MThe staircase swallowed light.
Their footsteps echoed strangely, like the walls were holding their breaths, waiting for something… or someone.
Ash kept one hand on the cold railing.
Palo stayed close behind him—close enough that Ash could feel the echo of his heartbeat through the link.
Silva switched on a small lantern, its glow cutting only a thin slice through the darkness.
The deeper they descended, the colder it became.
The Founder murmured:
"Sector Zero was abandoned for years… but it feels like the systems never slept."
The copy glared at the walls.
"Feels like they were waiting."
Ash tried to steady his breathing, but every step made the pressure in his chest tighten.
Something down here recognized him—
and whispered to him in a language he didn't understand, but somehow felt.
Palo noticed his shoulders tensing.
"Ash… what's wrong?"
Ash hesitated.
"It's like… something is pulling me forward. Like it's glad I'm here."
Palo's jaw tightened.
"That doesn't sound glad. That sounds creepy."
Silva shot him a look, but didn't disagree.
Finally, the stairs ended in a long, wide hallway.
Lights flickered on automatically.
Flick—flick—flick—
A trail of pale white illumination stretched endlessly ahead of them.
Palo frowned.
"I thought the facility was abandoned."
"It was," Silva said.
"None of this should still work."
Ash stepped forward—and the lights brightened subtly in response.
Silva let out a breath.
"Ah. That explains it."
The copy raised an eyebrow.
"Explains what?"
"Ash is powering the system," she said quietly.
"Just by being here."
Ash's stomach dropped.
"I'm… powering all this?"
The Founder nodded.
"You're the original core template. Everything in Sector Zero was built around your baseline. Your presence activates the dormant power grid."
Palo moved closer protectively.
"Does that drain him? Or hurt him?"
Silva shook her head.
"No. But it means everything in this place will react to him. Doors, lights, scanners… and anything that's still active."
The hallway stretched into silence again.
They walked.
The second corridor branched into a wider room filled with old equipment—cracked screens, broken mechanical arms, shattered glass canisters.
Palo swallowed.
"This looks like a lab."
Silva walked to a dusty panel and wiped it.
"A very old one. Early prototypes. Experiments that never left the concept stage."
Ash stepped toward a large, round pod in the center.
Its glass was opaque with age.
He reached out.
The moment his fingertips brushed it—the pod flickered awake, glowing dimly.
Palo stiffened.
"Ash, don't touch it!"
Ash pulled back instantly, but the activation sequence had already begun.
The glass cleared.
Inside was nothing.
No body.
No equipment.
Just an empty cradle—small, shaped like it once held an infant.
Ash's breath caught.
He couldn't look away.
Silva whispered:
"That… was your pod."
Palo's face softened with shock.
"That small…?"
Ash felt something tighten in his throat—not fear, not confusion… something like grief he didn't understand.
The Founder stepped beside him, voice low.
"You were engineered here. Grown here. Watched here. The project started with you."
Ash pressed a hand to his chest.
"Why don't I remember it?"
Silva's expression darkened.
"Because they wiped everything. They wanted you to be a blank slate."
The copy added quietly:
"They didn't want you knowing you were real."
Ash blinked rapidly, trying to breathe.
Palo touched his shoulder gently—careful not to startle him.
"You're real, Ash. You're you. That's what matters."
Through the link, Ash felt the sincerity—bright, grounding, steady.
And for the first time since stepping into this place, he felt something other than fear.
But it didn't last.
A soft beep sounded behind them.
Then another.
The lights flickered.
Silva spun around.
"Something's waking up. Something big."
The Founder moved toward a sealed door at the far side of the room.
"That's the main chamber."
The copy froze.
"You mean the core?"
"Yes."
Palo swallowed.
"What's in the core?"
Silva gave the answer no one wanted to hear.
"The full archive of Project Origin. Everything about Ash. Everything about the copies. Every hidden experiment."
Palo turned to Ash slowly.
"This is what we came for."
Ash nodded, though his hands trembled.
"I'm ready."
The Founder pressed his hand against the scanner—
but nothing happened.
Silva frowned.
"It needs more than a manual override."
The copy sighed.
"Let me guess. It needs him."
The Founder nodded.
"Ash… place your hand here."
Ash stepped forward.
Palo stayed right behind him, steady as a shadow.
Ash placed his palm on the scanner.
Instantly, the symbol on his wrist flared with a soft glow.
The door hissed.
Unlocked.
Palo exhaled.
"Okay… that wasn't too bad."
Silva stepped back.
"This is just the outer door."
The metal slabs split open slowly—
Pulling apart to reveal a second, thicker door deeper inside.
On this door—
A symbol burned faintly.
The same symbol on Ash's skin.
And underneath it:
SECTOR ZERO — CORE ARCHIVE: FIRST LOCK REQUIRED.
Ash's heart pounded.
The first lock.
Not one he had opened himself.
Not one he understood.
Palo whispered:
"Ash… can you open it?"
Ash stared at the glowing symbol.
"I don't know."
But his chest burned.
The link hummed.
And the lock inside him stirred like something waking from sleep.
Behind them, the first door sealed shut automatically.
The hallway lights dimmed to crimson.
They were inside.
And the facility had no intention of letting them back out.