"Zariah," Adrian said again, louder this time, his voice cutting through the alarm like a blade. "We have seconds."
The corridor groaned beneath their feet, metal screaming as stress fractures raced along the walls. Overhead lights flickered violently, plunging the space into a strobe of white and shadow.
Zariah pushed herself upright, ignoring the fire screaming through her ribs. Her legs shook, but she stood anyway. She always did.
"I can move," she said through clenched teeth.
Adrian's eyes flicked over her too quickly to be reassuring blood on her sleeve, the way she favored her side but there was no time for the argument he clearly wanted to have. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward.
"Then don't slow down."
Kellan was already ahead, yanking open a maintenance hatch at the end of the corridor. "This way! If the second layer goes, this entire sector follows."
The floor lurched hard.
Zariah stumbled, Adrian tightening his grip just in time to keep her from going down as the corridor behind them split open with a deafening crack. A section of the floor collapsed inward, vanishing into blackness.
No bottom. Just the sound of falling metal echoing forever.
They ran.
The maintenance passage was narrow, claustrophobic, lit only by emergency strips glowing a sickly red. Pipes rattled overhead, some rupturing and spraying steam that burned her lungs as she inhaled.
Zariah's heart pounded painfully. Her body screamed for rest, but fear drove her forward.
"How did you breach containment?" she shouted over the alarms.
Adrian didn't look back. "I didn't."
That got her attention. "What do you mean you didn't?"
"I mean," he snapped, vaulting over a fallen beam, "that someone inside their system opened the door."
Kellan swore under his breath. "Which means Viktor didn't lose control."
The words landed like ice in her chest.
"He let us run," Zariah said quietly.
"Yes," Adrian replied grimly. "And that's worse."
The passage narrowed further, forcing them to move single file. The air grew hotter, heavier. Zariah's vision blurred at the edges, but she clenched her teeth and pushed through it.
They emerged into a wider junction just as another violent tremor ripped through the structure. The wall to their left collapsed outward, revealing a vast vertical shaft spiraling downward, lined with shattered platforms and dangling cables.
Zariah skidded to a stop.
"This wasn't on any map," Kellan said sharply.
"Because it's not an exit," Adrian said. "It's a fail-safe."
The words barely left his mouth before the floor beneath them dropped.
Zariah screamed as gravity vanished.
Adrian's hand slipped from hers;
And her heart stopped.
Then his arm locked around her waist, slamming her hard against his chest as they fell together. Wind tore at them, her scream swallowed by the roar of air rushing past.
Her fingers clawed into his jacket, terror and instinct merging into something primal.
Don't let go.
The fall ended brutally.
They crashed onto a lower platform, metal buckling beneath the impact. Pain exploded through Zariah's body, white-hot and blinding. She gasped, choking as the air fled her lungs.
Adrian rolled with her, absorbing most of the impact before slamming into the railing. He grunted sharply but didn't let go.
For a moment, everything was noise and pain and the taste of blood.
Then silence broken only by the distant scream of collapsing infrastructure above them.
Zariah lay there, trembling.
"You still with me?" Adrian murmured, breath ragged.
She nodded weakly, then realized he couldn't see it. "Yeah," she croaked. "Unfortunately."
He huffed a breath that might've been a laugh.
Kellan landed hard beside them seconds later, cursing as he rolled to his feet. "That was not part of the plan."
Adrian pushed himself up slowly, helping Zariah sit. His hands lingered at her waist a second longer than necessary, steadying her as the world tilted.
"You destabilized the second layer," he said quietly, eyes locked on hers. "Do you have any idea what that did?"
She swallowed. "I had an idea."
"You collapsed a live experimental sector," he continued. "Viktor won't just rebuild it."
"I know," she said softly. "He'll evolve it."
Adrian's jaw tightened. "Exactly."
A new sound echoed through the shaft.
Slow. Measured.
Footsteps.
Kellan stiffened. "We're not alone."
Zariah pushed herself fully upright, pain flaring but controlled. She followed Adrian's gaze toward the far end of the platform.
A figure emerged from the shadows.
Tall. Unhurried.
Viktor.
Not armed. Not panicked.
Smiling.
"You always did move beautifully in chaos," Viktor said calmly, his voice carrying easily across the open space. "It's almost poetic."
Adrian stepped forward instantly, placing himself between Viktor and Zariah without hesitation. "Stay back."
Viktor's gaze flicked to him. "Ah. The other variable."
Zariah's hands curled into fists. "You said this wasn't over."
"No," Viktor agreed. "I said it ends now."
The platform beneath them trembled again, a deep, ominous vibration that felt less like damage and more like awakening.
Zariah frowned. "What did you activate?"
Viktor's smile widened. "The final protocol."
The lights along the shaft flared to life, revealing massive structures embedded in the walls dormant mechanisms now humming with power. The air itself seemed to vibrate.
Kellan's face drained of color. "Adrian… those are neural amplifiers."
Adrian's eyes darkened. "He's going to trigger synchronization."
Zariah looked between them. "Speak to me."
Viktor answered for them. "Every subject you freed downstairs was connected to a core cognitive lattice. When you broke it, you didn't destroy the system."
He spread his arms slightly. "You woke it up."
A low-frequency pulse rippled through the shaft, passing straight through Zariah's body.
Her knees buckled.
Adrian caught her instantly. "Zariah!"
She gasped, clutching her chest as something deep inside her responded heat blooming behind her eyes, memories surfacing that weren't entirely hers.
Faces.
Voices.
Pain that didn't belong to her but did.
"No," she whispered. "You linked us."
"Yes," Viktor said softly. "You are now part of the network."
Adrian's voice shook with fury. "You touched her mind."
"I opened a door," Viktor corrected. "One that was already there."
Zariah's vision fractured images flashing violently behind her eyes. The people she'd freed. Their fear. Their strength. Their defiance.
Connected.
She wasn't alone in her head.
Her breathing quickened. "Adrian… I can feel them."
He held her tighter. "Focus on me."
Viktor watched with fascination. "You see? This is what you were always meant for. Not destruction."
Another pulse surged.
Zariah cried out, collapsing against Adrian as power flooded her system. The platform shook violently, lights bursting one by one.
Kellan backed away slowly. "We need to move now!"
Viktor raised a hand.
The exits sealed shut with a thunderous clang.
"No one leaves," Viktor said calmly. "Not until she stabilizes."
Zariah's head snapped up, eyes blazing with something unfamiliar. "I'm not your experiment."
A shockwave erupted from her without warning.
The platform cracked.
Viktor staggered back a step, genuine surprise flashing across his face.
Adrian stared at her. "Zariah… what did you just do?"
She stared at her hands, trembling, power humming beneath her skin. "I don't know."
The shaft screamed.
The final protocol completed its cycle.
And deep within the structure, something ancient and immense shifted fully awake.
Viktor's smile returned, sharp and dangerous. "Welcome to the last phase."
The ground split beneath them.
And this time..
There was no escape route waiting below.