The floor beneath Isabelle cracked open with a deep metallic groan, revealing a spiraling shaft lined with flickering blue lights. A blast of stale, cold air surged upward, carrying with it the scent of decay and static.
"Hold on," Echo warned. "The descent protocol will initiate in five seconds. It's a one-way trip."
"One way?" Isabelle asked, already stepping toward the edge.
Echo's glowing eyes met hers. "Once you go down… you either find the override or become part of the system."
Before they could respond, the platform shifted. With a jolt, it dropped, pulling them into the abyss.
The elevator spiraled downward like a helix, speeding past old terminals, dormant server rooms, and mechanical skeletons of forgotten technology. Isabelle gripped the railing tight. Damian stood steady, eyes focused on the shadows whirling past them.
"This place wasn't just a data vault," he said, voice steady despite the motion. "It was a living archive. The Collective didn't store files—they stored minds."
Echo nodded. "They believed information was safer inside neural simulations. Entire cities, entire lives... running in loops. Most never even knew they were in a simulation."
Isabelle's eyes widened. "You mean—people lived and died here without knowing it wasn't real?"
"Yes. Portstone wasn't abandoned. It was digitized."
The platform halted with a shudder.
They stepped into a vast underground chamber, glowing dimly with blue and red light. Endless glass tubes lined the walls—each containing a still, floating human. Some were children. Some elderly. All frozen in stasis.
"Welcome to the Cradle," Echo said softly. "The Collective's most sacred secret."
Damian walked to one of the tubes. "They kept them like this? For decades?"
Echo's voice cracked slightly. "Some volunteered. Most didn't."
Suddenly, a red light flashed across the chamber. A loud tone echoed overhead.
"SECURITY BREACH. CRADLE UNLOCKING."
Isabelle turned. "Did we trigger something?!"
"No," Echo whispered, eyes wide. "Someone else did."
At the far end of the chamber, a massive door opened. A man in a long white coat walked through, flanked by two guards in hybrid armor. His presence was commanding, surgical… and cold.
Damian's hand tightened around his weapon. "Dr. Grael."
Grael's voice boomed across the room. "You made it further than I expected. I should've known Elira's little ghost wouldn't go quietly."
Echo stepped forward, trembling. "You destroyed everything she believed in!"
Grael's smile was thin. "And yet here you are… powered by the same code."
He raised a device in his hand. "Surrender now. Or I wake every sleeper in this vault—and turn them into my army."
Isabelle's heart raced.
Damian looked at her, calm but urgent. "We have to make a move."
"What do we do?" she asked.
He smirked. "We don't play by their rules."
Without warning, he threw a small EMP charge across the room. It detonated with a high-pitched whine, throwing sparks and knocking out the lights.
Chaos exploded.
Gunfire. Shouting. The sound of tubes hissing open.
Isabelle grabbed Echo's arm and dove behind a terminal.
"Where's the override?!" she yelled.
Echo pointed to the central pillar. "In there! But it needs two codes—Elira's… and one from someone alive!"
"Then let's get to it," Isabelle said, eyes blazing.
Damian fought his way forward, covering them as Isabelle and Echo dashed to the core.
The pillar opened—revealing a glowing red orb, suspended in mid-air.
Isabelle reached for it.
Alarms wailed louder.
Time was running out.