Mara sprinted relentlessly down the stairwell; the heavy footsteps of the robot pursuing her echoed in the concrete corridors. Each floor was dimmer and colder than the last. The emergency lights were failing; the closer she got to Sub-Level Delta, the more the light turned crimson, and the humming generated by the intense heat and electromagnetic field of the energy transfer intensified.
She jumped off the final step. This was no longer a parking lot or a laboratory. This was the heart of Aether.
Sub-Level Delta was a vast, circular chamber. In the center, a vertical cylinder ten stories tall rose up; this was the Aether Core. The energy Jonas had rerouted filled the room with a bright, dangerous, pale blue light.
Next to the Core stood a cylindrical stasis capsule made of glass. Inside, looking as young and peaceful as she had twenty years ago, was a woman with curly hair: Elara Vance. Elara was imprisoned in a space where time stood still.
And at the base of the capsule, leaning against the metal floor, dropping his satellite phone and a crowbar, was a figure exhausted and injured: Jonas.
Mara ran to him with all her might and knelt.
"Jonas! You're okay..."
Jonas's face was covered in sweat and blood, but his eyes were clear. "Mara. You came. I knew it." He pointed at the capsule with his hand. "The code... '5541'... Elara's last hope. I came to set her free."
"No, Jonas! I saw it on the Red Queen. Deactivating the capsule will kill her instantly. Temporal instability..."
Jonas offered a painful smile. "No, Mara. You're wrong. The code won't kill her. It will kill the zombies."
Jonas struggled to point at a small, dangling panel next to the capsule. The panel had only one button: "Deactivate Stasis."
"Aether... it's not just an energy source. It's a consciousness. All these zombies... they are the reaction of Elara's subconscious to the chaos. The capsule protects her, but it also creates a continuous link with the Core that feeds the chaos."
Jonas spoke with difficulty: "If the stasis in Elara's body is broken, the Summons emanating from her subconscious will be cut off. Aether will lose control. The zombies... they will simply stop."
Mara looked at the capsule, then at Jonas, horrified. "But she... she will die!"
"No," Jonas said, a final flicker of hope in his voice. "She's been awake for twenty years. Conscious. If we deactivate stasis, her body won't survive the instantaneous temporal shock. But her mind... we can transfer it to the Void."
Jonas pointed to the necklace around Mara's neck. "Elara's necklace... it's a receiver that stores Aether energy. If the necklace is activated before the stasis deactivates, Elara's mind... will be transferred to that void, that space without the color of shadow. Her body will die, but she will live. She will be saved."
Just then, the heavy, menacing silhouette of the automaton that had been tracking Jonas appeared in the doorway.
"The choice is yours, Mara," Jonas rasped. "Either save Elara's mind, or watch this summons devour the entire world. We're out of time!"
The robot raised its plasma emitters towards Mara. Mara had two choices: shoot to protect Jonas, or sacrifice one life to save the entire world.
Mara resolutely ignored the robot. She took off the necklace and placed it into a small energy slot on the capsule.
"I love you, Jonas," she whispered, looking at Elara's peaceful face one last time.
Holding her breath, Mara pressed the red button Jonas had pointed to, labeled "Deactivate Stasis."
Epilogue: A New Dawn
The moment the button was pressed, the pale blue light inside the capsule intensified, illuminating Elara's face. Simultaneously, the energy from the Aether Core cut off, plunging all of Sub-Level Delta into profound, suffocating darkness.
The robot abruptly ceased moving. Its plasma emitters went dark. The rhythmic, collective moan of the thousands of zombies outside stopped instantly across the city. Everything was engulfed in absolute silence.
Jonas smiled in relief on Mara's arm and closed his eyes.
In the streets of Edison City. All the Infected stopped where they stood—in the middle of 58th Street, on the bridges, and inside abandoned houses. Their bodies, now soulless husks, became silent monuments. The Summons was broken. The Novel (story) had ended.
Mara dragged Jonas past the frozen husk of the robot. The city was dark, but a sense of victory settled upon them. Elara's body was gone, but her mind had now merged with the Void above the sky.
Mara and Jonas, exhausted and injured, walked hand-in-hand out of the laboratory.
The sky was still gray, but the red tinge was gone. All that remained was a cold, new dawn.