The city was quiet at dawn.
A thin layer of fog rolled across the empty streets as Adrian parked his car near the edge of the river district.
The abandoned research facility stood a few hundred meters ahead.
Tall fences surrounded the complex.
Most of them had collapsed years ago.
The buildings beyond them looked hollow.
Broken windows.
Rusting steel.
Dark concrete structures half swallowed by fog.
Adrian stepped out of the car.
The moment his feet touched the pavement—
His phone shut off.
The screen went black instantly.
"…Great."
He pressed the power button.
Nothing.
"Aria?"
Static crackled through the car speakers.
"…Adrian…"
Her voice was faint.
Distorted.
"…This area… is interfering with my connection."
Adrian looked toward the complex.
"You mean the Watcher energy?"
"Yes."
Her voice cut in and out like a broken signal.
"…I cannot maintain full access here."
Adrian sighed.
"So I'm basically walking into a supernatural portal with limited backup."
"…Correct."
He closed the car door and started toward the facility.
The fog thickened as he approached the fence.
Every step felt heavier.
Quieter.
Even the sound of the nearby river seemed muffled.
Adrian pushed through the broken gate.
The yard beyond was empty.
Old equipment lay scattered across cracked pavement.
Metal containers.
Rusting generators.
Fragments of machinery.
Adrian glanced around.
"This place looks like it shut down in a hurry."
"Yes."
Aria's voice flickered again.
"…I am detecting traces of research equipment."
"Research for what?"
"…Energy fluctuations."
Adrian frowned.
"You think they were studying the Gate?"
"…Possibly."
He moved toward the largest building in the complex.
The structure was massive.
Concrete walls rose three stories high.
A faded sign hung above the entrance.
RIVERPOINT ENERGY RESEARCH CENTER
Adrian pushed the door open.
The hinges screamed in protest.
The inside of the building was dark.
Cold.
Dust covered the floor like grey snow.
Rows of abandoned desks filled the lobby.
Computer terminals sat silent and dead.
Adrian tried his phone again.
Still nothing.
"Aria?"
Static answered him.
"…Connection unstable…"
He stepped further inside.
The fog had crept into the building through shattered windows.
Long corridors stretched deeper into the facility.
Then Adrian stopped walking.
"…Aria."
"Yes…"
"…Do you feel that?"
"…Yes."
A faint vibration moved through the floor.
Like something deep beneath the building was humming.
Adrian followed the sound down a hallway.
Each step made the vibration stronger.
"…It's coming from below us."
"…Correct."
Adrian found a stairwell and descended into the lower levels.
The air grew colder with every step.
When he reached the basement level—
He froze.
The room ahead had once been a laboratory.
Now it looked like something else entirely.
The center of the floor had been cleared.
Dozens of strange symbols had been carved into the concrete.
The same runes he had seen in his apartment.
But these were older.
Deeper.
Permanent.
Adrian stepped closer.
"…Someone made this."
"…Yes."
Aria's voice was barely audible now.
"…This facility discovered the Gate."
Adrian's pulse quickened.
"You mean they knew about it?"
"…They were studying the fracture in the Veil."
Adrian looked toward the center of the room.
The air above the runes shimmered faintly.
Like heat rising from asphalt.
Except the room was freezing.
"…Aria."
"Yes…"
"…I think I'm looking at it."
The distortion in the air pulsed slowly.
Reality itself looked thin there.
Like cracked glass.
"…That is the Gate."
Adrian stared at the fracture in space.
"…It's real."
"…Yes."
The vibration in the floor suddenly intensified.
Adrian stepped backward.
"…That can't be good."
The distortion in the air widened slightly.
And something moved behind it.
Adrian's chest tightened.
"…Aria."
"…Yes…"
"…Something is on the other side."
Her answer came through heavy static.
"…Adrian…"
"…you are not alone down there."
Adrian slowly turned around.
The fog had followed him into the laboratory.
And now—
Something was standing inside it.