The door didn't open.
Arin slammed his shoulder into it.
Metal.
Solid.
Unmoving.
Ren stepped forward, fingers tracing the edges.
"No external mechanism. Locked from inside."
"Then we break it."
"Wait."
Hana pressed her palm to the surface.
Her eyes closed.
Her breathing slowed.
"I can feel her."
A pause.
Her expression tightened.
"She's… still."
Another pause.
"…too still."
Something in Arin's chest twisted.
"Move."
Ren struck the lock.
Once.
Twice.
Metal groaned.
On the third strike—
It gave.
The door opened.
Darkness spilled out.
Not empty darkness.
Something thicker.
Heavier.
Arin stepped in.
Hana stayed close.
Maya's light stretched across the floor, barely holding the shadows back.
Ren and Dmitri followed.
The room was wide.
Low ceiling.
Support columns rising like silent watchers.
And in the center—
A circle.
Chairs.
Metal.
Bolted to the floor.
Straps fixed at arms, legs, chest.
Wires.
Dozens of them.
Trailing from each chair.
Converging—
Into a single column rising into darkness.
Most chairs were empty.
Not all.
Hana stopped breathing.
Three figures remained.
Bound.
Head down.
Unmoving.
Maya stepped forward. "Are they—"
"Don't."
Ren pointed.
The wires didn't just connect to the chairs.
They disappeared into skin.
Arms.
Neck.
Face.
Hana's voice broke into a whisper.
"I can't feel them."
A pause.
"Nothing."
Arin moved.
The first—
A man.
Still.
Veins dark beneath his skin.
Pulsing.
Slow.
The second—
A woman.
Her mouth open slightly.
Her eyes—
Arin looked away.
The third—
Smaller.
Familiar.
His breath stopped.
"Lina."
Her head hung forward.
Hair covering her face.
Wires threaded into her arms. Her neck.
Even her collarbone.
Her chest moved.
Slow.
Too slow.
Arin stepped closer.
Reached—
Hana grabbed his wrist.
"Wait."
"The wires. If you pull them wrong—"
"I don't care."
"You will," she said sharply. "If it stops her heart."
That stopped him.
He stood there.
Close enough to hear her breath.
Close enough to feel how cold she was.
The hum in his chest roared.
Ren moved to the column.
His fingers traced the wires.
"They're feeding into one point."
"Can you cut it?" Maya asked.
"If I guess wrong…"
He didn't finish.
Hana stepped beside him.
Her eyes glowed faintly.
"I can see it."
Her fingers hovered over the wires.
"The flow… it's moving upward."
Her voice tightened.
"They're draining them."
A pause.
"Three control lines."
She pointed.
"Top. Left. Right."
"If I break them in order—"
"Do it," Arin said.
No hesitation.
Hana pulled the first.
The hum changed.
Not louder.
Deeper.
She pulled the second.
A flicker ran through the room.
Lights dimmed for half a second—
Then snapped back.
The third—
Lina's body jerked.
Arin caught her instantly.
Her head fell against his shoulder.
Her weight—
Wrong.
Too light.
Her skin was cold.
Not just cold.
Empty.
"Lina."
No response.
Hana checked her pulse.
"It's there. Weak, but there."
She looked at the remaining wires.
"We remove these slowly."
Behind them—
The column shifted.
Not physically.
But the hum—
Changed.
Ren noticed.
"…we don't have much time."
They worked fast.
Ren cut.
Maya caught each wire, careful.
Hana tracked the flow.
Dmitri watched the door.
Arin held Lina.
For a moment—
Her fingers twitched.
He froze.
Then—
They went still again.
The last wire came free.
Lina's breathing deepened.
Just slightly.
Maya exhaled. "She's stabilizing."
Arin didn't relax.
Because something felt—
Off.
The hum above them dropped.
Suddenly.
Silence.
Hana looked up.
Slowly.
"…it noticed."
Ren didn't hesitate.
"Move."
They ran.
The corridor felt different now.
The lights flickered.
Not randomly.
In sequence.
Behind them.
Following.
Arin tightened his hold on Lina.
The hum returned.
But now—
It pulsed.
Like something waking up.
Hana's voice shook.
"It's tracking the loss."
From deeper inside—
A sound.
Heavy.
Measured.
Not fast.
Not rushing.
Coming.
Ren didn't look back.
"Don't stop."
They reached the exit.
Burst into open air.
Cold wind hit them.
Sharp.
Real.
Arin breathed.
For the first time since entering—
He breathed.
Lina shifted slightly in his arms.
Her face tightened.
Then relaxed.
Maya checked her pulse.
"Still stable. But we need proper treatment."
Hana didn't move.
She stared at the entrance.
"What is it?" Arin asked.
She didn't answer.
Arin followed her gaze.
Darkness.
Still.
Silent.
Nothing came out.
But something had been there.
Watching.
Waiting.
"Let's go," Arin said.
They walked into the grey light.
Behind them—
Deep inside the structure—
The hum began again.
Slower.
Stronger.
Like something had just… lost something important.