As they moved deeper, the corridor grew tighter, the overhead lights stuttering with a nervous rhythm. Damp pipes wound above them, weeping onto the chilled metal floor. The air had changed—it was denser here, heavy with something ancient and mechanical.
"This sector doesn't show up on any map," Karen murmured, glancing at her handheld. "It's been ghosted from the grid."
They reached a sealed door—thick, industrial, marked with glyphs that looked more like warnings than labels. Karen knelt beside the panel, tools slipping into her gloved hands.
Silas stepped up beside her. "You sure we want to know what's on the other side?"
Karen didn't look up. "Not even slightly."
A few sparks flew. A soft beep signaled success.
The door groaned open.
What greeted them was a chamber suspended in shadow, the cold air brushing past like a breath held too long. Rows of cryotubes lined the room—some shattered, some powered, all silent. Frost clung to the glass. Inside, the vague shapes of bodies rested like echoes of old nightmares.
Ayla stepped in, her boots crunching lightly on frost-coated tile. The hum of ancient machines vibrated beneath her soles. "What… is this place?"
Karen moved toward a dusty control console. "Give me a second." She wiped the screen clean and brought it to life. The old interface blinked, lines of code slithering across it. "This isn't just a lab. It's storage. Genetic, neural... maybe even behavioral."
Silas moved alongside Ayla. "You think NexaCore was building weapons?"
"Not weapons," Karen said. "Assets."
She tapped again. A file popped up.
Project Vantheos – Experimental Neural Mapping – Subject V14.
Ayla stared as an old, grainy video loaded—her father's face appeared. Younger, eyes darker, angrier. He was mid-argument with a hooded figure, their voices muffled by static. One word pierced through the garble like a knife.
"Silas."
Ayla's head snapped toward him.
But he was frozen, staring past the screen at something else—at a drawer half-concealed beneath the console. He opened it slowly.
Inside lay a single folder, sealed and tagged with faded labels. Karen leaned in, scanning the markings. "That's you," she said to Ayla. "V14."
Ayla took the folder with trembling hands, flipping it open.
Blood reports. Medical scans. Notes about "early compatibility response" and "subject unaware—observe from distance."
Her voice broke in a whisper. "They used me…"
A sudden blare erupted from the system. Lights flashed red. The console locked itself with a metallic click.
"Protocol FR-9 Engaged. Full Containment Mode."
The door behind them slammed shut.
Karen stood. "We've been flagged."
Zayn checked his scanner. "Multiple inbound signatures. Fast. Enforcer teams."
Then—another screen came to life.
A figure emerged, backlit and veiled in glitch. Only the voice was clear.
"Still chasing ghosts, Sable?"
Sable's fists clenched.
"Drevin," he said, voice low.
"Didn't think you'd come back. Guess the past has longer arms than I gave it credit for."
Sable stepped forward. "You were dead."
"No," Drevin said. "I was buried. There's a difference."
The screen cut.
Zayn swore. "We need a way out—now."
"Found it," Karen shouted. "Weak wall segment near the reactor vent. But we'll have to blow it."
Silas was already moving, pulling the charge from his pack.
Ayla turned toward him. "The video. Why did he say your name?"
Silas paused.
"I was there," he said. "The city uprising. But I didn't fire. I tried to stop it. Your father—he made a deal with Wellington's early network. Thought he could control them."
"And now?"
Silas looked her in the eyes. "Now we both know he couldn't."
Her eyes flickered—hurt, suspicion, something else—but she said nothing.
They reached the reactor vent.
As Sable set the charge, a hiss came from behind.
One of the cryotubes cracked open.
A figure stumbled out, eyes glowing faint blue, skin pale with frost. The subject gasped for air, half-conscious. Augment implants laced their arms like veins of metal.
Everyone froze.
"Friendly?" Zayn asked.
"No time to find out," Karen answered.
Silas made the call. "Bring them. Move."
The charge blew, shattering the wall. Smoke and sparks flew. They jumped one by one into the maintenance shaft below.
The last thing they heard before the light vanished: "I've been waiting for you to come home, brother."
Darkness swallowed them whole.