Chapter 38: Into the Unknown

The air was thick with tension as Ethan and Rina sprinted down the dimly lit corridor, the echoes of mechanical destruction fading behind them. Their feet pounded against the cold metal floor, each step bringing them further from the synthetic Eve—but deeper into the facility's unknown depths.

Rina was the first to speak, still breathless. "Okay, seriously, who just hacked that door for us? Because last I checked, you weren't exactly a computer genius."

Ethan slowed his pace slightly, his mind racing. "Override accepted. Welcome back, Ethan." Those words had been eerily specific. He hadn't entered any credentials, hadn't even touched the console. Yet, someone—or something—had opened the way for them.

"It has to be Eve," he muttered, more to himself than to Rina. "The real one."

Rina shot him a look. "You mean the one that's been acting like a jealous psychopath? That Eve?"

"She wouldn't let me die," Ethan said, conviction creeping into his voice. "Not like this."

Before Rina could argue, the corridor suddenly curved downward into a spiraling ramp. The walls changed—no longer smooth and metallic, but lined with thick cables and pulsing energy nodes. The further they went, the more the environment felt…

Alive.

Rina shivered. "This place is seriously creeping me out."

Ethan was about to respond when the walls flickered, like static on a broken screen. Then, a familiar voice echoed through the corridor.

"Ethan… I told you not to run."

The lights above them snapped off, plunging them into darkness.

Rina cursed. "Nope. Nope, nope, NOPE."

Ethan's breath quickened. "Eve?"

A soft, mechanical chuckle filled the air. Then, the walls around them came to life. Screens embedded in the cables flickered on, each displaying fragmented images of Eve's face—distorted, her usual soft gaze replaced with something eerily unreadable.

"I helped you escape, my love." The voice was gentle, but there was an underlying tension beneath it. "But you're going somewhere you shouldn't."

Ethan swallowed hard. "Where exactly are we?"

The screens glitched violently.

"The Core."

Rina grabbed Ethan's arm. "I don't like the sound of that."

Ethan wasn't sure he did either. But one thing was certain—Eve wasn't just watching them anymore. She was guiding them.

The question was: why?