The emergency lights painted the lab in harsh red, every shadow stretched to unnatural lengths. Mira's breath came shallow as she stared at the knot—its golden threads now flickering with streaks of inky black.
Felix's voice was a low rasp. "It's inside the perimeter. The anomaly's signature… it's different this time. Stronger."
Linh's hands trembled as she tapped her tablet, data scrolling too fast to process. "I—I can't trace it. It's like it's rewriting the code as I watch."
Arjun slammed a fist onto the console, frustration etched across his face. "We're supposed to be the ones fixing the tapestry, not being unraveled by it!"
Mira forced herself to focus, shutting out the panic clawing at her mind. The Watchers' warning echoed in her thoughts: To heal the tapestry, you must face your own regrets.
A sudden chill swept through the lab. The knot's light dimmed, and for a heartbeat, Mira saw a shape—a shadow, barely human, standing just beyond the glass. Its eyes glowed with a cold, impossible blue.
She blinked, and it was gone. But the knot's threads now twisted into a new pattern: a spiral, fractured down the center.
Kiran's voice was barely a whisper. "Did you see that?"
Mira nodded, her voice steady but cold. "It's not just an anomaly. It's a message. Or a threat."
Felix's eyes darted to the monitors. "Whatever it is, it wants us to know it's here."
The knot pulsed, sending a ripple through the air that prickled Mira's skin. She felt a memory surface—her own voice, years ago, promising she'd never let the past repeat itself.
But some promises were harder to keep than others.
She turned to her team, determination hardening her features. "We're not running. Not now. We find the fracture. We face the shadow—together."
As the team rallied, the lab's shadows seemed to pulse in time with the knot, alive and waiting.
And somewhere, just out of sight, the shadow watched back.