Every student at Point Veert stopped moving.
The change reached the underground chamber through the crystal before anyone heard the alarm.
Ethan felt it first.
The air pressure shifted against his skin and the hairs on his arms lifted. The white light inside the chamber intensified until the cracks running through the central crystal looked like veins.
Seth stood beside him with one hand pressed against his chest.
"Something just happened upstairs."
Erena stared at the figure inside the crystal.
"Everyone stopped."
Fortea looked at her sister.
"How do you know?"
"I can feel them."
Ethan glanced toward Seth.
"You can feel them too?"
Seth nodded.
"Thousands of signals."
He closed his eyes.
"They're all connected."
The figure inside the crystal slowly raised her head.
She looked older than the photographs but not old enough to explain the years that had passed. Her dark hair floated around her shoulders in the pale fluid surrounding her body. Thin crystalline lines crossed her neck and disappeared beneath her clothing.
Ethan stared.
"That's your mother?"
Fortea did not answer.
Erena stepped closer to the crystal.
"Mother."
The woman's eyes opened.
For several seconds she simply looked at them.
Then she smiled.
"You're both taller."
Fortea's face tightened.
"How are you alive?"
The woman pressed her palm against the crystal.
"I never left."
Erena's voice became colder.
"You were dead."
"I was never dead."
"You stopped responding."
"I stopped responding to you."
Fortea moved closer.
"Why?"
Their mother looked at her.
"Because they were listening."
Halden stepped backward.
"No."
The woman turned her head.
"Doctor Halden."
He looked genuinely frightened.
"You shouldn't be awake."
"I have been awake for a long time."
Halden shook his head.
"That isn't possible."
She smiled without warmth.
"You kept measuring the wrong thing."
Ethan stepped between them.
"Enough. We need answers."
The woman looked at him.
"And you must be Ethan."
He froze.
"How do you know my name?"
"The network knows."
Seth opened his eyes.
"She isn't using the network."
Everyone looked at him.
Erena frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Seth pointed toward the crystal.
"The network is using her."
The woman's expression changed.
Only slightly.
Seth noticed.
"You aren't controlling it."
"No."
"Then who is?"
The woman looked directly at him.
"You."
Seth frowned.
Ethan shook his head.
"That makes no sense."
"It will."
The crystal pulsed.
Far above them a low mechanical rumble rolled through the facility.
Mara grabbed the railing.
"Something is moving."
Halden looked toward the staircase.
"The upper gates."
"What about them?"
"They are opening."
Ethan looked at Erena.
"Can you stop them?"
Erena shook her head.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't control the system."
She glanced at her mother.
"I never did."
Fortea looked at her sister.
"You told us you did."
"I told you what I needed you to believe."
Fortea stared at her.
"For years?"
"Yes."
The answer landed harder than an argument.
Fortea looked away.
Ethan watched the twins carefully.
"You two have been fighting each other this whole time."
Erena's eyes narrowed.
"We have been surviving each other."
A sharp metallic crack echoed from above.
Mara flinched.
Seth turned toward the stairs.
"Someone is coming."
Halden moved toward the chamber entrance.
"How many?"
Seth listened.
"Not people."
The floor vibrated beneath their feet.
The white crystal responded.
A thin line of red appeared inside it.
Ethan stepped closer.
"What changed?"
Seth stared at the crystal.
"The old system is waking up."
His mother looked at him.
"Not the old system."
She pressed her palm against the crystal again.
"The original."
The crystal split.
A narrow opening appeared down its center.
Cold air poured into the chamber.
Erena stepped backward.
"Mother, don't."
Her mother looked at her.
"You still think this place belongs to them."
"It does."
"No."
The woman's voice remained quiet.
"It belongs to whoever survives it."
The opening widened.
Inside the crystal was a chamber.
Not empty.
A metal chair stood in the center.
Two restraints hung from its arms.
Ethan stared at it.
"That was where you were tested."
The woman nodded.
"And where you were tested."
Fortea went rigid.
"I was never in that chair."
Her mother looked at her.
"Not that chair."
She pointed toward the second half of the chamber.
A smaller chair emerged from the wall.
Fortea's breathing changed.
Erena grabbed her wrist.
"Don't look."
Fortea pulled away.
"I remember."
"You were five."
"I remember."
The memories came in pieces.
White lights.
A cold floor.
A man's voice.
Erena crying somewhere behind glass.
A hand holding hers.
Then the flower.
A dark red bloom placed inside a glass container.
Fortea covered her mouth.
Ethan looked at Seth.
"What's happening to her?"
Seth watched the crystal.
"It's showing her the memories."
"Why?"
"Because the network needs her to remember."
Erena turned sharply.
"Why would it need that?"
Seth looked at her.
"Because you forgot the final part."
Erena went still.
Their mother closed her eyes.
"You both did."
A sound came from the upper staircase.
Heavy footsteps.
This time Seth recognized them.
His face tightened.
"They're here."
Ethan drew his weapon.
"Who?"
Seth looked toward the stairs.
"The students."
Halden shook his head.
"They wouldn't have reached us this quickly."
"They aren't walking."
Another vibration shook the chamber.
Then another.
The staircase lights switched on one by one.
Figures appeared at the top.
Dozens of students stood there.
Their faces were blank.
Their eyes reflected the white light.
Mara whispered, "They're all connected."
Ethan raised his weapon.
"Can they hear us?"
The nearest student slowly stepped forward.
Then another.
Then another.
Fortea looked at her mother.
"Tell them to stop."
Her mother did not move.
"I can't."
Erena's voice tightened.
"Then who can?"
The woman looked toward Seth.
He felt the answer before she spoke.
"The one the network chose."
Seth stared at her.
"Me?"
The students began descending.
Ethan moved beside him.
"Whatever it wants, we're not giving it to them."
Seth looked at the approaching crowd.
"They aren't coming for me."
A student at the front stopped.
Her mouth opened.
The voice that came out belonged to neither her nor Fargrave.
It came from the entire underground structure.
"Return the daughters."
Fortea stepped backward.
Erena grabbed her hand.
The students began moving faster.
Then every light in Point Veert turned white.