A low, trembling hum filled the chamber as Lin Wei's words echoed through the vast underground hall.
"This ends tonight."
The air thickened.Energy rippled outward from him like slow-moving waves, bending the lights, warping the dust in the air, making Zhao and the soldiers instinctively recoil.
Zhao lifted a shaking hand.
"Lin Wei—whatever you think you've become—"
Lin Wei cut him off with a glance.
Not angry.Not triumphant.Just… resolved.
"You don't understand what this place is," Lin Wei said softly."What my mother built. What you've been chasing."
Zhao hissed, eyes burning with frustration and fear.
"I understand better than you! I've spent twenty years—twenty years—looking for the Nexus. Searching for the mind sequence. All to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands."
Lin Wei stepped forward, the floor humming under his feet.
"And you never realized," he said quietly,"that you were the wrong hands."
Zhao flinched as if struck.
The soldiers shifted uneasily, glancing at each other. The chamber's temperature felt like it had risen ten degrees—energy saturating every breath.
The Soldiers Make a Choice
One soldier—helmet cracked, visor smeared with dust—gripped his rifle tighter.
"S-Sir… should we engage?"
Zhao hesitated.
Just a heartbeat.But enough for both soldiers to feel uncertainty.
Lin Wei's system-enhanced perception caught that micro-moment.
He turned to the soldiers.
"You don't have to follow him."
The soldiers froze.
Their hearts raced—Lin Wei could hear it. Or perhaps the Nexus did. Their fear. Their exhaustion. Their resentment at Zhao's impossible expectations.
"You were ordered into danger you didn't understand," Lin Wei continued."Into a place even he doesn't grasp."
The chamber lights flickered, casting shifting shadows across the metal walls.
"You can walk away."
One soldier swallowed.The other looked down.
Zhao snapped:
"ANY MAN WHO TAKES A STEP BACK WILL BE CHARGED WITH TREASON!"
The word echoed.
Treason.
The chamber seemed to react—lights dimming, air tightening, as if the Nexus disliked the word.
Zhao turned his fury back on Lin Wei.
"Look at what you're doing. Manipulating them. Manipulating everything in this room. That is why this technology must be controlled."
Lin Wei shook his head.
"I'm not manipulating anything."
The lights softened. The hum quieted.
"I'm letting it breathe."
Zhao's face paled.
The soldiers stepped back—not toward Zhao, but away from him.
Zhao realized, too late,that he had lost them.
Zhao Draws His Pistol
He pulled out a black pistol, leveling it at Lin Wei with steady hands.
"You don't understand. You can't understand," Zhao whispered, voice trembling despite his poise.
"This world is unstable. Leadership corrupt. Resources dwindling. Decisions made from fear, not reason. The Nexus is the only chance for order."
Lin Wei didn't move.
"You want control."
"I want stability!"
"You want power."
"I want a future!"
Lin Wei's eyes softened.
"Then why does everything you touch fall apart?"
Zhao's breath shook.
"Don't—don't speak to me like you know me."
Lin Wei took another step.
"I know you because I can feel what the Nexus feels."
Zhao's grip tightened violently.
"And what does it feel?" he spat.
Lin Wei looked directly into his eyes.
"Your fear."
Zhao's finger hovered over the trigger.
Seconds stretched thin.
The Chamber Reacts
Before Zhao could fire, the chamber trembled.
Lights flared red.
A deep, echoing mechanical groan shook the walls.
Lin Wei's system flashed:
WARNINGCORE STABILITY COMPROMISEDEnergy Surge DetectedExternal Interference Identified
Zhao's eyes widened.
"No… no, no, no—it's impossible! The failsafe—"
Lin Wei turned sharply toward him.
"What did you activate?"
Zhao backed away, panic tearing through his mask of calm.
"N-nothing! I didn't touch the core—someone on the surface—someone must've—"
The Nexus pulsed violently, cutting him off.
The lights turned crimson.
Sirens blared overhead.
WARNINGFailsafe Protocol: CONTAINMENTSeal in 240 seconds
Lin Wei felt his heart drop.
"The facility is going to lock down."
Zhao looked physically ill.
"No—No, that's not all it does. The failsafe—if the system reaches full resonance—"
He scrambled backward.
"It purges the entire chamber!"
Lin Wei froze.
"Purges…?"
Zhao shouted:
"It ELIMINATES everything inside to prevent unauthorized interface!"
The soldiers panicked.
Lin Wei's stomach twisted.
"Liu Fang… she's still in the upper chamber!"
Zhao snarled:
"She'll die when the whole complex collapses—unless the Nexus is shut down!"
Lin Wei turned.
The Nexus pulsed brighter, trembling violently.
Calling him.Needing him.
His system whispered:
User Intervention RequiredManual Stabilization PossibleSuccess Probability: 37%
Low.
But better than zero.
He clenched his fists.
Zhao shouted over the alarms:
"You can't stabilize it! You're synced too deeply! If you try—your mind will—"
Lin Wei didn't let him finish.
"I'm going to save her."
Lin Wei Steps Into the Core
The Nexus split open—a glowing fissure revealing its internal chamber.
Light streamed out like a heartbeat unleashed.
Lin Wei stepped toward it.
Zhao screamed:
"LIN WEI—IF YOU ENTER THAT CORE, THERE'S NO COMING BACK!"
Lin Wei looked over his shoulder.
Calm.
Resolute.
"Then I hope she remembers me."
Zhao lunged to stop him—
—but the soldiers grabbed him, finally turning on him.
"Sir—enough!"
Lin Wei placed his hand on the blinding light.
Every nerve burned.
Every synapse lit up.
His mother's voice echoed faintly—
"Don't let them decide your fate."
He stepped inside.
The light swallowed him.
The doors slammed shut.
The chamber shook once—twice—and the world went white.
The purge countdown dropped to 180 seconds.