The underground Gate Research Facility of the NEA was completely silent, save for the low, rhythmic hum of the mainframe servers. It was 3:14 AM. The rest of the research staff had clocked out hours ago, leaving the sprawling laboratory bathed in the cold, blue light of holographic displays.
Erin Volter sat at her primary terminal, her silver-white hair tied up in a messy, haphazard bun. A half-empty cup of cold coffee sat near her elbow, completely forgotten. Her piercing green eyes darted across the projected screens, her pupils dilating as she processed the data she had spent the last seventy-two hours meticulously pulling from the deepest, most restricted archives of the National Exterminator Agency.
Ever since she had eavesdropped on the Summit, a feverish, insatiable obsession had taken root in her mind.
'A 6-Star Gate. A Reverse One-Way Gate. The Central Continent.'
