The corridor stairs leading underground were cracked from the earlier quakes. Chunks of plaster littered each step, and the smell of burnt wiring clung to the air. Arjun moved slowly, leaning against Samar for balance while Meera kept pressure against his ribs.
Every few steps, Arjun felt the echo stir—a cold finger running along the inside of his mind, pushing memories to the surface without asking permission.
His father's voice. The metallic hum of a lab chamber. The soft glow of a cradle-like machine.
Memory fragments flashed like broken film reels.
He squeezed his eyes shut and forced the images away.
"Stay with me," Meera whispered, her hand tightening around his. "You're here. You're not in that place."
The echo hissed faintly at her voice—a small, sharp pulse of irritation.
Arjun ground his teeth. Good. Let it dislike her. That meant she could push it back.
Samar glanced sideways, noticing Arjun's tension. "What's it showing you now?" he muttered.
Arjun took a shaky breath. "Just… shadows. Not clear ones. But they feel… real."
"Then don't look at them," Samar said, tightening his hold. "You have bad luck with glowing things."
Meera elbowed Samar lightly. "Very helpful."
"Hey," Samar snorted, "if sarcasm keeps him conscious, I'll keep going."
Rudra walked ahead, stepping over fallen beams with the familiarity of someone who had memorized these tunnels long ago. His voice echoed down the stairwell.
"Keep moving. Velocity will reach the perimeter in two minutes."
Arjun's chest tightened. "What will they do if they find us?"
Rudra didn't turn. "They will detain Meera and Samar. And they will neutralize you."
Meera froze. Samar snapped, "Not happening."
Arjun swallowed hard. He already knew Rudra wasn't exaggerating. The system inside him was too unstable, too unpredictable.
He felt like a bomb someone had forgotten to label.
The Corridor Splits
The stairs ended in a long hallway lined with rusted pipes. Flickering emergency lights cast uneven pools of orange across the walls.
A sign hung crookedly:
SHELTER MAINTENANCE → BIO-RESEARCH B-12 (SEALED)
Rudra pointed to the last one.
"That's our destination."
Samar grimaced. "Great. A sealed lab. Nothing ever goes wrong in sealed labs."
Meera shot him another glare, despite the fear in her eyes.
Arjun tried to keep his breathing steady as they moved toward the sealed wing. The echo grew more active with every step.
Like it was waking up.
Like it wanted him closer.
The system flickered:
[PSYCHE-MIRROR: RESPONSE AMPLIFYING] [MENTAL RESISTANCE: CRITICAL LOW] [CAUTION: INTRUSION RISK]
Arjun stumbled for a second. Samar grabbed him before he fell.
"Arjun," Samar said sharply, "talk to us."
"I'm… fine," Arjun muttered. But his hands were shaking. He couldn't hide it anymore.
Meera's voice softened into something fierce andafraid. ."Something's wrong. You're not fine."
Arjun looked at his hands—trembling like leaves in wind—and forced the truth out:
"It's… louder. The echo. The closer we get, the more it—"
His words cut off as the building above them shook.
A deep, thunderous boom roared through the hall.
Samar swore. "What now?!"
Rudra closed his eyes briefly. "That would be Velocity breaching the perimeter."
Velocity Arrives
Distant footsteps thundered overhead. Metal doors slammed open. Radio chatter crackled down the stairwell.
"—Unit 2, converge—" "—thermal signatures detected—" "—prepare suppression rounds—"
Rudra stiffened. "They're faster than expected. We need to seal this hallway."
Meera looked around desperately. "How?!"
Samar shoved Arjun gently toward her. "Hold him."
He moved to a partially collapsed support beam and braced both hands against it—ignoring how blood dripped down his arm.
With a guttural shout, he pushed.
Stone and metal ground against each other. Dust rained down in sheets. The beam tilted…
…and then crashed into the narrow entry, blocking the main tunnel behind them.
Meera stared, stunned. "That was—"
"Awakening perks," Samar grunted, wiping blood from his mouth. "Kinda makes bleeding to death worth it."
Arjun managed a weak smile. "You're not dying."
"Not planning to," Samar said, though his pallor said otherwise.
Rudra nodded in approval. "That'll buy us a few minutes."
Arjun felt a small ripple inside his mind.
Approval. Interest.
The echo was reacting to Samar's awakening.
Not good.
The Door That Shouldn't Open
They reached the Bio-Research B-12 door. It was a massive blast door, half buried under debris.
Rudra knelt beside the control panel. The wires inside were old—but not dead.
He connected two copper threads with a metal pin from his coat.
The door let out a slow, grinding hiss.
Meera stepped back as dust fell from the ceiling.
Arjun steadied himself against the wall.
The echo pulsed—
closerclosercloser
He pressed his palm against his forehead.
"…it wants something," he whispered.
Rudra looked over sharply. "What does it want?"
Arjun forced himself to articulate the sensation.
"It… recognizes this place."
Samar muttered, "Fantastic. The monster in your head has a good memory."
Meera squeezed Arjun's arm. "You don't have to listen to it."
Arjun nodded, but the echo didn't fade. It thrummed with hunger masked as curiosity.
Rudra stood.
"Prepare yourselves. This module is your father's last safeguard. And it will not open peacefully."
The door groaned—
—and slowly began to slide open.
Cold air spilled out—sharper than the outside, carrying a faint chemical scent.
Inside, faint emergency lights illuminated a large, circular chamber.
Arjun stepped inside first.
And froze.
The Origin Calibration Module
At the center of the chamber stood a tall, cylindrical structure made of glass and metal plates—a containment pod wrapped with dozens of cables that ran into the floor like roots.
The pod's interior was empty.
But the shape of the restraints inside told a story:
Human-sized. Built for one occupant. And directly connected to an Origin Core replica at its base.
Meera's eyes widened. "Someone was supposed to be in that."
Rudra's voice was quiet. "Not someone."
He looked directly at Arjun.
"Him."
Arjun felt the world shift beneath his feet. The echo pulsed violently—not resisting, but responding.
Samar swore under his breath. "Your father planned to put you in that?!"
Arjun staggered backward, breath catching in his lungs.
"I… don't remember this…" he whispered.
"You wouldn't," Rudra said gently. "You were too young."
Arjun shook his head, eyes blurring. "I don't—I don't want to remember—"
The echo surged.
Pressure filled his skull.
Images burst behind his eyes—
His father adjusting wires. Rudra speaking urgently into a radio. A child—himself—crying inside the pod. A bright light. A core waking for the first time.
"Stop," Arjun gasped, clutching his head. "STOP—!"
Meera grabbed him, pulling his forehead gently to hers.
"Arjun. Arjun. Listen to my voice. Just my voice."
Samar moved behind Arjun, anchoring him with one steadying hand on his back.
"Breathe," Samar muttered. "Don't let it drag you."
Arjun's breaths came ragged, desperate—
But Meera didn't break eye contact.
Slowly… painfully… The echo receded like a dark wave withdrawing from the shore.
Arjun collapsed to his knees, trembling.
Meera lowered with him, holding his shoulders.
Rudra watched quietly. "Good. He resisted a direct push."
The chamber trembled violently.
The system blinked harshly.
[UNDER-ROOT: TENDRIL BREACH IMMINENT] [Structural Integrity: 16%] [COUNTDOWN: 00:06:12]
Samar's eyes widened. "It followed us?!"
Rudra nodded grimly. "Tendrils. It's drilling toward this module."
Meera looked around the room in panic. "What do we do?!"
Rudra looked at Arjun.
"Your father built this module to stabilize your connection, but he also built something else inside it."
Arjun shakily stood.
"What… else?"
Rudra answered:
"A way to shut the echo down, if you're willing to endure it."
The echo inside Arjun flared in alarm—for the first time showing fear.
Arjun felt it.
And he whispered back,
"…then I have to."
The chamber floor cracked. A tendril forced its way through.
Samar stepped forward, blood dripping from his fingers. "Then let's get this thing done before the roots eat us."