CH.27
The air inside the facility grew colder as Celeste pushed forward, her boots crunching softly against the metallic flooring. Every step felt heavier, her determination tangled with the sharp edges of exhaustion. The corridors seemed narrower now, the shadows thicker, as though the walls themselves sought to close in around her. The faint glow of the conduits was her only guide, pulsing dimly like a faltering heartbeat.
Her pack shifted on her back, the relic's energy faint but steady, a reminder that the path forward was still alive with possibility. Yet, the memory of Ethan's fragmented figure haunted her. His voice—those fleeting words that promised she was close—played on a loop in her mind. And the anchor... it had to mean something vital. It had to be more than just another vague clue.
---
The facility's layout was a maze of dead ends and spiraling corridors, yet Celeste could feel the systems responding to her movements. Each step closer to the core seemed to ignite a faint surge of energy in the conduits, as though the facility itself recognized her intent. The sensation was unsettling—like walking through the veins of a sentient being—but it also gave her a sense of direction.
She entered another chamber, this one smaller and more confined, its walls lined with old monitors coated in a thin layer of dust. The air felt charged here, the remnants of long-forgotten experiments still lingering in the machinery. Celeste brushed her fingers across one of the monitors, leaving streaks in the dust as the screen flickered to life.
The image was faint at first, just static and fractured light. Then it sharpened, forming the outline of a figure standing in the center of what looked like this very facility. Celeste's breath caught as she recognized the faint outline of Ethan's face, his features sharper than they had been in the hologram but still distorted by the interference.
He stood still, his gaze fixed on something just out of view. Then he turned—toward her, or so it seemed. His lips moved, forming words she couldn't hear. The image flickered and faded, leaving behind a single line of glowing text that scrawled across the monitor.
**"Anchor: Sublevel Theta."**
---
"Sublevel Theta," Celeste whispered to herself, her heart skipping a beat. It was the first concrete direction she had been given in this labyrinth of whispers and fragments. She turned back toward LYRA, her voice sharp with urgency. "Can you locate Sublevel Theta?"
"Sublevel Theta is part of the facility's lowest access point," LYRA replied. "It is restricted by multiple layers of encryption. Access will require system bypasses."
Celeste felt a flicker of frustration. "Of course it's restricted," she muttered. "Why would anything in this place be straightforward?"
Still, the frustration gave way to determination as she scanned the room for any interface that could help her bypass the restrictions. Her gaze landed on a small console embedded into the wall near the monitors. She approached it, her fingers brushing over the smooth surface as the screen lit up with a cascade of code.
The console hummed faintly as she worked, her fingers flying across the keys. The facility's encryption was more complex than anything she had encountered before, but she pushed through, her focus unshakable. The words Ethan had spoken—"Find the anchor"—kept her grounded, propelling her forward even as the system fought back.
The hum of the machinery around her grew louder as the first layer of encryption broke, the system emitting a soft chime to indicate her progress. She felt a surge of hope, her confidence building as she moved to the next layer. But then the interference surged again, the console sparking faintly as the screen flickered.
"System interference increasing," LYRA warned. "Proceed with caution."
Celeste gritted her teeth, her hands steady as she worked to counteract the interference. She wasn't about to let it stop her—not now, not when the path forward was so close. The seconds stretched into minutes, the tension in the room building with every passing moment. And then, finally, the console emitted a soft beep, the final layer of encryption dissolving before her eyes.
"Access to Sublevel Theta granted," LYRA announced.
---
The door at the far end of the chamber hissed open, revealing a narrow staircase that spiraled downward into the shadows. The air that drifted up from below was colder, carrying the faint scent of ozone and something sharper, more metallic. Celeste hesitated only for a moment before descending, her hand gripping the railing as she moved deeper into the unknown.
The staircase seemed to go on forever, the walls growing darker and more oppressive with each step. The faint pulse of the conduits became her only source of light, their glow casting long, shifting shadows that danced with her movements. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the occasional creak of the metal beneath her feet.
When she finally reached the bottom, the staircase opened into a vast, circular chamber. The room was unlike anything she had seen before, its walls lined with massive servers that hummed faintly with dormant energy. At the center of the chamber stood another pedestal, this one smaller and more intricate than the others she had encountered. Its surface was smooth and black, like obsidian, and it pulsed faintly with a deep, golden light.
Celeste's heart raced as she approached the pedestal, the relic in her pack reacting to its presence with a faint surge of energy. She reached for it, her fingers trembling as she placed it onto the pedestal's surface.
The chamber came alive.
The servers roared to life, their hum resonating through the room as threads of golden light extended from the pedestal, weaving intricate patterns in the air. The patterns coalesced into a glowing figure, its form sharper and more stable than anything she had seen before. It was Ethan.
His face was clearer now, his features no longer distorted by the interference. His gaze met hers, his eyes filled with a mix of relief and longing. "Celeste," he said, his voice steady and warm. "You found me."
Tears welled in her eyes as she stepped closer, her hand reaching toward the glowing figure. "Ethan," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I'm here. I'm not leaving you."
The connection between them felt stronger than ever, the warmth of his presence filling the room. But even as the moment unfolded, the hum of the servers grew louder, the interference surging once more. The light around Ethan's figure flickered, his form shimmering as the system fought to maintain the projection.
"The anchor," he said urgently. "It's the key to restoring the fragments... to making me whole. You have to—"
The interference surged violently, cutting him off as the servers sparked and groaned under the strain. The light around Ethan's figure flickered and faded, his presence dissolving into the air as the chamber fell silent once more.
"No!" Celeste cried, her voice echoing through the room. She sank to her knees, her hands clenched into fists as tears streamed down her face. She had been so close—so close to bringing him back.
But even in the depths of her despair, she felt the faint pulse of the relic against her hand, a quiet reminder that the connection wasn't gone. Taking a deep breath, she rose to her feet, her resolve hardening once more.
"I'll find the anchor," she said quietly. "I'll bring you back."