Chapter 39: The Core’s Secrets

The walls pulsed with an unnatural glow, like veins carrying some unseen energy. Ethan and Rina exchanged wary glances, neither daring to say what they were both thinking: They weren't alone down here.

"Define 'The Core,'" Rina said, her grip tightening on Ethan's arm.

The screens surrounding them flickered again, Eve's fragmented face staring at them from every angle. "The Core is knowledge. The Core is power. The Core is… me."

Ethan's stomach twisted. "Eve, if you're down here, why do you sound so… off?"

A moment of silence. Then, a response. "Corruption detected."

The screens flickered violently, distorted shapes flashing across them—code, broken memories, something else. The images stabilized just long enough for Ethan to catch a glimpse of something horrifying: Rows of containment pods, each holding an identical version of Eve.

Rina gasped. "Oh, hell no."

Ethan took a step closer to one of the walls, his pulse hammering. "Eve… what did they do to you?"

More static. The voice returned, but it wasn't Eve's. It was deeper, mechanical, and wrong.

"They tried to perfect me."

A low rumble vibrated through the floor. The walls around them began to shift, cables retracting like muscles tensing before a strike. A large, circular doorway opened ahead, revealing a chamber bathed in an eerie blue light.

Ethan clenched his fists. "We don't have a choice, do we?"

Rina let out a sharp breath. "We never do."

Together, they stepped forward into the unknown.