The next gate popped open just before dawn.
Mu Chen heard the alert from his bed, a sharp chirp over the unit speakers. Not deafening, but you couldn't miss it.
He shot upright.
People were already stirring across the floor. Boots clicking, lockers clanking, hushed voices. The machine was kicking into gear again.
Mu Chen dressed fast and headed for the ready room. Colonel Luo Wei was already there, one hand resting on the table screen, a new map glowing under the bright lights.
"Gate," Luo Wei said, her voice clipped. "Industrial district, east side. Mid-level threat. Quick clear."
Zhou Xiao rubbed his eyes. "Another one already?"
Luo Wei's gaze remained fixed on the map. "Yes."
Lin Lan tapped at her tablet. "Signal's shaky at the edges, but stable closer to the center."
Mu Chen knew what that implied. Enough interference to make things dangerous. But enough solid readings to be useful. Useful for the institute, anyway.
Ye Fan was the last to arrive. He looked like he hadn't slept a wink. His face was a mask of hard lines, his eyes colder than usual, and his movements were precise, almost mechanical. Like a person held together by sheer will.
Luo Wei spared him a single glance before continuing as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Same field team. Ye Fan in lead. Zhou Xiao, Lin Lan, and Mu Chen for support."
Mu Chen gave a short nod. "Yes, ma'am."
Ye Fan said nothing. His silence hung in the air, heavier than any argument could have been.
They suited up quickly. As Mu Chen was adjusting his gloves, Ye Fan appeared beside him. He wasn't looking at Mu Chen, not touching him, just close enough that Mu Chen could feel the heat radiating off him.
"Stay behind me," Ye Fan said.
Mu Chen replied quietly, "I usually do."
Ye Fan's jaw tightened, as if he disliked the truthful answer. "This time," he said, "don't move unless I give the word."
Mu Chen looked up at him. "What if someone's dying?"
Ye Fan turned his head then, his eyes sharp. "Don't get clever," he warned.
Mu Chen held his gaze. "Then don't ask for the impossible."
For a brief moment, Ye Fan looked like he might snap back with something harsh. Instead, he turned away and picked up his weapon.
The ride to the gate was silent. The city outside was still dark, windows like black squares, streets nearly empty. Mu Chen sat across from Ye Fan, his hands folded in his lap. Zhou Xiao double-checked his gear. Lin Lan monitored the signal readings. Ye Fan just stared fixedly at the door.
At the site, the gate hovered over cracked concrete between two derelict factory buildings. It wasn't as massive as the forbidden zone gate, but the air around it felt wrong in a different way. Dry. Sharp. Like static electricity.
Lin Lan frowned at her tablet. "The edges are unstable. Once we're inside, it might just cut out and dump us."
Ye Fan nodded once. "Move."
They stepped through.
Inside, the gate world resembled a decaying industrial wasteland. Metal towers tilted at impossible angles, pipes crisscrossed overhead like skeletal ribs, and the ground was covered in a thick layer of black dust. There was no sky, just a dim, oppressive ceiling of cloud and smoke.
Mu Chen followed Ye Fan in and felt it immediately. Noise. Not audible sound, but a mental static, thin and constant, like countless voices whispering just out of earshot.
Zhou Xiao let out a slow breath. "I hate gates."
Lin Lan replied, "Good. Means you're smart."
Ye Fan raised a hand, and an immediate silence fell over the group. They moved through the yard.
The creatures came fast. Small ones first, scuttling through the dust with too many limbs. Ye Fan cut them down. Zhou Xiao landed clean shots. Lin Lan sent one flying off a metal tower and into a ditch. Mu Chen stayed close, watching the patterns. Not just the monsters' movements. Ye Fan's.
Ye Fan was unnervingly sharp today. His senses seemed stretched to their limit, perhaps due to the upcoming stability review, or the lack of sleep, or maybe the institute was finally getting to him. Twice, Mu Chen saw Ye Fan react to sounds no one else could hear. Twice, he saw his shoulders tense. The third time, Mu Chen almost reached out to him. He stopped himself. No connecting. No obvious assistance. No proof.
They reached the central yard twenty minutes later. In the middle stood a collapsed factory structure with a jagged hole torn through its roof. A pulse of gate energy emanated from within.
Lin Lan checked her readings. "The core is in there."
Ye Fan started forward. Then he stopped so abruptly that Zhou Xiao nearly ran into him. "What?" Zhou Xiao whispered.
Ye Fan's eyes narrowed. "Listen."
Mu Chen listened too. At first, just the faint whispering static. Then, something else. A child crying. Soft. Distant. Coming from inside the factory.
Zhou Xiao's face changed. "No way."
Lin Lan went rigid. "That's bait."
Mu Chen's chest tightened. Not because he believed the sound. Because he knew exactly how a trap like that worked. The crying came again. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just enough to tug at something deep inside.
Ye Fan's jaw clenched. Mu Chen looked at him sharply. The sound wasn't targeting the whole team. It was aimed at people who understood what helplessness sounded like. Orphans. People forced to raise weapons without choice. Children abandoned to systems that equated control with safety.
The crying shifted into a small voice. "Help me."
Zhou Xiao swore under his breath. Lin Lan whispered, "This gate is reading us."
Mu Chen felt Ye Fan's control tighten, almost painfully. Then Ye Fan stepped forward.
Mu Chen moved before he could think. "Ye Fan."
The name slipped out quietly, but it shifted the atmosphere. Ye Fan froze. Zhou Xiao stared. Lin Lan looked up quickly. Mu Chen realized what he'd done. He'd never called Ye Fan by his name in front of the team before. Only "Major." Only rank. Only distance.
Ye Fan turned his head slightly. Mu Chen kept his voice calm. "It's not real."
Ye Fan stared at him for a second. Then he looked back at the factory. The crying came again. Smaller this time. Weaker. Mu Chen felt something old stir within his chest and pushed it down. Don't react. Don't remember. Don't give it form.
Ye Fan finally spoke, his voice cold. "I know." But he didn't sound like he knew. He sounded like someone trying desperately not to listen.
And Mu Chen understood, with a quiet certainty, that this gate had found a monster far worse than claws and teeth. Memory.