. He needed her, for what was in her mind, nothing more. He found himself biting his lip underneath the mask as he told himself this. He could still feel that trace, that subtle line of connection. He feared he had plunged too deep into her mind; entangled himself irrevocably with her consciousness.
Before he knew it, he stood in the control room, high up on one metal wall, overlooking the fangs which had created the disastrous gate. As he entered the room, the technicians hovering over the control panels looked up apprehensively, and after one look at his glowering body language, all filed dutifully out of the room. Ren waited for them to leave patiently; he supposed he could've just killed them all, but this way might be better. Fear for their lives and experience with his black moods would keep them out of the room for a little while longer. They would expect him to destroy non-essential components, as he often did during his tantrums.
Playing the part, he depressed the button of his lightsaber with a cry of only half-feigned rage, and slashed indiscriminately at the control panels in front of him. Sparks flew and liquid metal sputtered and crackled as he worked, laying a smokescreen for his real sabotage. Shallow cuts at first, but drawing closer to his true goal. For a moment he hesitated, caught on a knife edge between a faked tantrum and true departure from his life with the First Order.
Steeling his will, he plunged the sizzling sword of light into the guts of the control panel, tracing a wide arc to obliterate all relevant circuits. His arm trembled with the effort of it, overcoming the resistance of metal and circuitry.
As a final touch he summoned the Force and pushed with all his might, crushing what was left of the control room into a concave semi-circle. An explosion of sparks bounced off his helmet. Satisfied with his work, he left the smoking room and stalked past the technicians and stormtroopers who were loitering just within hearing distance. The damage he'd done would take many days to repair, he'd made sure of that.