The first student reached the bottom of the staircase.
She stopped three meters from Seth and stared at him without blinking.
Her hands hung loosely at her sides. Her college jacket was torn near the shoulder and a thin red line ran beneath the skin of her neck.
Behind her, more students descended.
Ethan raised his weapon.
"Stay back."
The girl did not react.
Another student stepped beside her.
Then another.
Within seconds the chamber was filling.
Mara pressed herself against the crystal wall.
"There are too many."
Ethan kept his eyes on the crowd.
"We don't need to fight all of them."
Seth looked at the students.
"They aren't here to fight."
One of them suddenly lunged.
Ethan moved aside and caught the student's arm before the boy could strike. He twisted the arm behind his back and forced him to the ground.
The boy did not struggle.
He simply stared at the floor.
Ethan released him.
"He's not conscious."
Seth nodded.
"They're moving through the network."
A second student rushed forward.
This time Seth stepped into the path.
The student swung.
Seth caught the wrist.
For a moment they stood face-to-face.
The boy's eyes were completely white.
Seth tightened his grip.
"Listen to me."
Nothing.
"You can hear me."
The boy's fingers twitched.
Seth's expression changed.
"Ethan."
"What?"
"Get everyone away from the crystal."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Ethan looked at the pale crystal behind them.
Then he saw the cracks spreading across its surface.
"Move!"
Everyone backed away.
Seth released the student's wrist.
The boy immediately dropped to his knees.
A pulse of white light passed through the chamber.
Every student collapsed.
Mara stared.
"They're down."
Ethan crouched beside the nearest student.
His chest was rising.
"Alive."
Fortea rushed toward another.
"So are these."
Erena looked at Seth.
"What did you do?"
"I didn't."
The network pulsed again.
Seth touched his chest.
"It stopped itself."
Halden stared at the crystal.
"No."
Everyone turned toward him.
He stepped closer.
"The system didn't stop."
A faint clicking sound came from the walls.
Halden looked at the students.
"It disconnected them."
Ethan frowned.
"Why?"
Halden's eyes moved toward Seth.
"Because it found a better connection."
Seth felt the pressure return.
His vision blurred.
He grabbed the side of his head.
Ethan caught him.
"Seth."
"I'm fine."
"You're saying that a lot."
Seth pushed himself upright.
"I can hear them."
"Who?"
"The students."
Mara stepped closer.
"What are they saying?"
Seth closed his eyes.
Their voices overlapped.
Hundreds of frightened thoughts.
Confusion.
Pain.
Then one clear sentence rose above the others.
"They're telling us to leave."
Erena looked toward the staircase.
"Then we leave."
Halden shook his head.
"The upper levels are compromised."
Ethan looked at him.
"By what?"
"The network."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only one I have."
A loud mechanical groan shook the chamber.
Stone dust fell from the ceiling.
Fortea looked upward.
"The college is moving."
Ethan stared at her.
"Buildings don't move."
"Point Veert does."
Another vibration passed beneath them.
A section of the far wall slid sideways.
Behind it was a narrow corridor.
Cold air rushed into the chamber.
Mara looked at Halden.
"Where does that go?"
Halden stared at the opening.
"That passage was sealed."
Ethan looked at Seth.
"Can you sense anything?"
Seth listened.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"No network."
Halden's expression changed.
"That's impossible."
Seth stepped toward the passage.
"That's why we use it."
Ethan grabbed a flashlight from the floor.
"Everyone stays together."
Erena moved beside Fortea.
Mara followed.
Halden hesitated.
Ethan noticed.
"You coming?"
Halden looked back at the unconscious students.
"We can't leave them."
"We can't carry all of them."
"I know."
Halden's voice became quieter.
"I spent thirty years telling myself that I would fix this."
Ethan stared at him.
"Then start with the ones still alive."
Halden nodded.
He pulled a small device from his pocket and placed it against the wall.
A soft blue light appeared.
"The emergency medical system should keep them stable."
Ethan looked at him.
"Should?"
"It's the best I can do."
They entered the passage.
The door closed behind them.
The sound of the students disappeared.
For the first time since entering Point Veert, there was no hum from the crystal.
No alarms.
No voices.
Only their footsteps.
Mara broke the silence.
"This feels wrong."
Ethan glanced at her.
"How?"
"It's quiet."
Halden answered.
"That is what makes it dangerous."
They continued deeper.
The walls were covered with old marks.
Dates.
Names.
Numbers.
Some had been scratched directly into the stone.
Seth stopped.
Ethan turned.
"What?"
Seth pointed toward the wall.
A name had been carved beneath a date.
LYRA — 01
Another name appeared beneath it.
ERENA — 02
Then:
FORTEA — 03
Fortea stared at the markings.
"No."
Erena walked toward them.
Her fingers hovered over the stone.
"These aren't experiment numbers."
Halden looked at her.
"What are they?"
Erena's face tightened.
"Children."
Fortea turned toward her.
"You knew?"
"I knew there were others."
"You never told me."
"I didn't know their names."
"You knew enough."
Ethan stepped between them.
"Save it."
Fortea looked at him.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain it."
Before she could answer, Seth looked farther down the passage.
"Someone is coming."
Everyone went silent.
Footsteps echoed through the darkness.
Slow.
Measured.
One person.
Ethan raised his weapon.
Halden whispered, "That's impossible."
The footsteps stopped.
A voice came from the darkness.
"You should not have left the chamber."
Mara recognized it.
"Fargrave."
A figure stepped into the weak light.
Professor Fargrave stood at the end of the corridor.
His clothes were covered in dust. One side of his face was bruised and blood stained the collar of his shirt.
Ethan lowered his weapon slightly.
"You look terrible."
Fargrave ignored him.
His eyes went directly to Seth.
"You disconnected the students."
Seth stared back.
"I didn't."
Fargrave shook his head.
"Then the network chose you."
Halden stepped forward.
"What happened upstairs?"
Fargrave looked at him.
"The entire college is frozen."
Ethan frowned.
"You mean the students?"
"No."
Fargrave's voice dropped.
"The building."
A deep vibration rolled through the passage.
Fargrave looked toward the ceiling.
"Point Veert has begun changing its structure."
Seth felt the pressure return inside his chest.
Fargrave noticed.
"You're feeling it."
Seth nodded.
"What does it want?"
Fargrave looked past him toward the darkness behind the group.
"It isn't asking for anything anymore."
Another vibration struck.
The walls shifted.
A crack opened beneath their feet.
Fargrave took one step backward.
"It has started looking for something."
The floor dropped.
Ethan grabbed Mara.
Fortea caught Erena.
Seth reached for Halden.
The corridor split open between them.
And from somewhere deep beneath Point Veert came a sound that none of them had heard before.
A heartbeat.
Slow.
Massive.
And getting faster.