The pressure in the room reached an unnatural limit.
The air trembled.
The floor creaked.
Every metal surface reflected clashing blue lights from the remaining systems, and darkness from something trying to force its way in.
Richard Blackwood stood at the edge of the circle.
His hands raised.
Energy from the gate coursed through his body.
Invisible.
But tangible.
Every muscle fiber tensed.
Every breath grew heavier.
Beside him
the child remained connected.
The cables attached to their body pulsed rapidly, like a heart forced to beat faster than its limit.
Daniel stood a few steps behind.
His eyes never left the screens of his device.
Numbers flashed.
Graphs writhed wildly.
"We're about to lose stability!" he shouted.
Leonard Graves guarded the rear.
His weapon aimed down the corridor.
But his focus was split.
Half on the unseen threat.
Half on what was happening before them.
"How much longer?!" he yelled.
The child did not answer.
Their body shook violently.
But their hands stayed raised.
Still holding on.
The crack at the center of the circle
grew smaller.
Slowly.
But not without resistance.
From within
the shadow moved.
More aggressively.
Stronger.
The eyes that had been still
now narrowed.
As if realizing
this was its final chance.
Ethan
inside the core.
felt everything like a storm in his consciousness.
Energy from the gate slammed into the network he controlled.
Some nodes went dark.
Others shifted direction.
He almost lost control.
But he did not let go.
"Just a little more…" he whispered.
He channeled all his focus to one point.
The gate.
The crack.
Strengthening the pressure from this side.
Pushing back what was trying to enter.
In the room
Richard stepped half an inch closer.
Daniel immediately shouted,
"Don't get too close! The energy—"
Richard did not stop.
His gaze was straight ahead.
Sharp.
"If this isn't enough… I'll add more."
Leonard grinned faintly despite the madness of the situation.
"Crazy. I like it."
But his voice was not entirely casual.
There was tension beneath it.
The child opened their eyes.
Stared at Richard.
"Don't… go too far…"
Richard replied flatly,
"We've been too far since the start."
The light in the circle trembled more violently.
The crack was now only the size of a palm.
But the pressure from within
increased drastically.
The air seemed to be pulled to a single point.
Daniel almost lost his balance.
"He's fighting back!"
Leonard braced himself.
Holding his ground so he wouldn't be pulled away.
"I can see that!"
From within the crack
something moved.
No longer just a shadow.
But a form.
Blurred.
But large.
Like part of something far greater.
The eyes—
still there.
And now
they stared directly at Richard.
That gaze
was not empty.
There was something within it.
Awareness.
Judgment.
Reaction.
The crack trembled.
A little
it opened again.
The child jolted.
Their breath hitched.
"I… can't… hold it…"
Daniel panicked.
"We need one final push!"
Ethan felt the moment.
The point of no return.
He knew
this was his limit.
If the crack opened again
everything would change.
Without hesitation
he drew energy from the entire network.
Ignoring stability.
Ignoring risk.
Channeling everything in one direction.
The gate.
In the room
blue light suddenly flared.
Brighter than before.
Stronger.
The child was shocked.
Richard felt it.
"Ethan…" he whispered softly.
That push
was enough.
The crack shrank again.
Fast.
Faster than before.
The shadow inside trembled.
The eyes narrowed.
There was a change.
Not anger.
Not fear.
But something deeper.
Acknowledgment.
As if it understood
who was pushing it back.
For a split second
a connection formed.
Between Ethan
and something beyond the gate.
A glimpse.
A vast space.
Dark.
Boundless.
And something that could not be described in shape.
Then
it broke.
The crack shrank further.
Now only a thin line.
Almost closed.
The child shouted,
"Now!"
Richard poured all his strength into it.
The final push.
Ethan sent the last of his energy.
Everything that remained.
And.
CRACK.
The sound was sharp.
Like something shattering.
The crack
closed.
Completely.
The light in the circle immediately dimmed.
The trembling stopped.
The air returned to normal.
But the aftereffects
were felt at once.
The child collapsed to the floor.
Their body limp.
The cables on their body went dead.
Motionless.
Richard stepped back one step.
Then another.
His breathing was heavy.
But he remained standing.
Daniel immediately ran to the child.
"Hey! Hey..!"
He checked their pulse.
Still there.
Weak.
But present.
Leonard let out a long breath.
"I don't like the part where we almost die."
Richard did not answer.
His gaze was still fixed on the circle.
Which now
was silent.
As if it had never been active.
But they all knew
it was not truly gone.
Daniel looked up.
"Did… we make it?"
No one answered immediately.
Because they all felt the same thing.
This was not the end.
This was only
a temporary closing.
Ethan
inside the core
was silent.
His consciousness faded.
The energy he had used
was too great.
But before everything went dark
he remembered one thing.
That gaze.
Which had seen him.
Which had known him.
And he knew
it was not over.
In the room
Richard finally lowered his hands.
"We're leaving."
Leonard nodded.
"Gladly."
Daniel helped lift the child.
Their steps moved again.
Leaving the circle behind.
Leaving the gate.
But something
did not stay behind.
Deep within.
in a place that could not be reached
a small crack reappeared.
Very small.
Almost invisible.
But enough.
to prove one thing.
The door
was not truly closed.
Their steps carried them away from the room.
Quickly.
But not chaotically.
Richard led the way ahead, ensuring the path remained safe. Leonard guarded the rear with full vigilance, while Daniel supported the still-weak child.
The corridor felt narrow again.
But this time.
not because of the space.
But because of the burden they carried.
Daniel glanced at the child.
Their face was pale.
Their breathing shallow.
The cables on their body were now completely still, like dead objects that had lost their function.
"He needs help…" Daniel murmured.
Leonard answered without looking back,
"He needs a lot of things. But we have to get out first."
Richard stopped suddenly.
Everyone halted immediately.
A sound.
Not from ahead.
But from above.
Like something moving behind the walls.
Daniel held his breath.
"Don't tell me.."
Leonard grinned faintly.
"Yeah, I'll tell you."
Richard raised his hand.
A signal for silence.
They listened.
The sound stopped.
Vanished.
But the feeling of being watched
remained.
"Don't stop for too long," Richard said softly.
Their steps resumed.
Faster.
More focused.
The corridor curved.
Then ascended.
The air began to change.
No longer too cold.
There was a slight fresh current.
A sign they were approaching the exit route.
Daniel looked at his device.
"Signal above is active again… but unstable."
Leonard raised an eyebrow.
"Because we destroyed part of the system?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No. It's like… something is trying to reconnect."
Silence fell.
Richard spoke briefly,
"We speed up."
They were almost at the intersection when
the child moved.
A little.
But enough to make Daniel look over.
"Hey… are you conscious?"
The child's eyelids fluttered.
Slowly opened.
Their gaze was empty for a few seconds.
Then refocused.
They immediately drew a deep breath.
Like someone emerging from underwater.
"He… is still there…" they whispered.
Daniel tensed.
"What do you mean?"
The child stared backward.
Toward where they had come from.
"He doesn't need the gate… to see…"
Leonard let out a slow breath.
"Great. I'm starting to miss simple problems."
Richard looked at the child.
"How bad?"
The child was silent.
For a few seconds.
Then.
"Closer than we thought."
The silence turned cold.
Daniel bit his lip.
"We have to warn Ethan—"
"He already knows."
Everyone fell silent.
Because the voice
was not from the child.
Not from them.
But… from within.
From inside their heads.
Ethan.
His voice sounded weaker.
But clear.
Daniel reacted immediately.
"Ethan?! Are you still—"
"I'm here… for now."
His tone was different.
Heavier.
Farther away.
As if every word required effort.
Richard asked,
"Status."
The answer came after a pause.
"Network unstable… some parts… not responding."
Leonard crossed his arms.
"And the rest?"
A brief silence.
Then.
"Something is moving inside it."
Daniel stared blankly ahead.
"The one from earlier?"
"Not entirely."
That answer made the mood grow worse.
The child tried to sit up straighter.
"I feel it too…"
Ethan continued,
"He left something behind… a trace… or part of himself."
Richard understood immediately.
"Infection."
"Yes."
One word.
But enough.
Leonard sighed.
"So we didn't close the door. We just… let a little bit in."
Daniel felt his throat go dry.
"Can it be stopped?"
A long silence.
Longer than before.
Then
"I don't know… not yet."
Their steps moved again.
But this time
faster.
More urgent.
Because the threat
was no longer behind them.
But inside.
The corridor finally opened into a wider area.
The overhead lights flickered.
Some dead.
Some dimly lit.
Remnants of a disrupted system.
Daniel looked ahead.
"Exit access… about two hundred meters ahead."
Leonard raised his weapon.
"I don't like that number."
Richard stayed focused.
"Keep moving."
But before they could take another step
all the lights in the area
went out.
Total darkness.
Daniel immediately turned on his portable light.
A small beam illuminated the surroundings.
But not enough to dispel the feeling.
The feeling that
they were not alone.
A soft sound could be heard.
Not footsteps.
Not scraping.
But something… alive.
Moving through the darkness.
The child tensed.
Their expression changed.
"That's it…"
Leonard sighed.
"Which one is it now?"
The child whispered,
"The one that was left behind."
The light from Daniel's lamp trembled.
Not because the device was broken.
But because the air around them
was changing.
Small distortions appeared.
Not as large as before.
But clear enough.
And this time
not just one.
But several.
Richard raised his weapon immediately.
"Form up."
Leonard moved to the other side.
Daniel stepped back, shielding the child.
The distortions did not attack immediately.
They just… appeared.
Surrounded them.
Watched.
Like shadows trying to take shape.
Ethan felt everything
he had no answers.
Because what they faced now
was no longer a system.
No longer an experiment.
But something that had crossed that line.
Something that
should not have been in their world.
And now
it was not just knocking on the door.
It had already…
come in.