The thing standing beneath the broken ceiling did not move.
Dust drifted around it while the emergency lights flickered over its body. Up close, Ethan could see the damage that had been hidden in the corridor. The creature's skin carried dozens of old surgical marks. Thin crystalline growths protruded from its shoulders and disappeared beneath the fabric around its chest.
Its smile remained fixed.
Mara backed away.
"No."
Ethan glanced at her.
"You know it?"
"I know what it becomes."
The creature tilted its head.
A faint clicking sound came from its throat.
Seth stepped forward.
"Who were you?"
The creature looked at him.
For several seconds, it simply stared.
Then its smile disappeared.
"You."
Ethan frowned.
"What?"
The creature's voice came out strained.
"You were supposed to be the next one."
Seth stopped.
Halden moved toward the laboratory's side console.
"Ethan, get Mara behind the table."
"Why?"
"Because that thing is unstable."
The creature's head snapped toward him.
"Don't call me that."
Halden froze.
The creature took one step.
"Don't call me unstable."
Another step.
"You made me."
Halden's face tightened.
"We made a mistake."
"You made a decision."
The creature's hand trembled.
"You put me inside the chamber."
Ethan grabbed Mara's arm and pulled her behind the metal table.
Seth remained where he was.
The creature looked at him again.
"You came later."
Seth's voice stayed calm.
"How much later?"
The creature laughed.
"I don't know."
It touched the side of its head.
"They removed the years."
Seth's expression changed.
"The system."
The creature nodded.
"The system keeps what it needs."
A monitor beside Ethan flickered.
Fargrave appeared again.
"Subject Zero."
The creature turned toward the screen.
Fargrave continued.
"You were never meant to leave the lower facility."
Subject Zero stared at him.
"You told me I would recover."
Fargrave said nothing.
"You told me the pain would stop."
Still nothing.
"You lied."
Fargrave finally spoke.
"The treatment was incomplete."
Subject Zero laughed.
"So you called it failure."
He turned toward Seth.
"And then you found another."
Seth took a step forward.
"Why me?"
Subject Zero's eyes narrowed.
"Because your blood doesn't reject it."
Ethan looked at Seth.
"What does that mean?"
Seth didn't answer.
Halden did.
"The crystal doesn't treat biological material equally."
He moved between two old consoles.
"It reacts to certain cellular structures. Most subjects experience rejection. Their bodies fight the connection."
"And Seth doesn't?"
"Not anymore."
Seth looked toward him.
"Not anymore?"
Halden hesitated.
"Your body changed after exposure."
Ethan's voice sharpened.
"Exposure to what?"
Halden looked at the floor.
"Something related to the original organism."
The room went quiet.
Ethan remembered the old cases.
The village.
The Feral.
The blood.
The experiments.
He looked at Seth.
"That's why Point Veert reacted to you."
Seth's jaw tightened.
Subject Zero laughed quietly.
"Now you understand."
A sharp crack sounded behind them.
One of the old glass tanks split.
Liquid poured across the floor.
The smell hit Ethan immediately.
Metallic.
Bitter.
Familiar.
Mara covered her mouth.
"That smell..."
Halden turned pale.
"Move away from it."
Too late.
The liquid reached a strip of crystal embedded in the floor.
The crystal lit up.
Subject Zero screamed.
Not in anger.
In pain.
He dropped to one knee.
The growths beneath his skin brightened.
Seth staggered.
Ethan caught him.
"What happened?"
Seth pressed his hand against his chest.
"It connected."
"To him?"
Seth nodded.
"I can feel him."
Subject Zero looked up.
His eyes met Seth's.
For a moment neither moved.
Then Seth heard a voice.
Not through the speakers.
Inside his own head.
Don't let them finish it.
Seth whispered, "Who?"
Subject Zero's lips moved.
"The twins."
Seth's eyes widened.
Ethan heard only his side of the conversation.
"What did he say?"
Seth looked toward Mara.
She had gone completely still.
Subject Zero saw her.
His expression changed.
"You."
Mara stepped backward.
"What?"
"You were never supposed to be here."
Mara shook her head.
"I don't know you."
"You do."
He pointed at her.
"They told you to forget."
Ethan looked between them.
"Who told her?"
Subject Zero's finger shifted toward the monitor.
Fargrave remained on the screen.
Fargrave's face had lost its composure.
"Subject Zero is experiencing cognitive contamination."
Halden stared at the monitor.
"You are afraid."
Fargrave's eyes moved toward him.
"Doctor."
"You are actually afraid."
"Shut down the room."
Halden didn't move.
"Do it now."
Halden smiled bitterly.
"You still think you control this place."
Fargrave's voice hardened.
"I built it."
"No."
Halden looked at Seth.
"You inherited it."
The monitor went black.
The laboratory doors unlocked.
Every door.
At once.
A distant alarm began.
Ethan looked toward the exit.
"Why would they open the doors?"
Halden answered quietly.
"They're evacuating."
"Who?"
Halden looked toward the ceiling.
"Everyone."
The floor shook.
A deep vibration rolled beneath the laboratory.
The crystal network began pulsing faster.
Subject Zero struggled to stand.
Seth moved toward him.
Ethan caught his arm.
"Don't."
"He knows something."
"He is barely standing."
"So am I."
Seth pulled free.
Subject Zero watched him approach.
"You shouldn't have come down here."
Seth stopped a few feet away.
"Neither should you."
The creature gave a tired smile.
"I didn't come down."
Seth frowned.
Subject Zero pointed toward the floor.
"I woke up."
A section of the laboratory floor opened.
A staircase appeared beneath them.
The stairs descended farther than Ethan could see.
Cold air rose from below.
Mara stared into the opening.
"There is another level."
Halden shook his head.
"There shouldn't be."
Seth looked down.
The lattice beneath the staircase was different from the network above.
Older.
Darker.
The crystals weren't red.
They were pale.
Almost white.
Ethan stepped closer.
"What is that?"
Halden's face changed.
"The original chamber."
Subject Zero looked at Seth.
"That's where they found it."
Seth's voice lowered.
"The crystal?"
"No."
Subject Zero looked toward the darkness.
"The thing inside it."
A loud crack tore through the laboratory.
The walls shifted.
Far above them, something enormous moved through the structure.
Ethan grabbed Mara.
"We're leaving."
Halden didn't move.
"Not yet."
Ethan looked at him.
"What are you doing?"
Halden reached into an old cabinet and removed a small metal case.
His hands shook as he opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
He looked at Seth.
"You need to see this."
Seth approached.
Halden turned the photograph around.
It showed the original research team standing beside a crystalline excavation site.
There were twelve people.
Eleven wore laboratory clothing.
The twelfth stood apart.
A young woman.
Two children stood beside her.
Twins.
Ethan stared.
"Fortea and Erena?"
Halden nodded.
"Before Point Veert."
Seth took the photograph.
On the back was a date.
And beneath it, one handwritten sentence:
THE SISTERS WERE THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL BINDING.
A violent tremor struck the room.
The photograph slipped from Seth's hand.
Below them, something opened its eyes.
And every crystal in the underground network turned white.