As Ethan and Anne reached the edge of the secondary containment zone, the air grew thick with a low-frequency hum.
Anne stopped, her eyes fixed on the shimmering, reddish dome that pulsed with a slow, organic cadence. She reached out, her fingertips hovering just millimeters from the surface of the barrier. "So, this is the matrix," she whispered. "It feels... alive."
"It is," Ethan replied, his gaze fixed on the crimson light reflecting in his amethyst pupils. "It's what keeps the Worm Queen locked in her cradle. I still don't fully understand its logic, but the last time I was here, this barrier was the only thing that stood between me and a very messy death."
They moved past the barrier and into the primary tunnel. The dimensions were staggering—a borehole so vast that a fleet of trucks could have driven through it side-by-side.
