Rex sprinted down the corridor as the sirens wailed overhead, their shrill howl echoing through the metal halls. The floor trembled beneath him with every thunderous rumble from below. Lights flickered, then steadied, then flickered again as though the entire facility were breathing its last.
"BREACH IN LOWER SECTOR. ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."
The voice repeated, cold and mechanical, as Rex turned a corner and nearly collided with a group of workers scrambling toward the upper decks. Water sloshed around their ankles — just an inch for now, but rising quickly.
A shout cut through the chaos.
"Rex! You—get over here!"
Tina barreled toward him through the shallow water, red curls plastered to her forehead, her broad arms hauling a metal support beam twice her size. Even for her, the strain was obvious.
"A bulkhead's jammed!" she yelled. "We need to brace it or this whole level goes under!"
Rex ran to help, grabbing the other end of the beam. But when he lifted, the metal nearly flew upward from the force. He steadied himself quickly, but Tina stared for a split second, eyes wide.
"Since when are you—"
Another tremor hit, cutting her off. The hallway groaned as metal warped somewhere out of sight.
"We don't have time!" she snapped.
Together they wedged the support into place, buying the corridor a few more minutes. Water slammed against the reinforced bulkhead on the other side, a violent reminder that the ocean was already chewing through the lower floors.
"Go!" Tina shouted. "If we're gonna make the top—"
But she froze, watching Rex. Or more specifically… his chest.
The serpent mark was glowing beneath his shirt.
Rex swallowed hard. "I don't know what's happening," he said. "But I think… something's calling me."
Tina opened her mouth—maybe to protest, maybe to demand an explanation—but the sea chose that moment to roar again as pipes burst above them, spraying cold water across their faces.
"Whatever you're doing," she said, voice low and fierce, "don't die doing it."
Rex nodded and broke into a run, heading deeper into the flooding facility — in the opposite direction of everyone else.
The mark pulsed with warmth, guiding him like a compass. Each step took him closer to the lower sector where the breach had begun. Water now reached his shins, swirling with debris and broken tiles.
He reached a sealed steel door striped with hazard markings — one he had never seen open before. But tonight, faint runes glittered across its surface, matching the ones etched into the plates he'd scavenged for years.
The serpent mark pulsed brighter.
As Rex stepped toward the door, it responded. Metal groaned as mechanisms deep within unlocked themselves, and the door slid open with an ancient hiss.
A long stairway led down into darkness.
Rex took a breath and descended.
The chamber below was enormous — easily the size of a stadium — with catwalks suspended over a pitch-black pit of water. Broken lights flickered, illuminating a central platform where a gigantic ring-like structure hung in shattered pieces. Its surface was carved with familiar runes, now dead and dull.
Papers, tablets, and logs littered the floor.
Rex picked one up:
LEVIATHAN ENERGY CONVERSION — PHASE FAILING
Another:
All readings suggest dormant organisms beneath trench responding to global shifts. Plates biological in origin. Structures unstable. DO NOT—
A sudden crash from the pit made him drop the page. The platform shook. Ripples spread across the dark water.
Something below was moving.
Rex stumbled back in fear. The mark on his chest flared hot, reacting violently.
He turned and ran up the stairway as the chamber began to collapse. Water surged upward, blasting through vents as the ocean reclaimed the facility. The stairwell trembled, forcing Rex into a desperate sprint.
He burst into the upper corridors just as a massive wave flooded the lower level behind him, slamming the doors shut.
Workers, drenched and terrified, crowded the hallway. Tina was among them, gripping a railing as the room shook again.
When she saw Rex, relief flashed across her face—but it quickly faded to shock.
His chest was glowing like a molten brand.
"You," she whispered, "are going to explain everything."
But before Rex could respond, the entire facility lurched sideways.
Someone screamed. Another prayed. Another cursed.
And far below them, something ancient answered with a sound that was not human.
The world as they knew it was not just ending.
It was waking up.