The massive security automaton began its silent, methodical advance, its steps barely registering on the reinforced floor. Mara had seconds. She had to disregard the immediate threat and focus on the console.
She slammed the heel of her hand onto the console screen, switching the display to manual override using the diamond necklace once more. The automaton was ten feet away, its metallic joints whining softly.
"Forget me, focus on the logs!" Mara commanded herself, her eyes rapidly scanning the data.
She bypassed the security logs and forced the system to pull up the Architectural History of Sub-Level Delta (Quarantine).
The screen displayed a schematic, detailing a heavily shielded section below the main lab. It was marked not as a virus quarantine area, but as "Project Chronos Stasis Core—Elara Vance, Lead Researcher."
Mara's breath hitched. Chronos. The Greek personification of time. Stasis. Elara hadn't been researching a power source; she was researching time, stasis, and preservation.
A secondary data file flashed onto the screen:
Note from E. Vance, 20 Years Prior]: We cannot control Aether's infinite flux. But we can harness its temporal stability. Sub-Level Delta is the only environment capable of generating a stable Chronos Field large enough for one subject. If the Brotherhood initiates the full 'Summons,' I will initiate stasis protocol. I must leave a signal, an anchor, powered by the core, so Jonas can find me.
Mara's mind clicked. Jonas hadn't gone to save himself; he was trying to free Elara from a twenty-year temporal prison. The zombie outbreak and the Summons were just the byproduct of the Brotherhood trying to activate Elara's Aether core for their own ends, forcing her to initiate the stasis protocol years ago.
The automaton raised its arms, two integrated plasma emitters powering up with a terrifying, high-pitched whine.
Mara quickly searched for the '5541 Signal ID' details, just as the console began to spark violently from the automaton's interference.
The final information scrolled across the screen before the console died completely:
Signal ID 5541: Stasis Core Anchor Frequency. Requires direct physical intervention at Sub-Level Delta's Core Access Port to disable Chronos Field. Warning: Disable will result in immediate, catastrophic temporal instability in subject.
Jonas had rerouted the Aether energy to power Elara's anchor, allowing him to track the signal. But the message was clear: disabling the stasis meant immediate, catastrophic danger for Elara.
Mara ripped the diamond necklace from the now-dead console just as the automaton fired.
A brilliant blue plasma bolt struck the wall where Mara had been standing a moment before, vaporizing the concrete.
The blast bought her two seconds. She turned and sprinted down the sterile corridor, the silence shattered by the deafening sound of the automaton reloading.
Mara was no longer just chasing Jonas; she was rushing to save Elara from a terrible rescue attempt, deep within a time-stasis chamber, powered by the very force that had unleashed the zombie horde.
She reached a service stairwell and plunged down, the emergency lights casting a faint, crimson glow on the sign: Sub-Level Delta: Quarantine / Chronos Field.
The fight for survival was over. Now, the race against time had begun.