Nobody spoke.
The command center had gone completely silent.
The signal blinked on the screen.
Directly beneath them.
Kael stared at it.
His heartbeat quickened.
"That's impossible."
The scientist shook his head.
"We've checked three times."
The signal remained.
Unmoving.
Waiting.
The stranger's expression hardened.
"Prepare a team."
Nobody argued.
Minutes later, Kael stood inside an elevator descending deep below the facility.
The stranger stood beside him.
Several elite hosts waited behind them.
The atmosphere was tense.
No one knew what they would find.
Only that something was down there.
Something powerful.
The elevator continued downward.
One hundred meters.
Two hundred.
Three hundred.
Then—
The lights flickered.
Kael felt it immediately.
A pulse.
Faint.
Ancient.
Aetherion went silent.
That worried him more than anything.
"Aetherion?"
No answer.
The Core felt distant.
As if listening.
As if remembering.
Ding.
The elevator stopped.
The doors slid open.
Darkness greeted them.
A massive underground chamber stretched before them.
Old.
Far older than the facility itself.
The walls were covered in strange symbols.
None of them looked human.
Dust covered everything.
Yet the signal was strongest here.
"It's coming from ahead."
The team moved carefully.
Weapons ready.
Abilities prepared.
Every step echoed.
Then they reached the center.
And froze.
A massive stone door stood before them.
Covered in glowing blue cracks.
The signal came from the other side.
Kael stepped closer.
The moment he did—
The symbols ignited.
Light flooded the chamber.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
Ancient.
Weak.
Waiting.
"At last..."
Everyone froze.
The stone door trembled.
"One of us has returned."
Kael's eyes widened.
Aetherion suddenly spoke.
For the first time in hours.
Its voice carried unmistakable shock.
"No..."
The chamber shook.
The door slowly began to open.
And whatever waited behind it...
Knew Aetherion's name.