Chapter 18: The Collapse

The vault trembled. Dust rained from the ceiling, cracks spider webbing across the smooth metal walls. The system's voice echoed through the chamber, glitching between commands.

"Anomaly detected. Processing... Processing... Error. System override failed. Initiating—"

A violent shockwave pulsed outward. The symbols flickered wildly, the air itself warping.

Lena staggered but didn't fall. She was used to the world trying to kill her.

Alek, still unfazed, let out a low whistle. "Wow. Really didn't think this through, did they?"

Lena turned on him. "Do you ever shut up?"

Alek grinned. "Not when I'm about to die, no."

Riven grabbed her wrist. "Move. Now."

She didn't argue.

---

Escape From the Vault

They sprinted toward the tunnel, the floor cracking beneath their feet. The walls groaned, deep metallic shrieks echoing like something alive.

Lena glanced back just in time to see the pod Alek had woken up in disintegrate into dust.

(Right. No going back.)

They reached the staircase, but it wasn't stable anymore. The once-smooth steps were crumbling into nothingness, fading in and out like a glitched reality.

Lena didn't hesitate. She jumped.

Her boots hit stone, barely solid before it shattered under her weight. She vaulted forward, catching the edge of a ledge just as the ground beneath her vanished.

Riven landed beside her a second later, his movements effortless.

Alek?

He was still at the top of the collapsing stairway. And he wasn't moving.

Lena scowled. "What are you waiting for? A personal invitation?"

Alek tilted his head. "Actually, yeah. Bit rude not to—"

The stone beneath him gave out.

Alek fell.

Lena's stomach lurched—too high, too far. He wasn't going to make it.

Then—Riven moved.

Faster than she had ever seen.

One moment, he was beside her. The next, he vanished, reappearing mid-air, catching Alek by the collar, and twisting to land smoothly.

Lena's breath stalled. Not human.

She already suspected, but seeing it—**that speed, that control—**it was something else entirely.

Alek coughed, dangling from Riven's grip. "Alright, alright, I get it. You're strong, I'm weak, you're the hero, I'm the comic relief. Put me down."

Riven dropped him.

Alek hit the ground with a grunt. "You know, you were way nicer before."

Lena pulled herself up onto stable ground, fixing Riven with a sharp look. "You're going to explain that later."

No reaction. Just his usual unreadable stare.

Lena clenched her jaw. Fine. First, they needed to get out.

---

The System Breaks Further

The last stretch of the tunnel was barely holding together. The flickering symbols on the walls were distorting, warping into shapes that shouldn't exist.

Then—new messages appeared.

---

[System Alert: Critical Failure]

Warning: The stability of this instance is compromised. Forced reboot imminent.

Processing…

Processing…

System override unsuccessful. Error detected.

---

Alek muttered, "That's not encouraging."

Lena ignored him, pushing forward. The exit was close.

They reached the final archway, the entrance to the ruins above. Light—natural light.

Lena ran.

The moment her boots hit solid ground outside, the ruins lurched.

Behind her, a deafening roar of collapsing stone.

She turned just in time to see the vault implode.

Everything—the stairway, the glowing carvings, even the metallic walls—was swallowed in a crushing wave of nothingness.

The ruins were gone.

Like they had never existed.

Lena's breath was sharp in her chest. (The system just erased it. Like it was wiping a mistake.)

She turned to Alek. He was watching the empty space where the vault had been, expression unreadable for the first time.

Then, slowly, he grinned.

"Well. That was dramatic."

Lena resisted the urge to throw him into the ocean.

---

The world outside wasn't the same.

The air smelled different. The ocean—it wasn't calm anymore.

Lena turned toward the shoreline, her stomach twisting.

The water had shifted.

The usual rhythmic waves? Gone.

The surface was unnaturally still, stretching endlessly, reflective like glass.

Alek noticed too. He let out a low whistle. "Well, that's unsettling."

Lena exhaled through her nose. Something changed. The vault collapsing wasn't just a coincidence. It did something.

She turned to Riven. "Alright. No more half-answers. What just happened?"

Riven met her gaze, and for once, his usual calm cracked just slightly.

"…The system reset something. But I don't know what."

Alek smirked. "Well, that's comforting."

Lena's pulse thudded in her ears.

Something was wrong with the world.

And they were running out of time to figure out what.

---

End of Chapter 18