The corridor ended.
Abruptly.
No warning.
No transition.
Just—
A door.
Different from the others.
Black.
Smooth.
No handle.
Mira slowed down.
"…This is it," she whispered.
Noah stepped forward.
"Yeah."
Silence.
The air felt heavier here.
Like something was watching—
More closely than before.
Mira glanced at him.
"You ready?"
Noah didn't answer immediately.
Instead—
He placed his hand on the door.
For a second—
Nothing happened.
Then—
The surface lit up.
Lines forming.
Patterns shifting.
Scanning.
Mira stepped back.
"It's reading you…"
Noah's eyes narrowed.
"Let it."
Silence.
Then—
A voice.
"Access… granted."
CLICK.
The door opened.
Slowly.
Revealing—
A massive room.
Wide.
Empty.
At least—
At first glance.
Screens lined the walls.
Hundreds of them.
Each showing different things.
People.
Experiments.
Subjects.
And in the center—
A chair.
Occupied.
Mira froze.
"…Is that—"
"Yes."
Noah stepped forward.
Lina.
Sitting there.
Connected to cables.
Machines.
Her eyes closed.
Motionless.
"…Lina…" Mira whispered.
Noah moved faster now.
But before he could reach her—
"Stop."
The voice.
Every screen flickered.
And he appeared again.
The distorted figure.
Everywhere.
The Collector.
"You've come far," it said.
Noah didn't stop.
"I'm taking her."
Silence.
Then—
"No."
The word echoed.
Heavy.
Final.
Noah clenched his fists.
"You don't get to decide that."
A pause.
"I already did."
The machines around Lina activated.
Lights pulsing.
Energy rising.
Mira stepped forward.
"What are you doing?!"
Silence.
Then—
"Completion."
Noah froze.
"…Completion of what?"
The screens changed.
Displaying Lina's brain patterns.
Complex.
Evolving.
"Integration."
A pause.
"Final phase."
Mira's heart raced.
"Noah… this is bad…"
He didn't move.
"How long?" he asked.
Silence.
"Less than three minutes."
Everything went still.
Three minutes.
That's all they had.
Noah exhaled slowly.
"Then we don't waste time."
He stepped forward—
But the floor shifted.
Energy barriers rose instantly.
Blocking him.
"You will not interfere."
Noah hit the barrier—
Hard.
It didn't move.
Mira looked around frantically.
"There has to be a way—"
Then—
A screen flickered.
Different from the others.
Closer.
Mira turned toward it.
Her eyes widened.
"Noah…"
He glanced at her.
"What?"
She pointed.
"…Look."
On the screen—
Lina's mind.
Or what remained of it.
Fragments.
Memories.
And something else.
A core.
Glowing.
Still intact.
"…She's still there," Mira whispered.
Noah's heart pounded.
"I knew it…"
The Collector's voice echoed.
"Residual identity."
A pause.
"Irrelevant."
Noah stepped closer to the screen.
"No."
His voice hardened.
"That's the only thing that matters."
Silence.
Then—
"Explain."
Noah turned slightly.
Facing the screens.
Facing it.
"You think evolution means removing identity."
A pause.
"But that's your mistake."
Silence.
"Identity isn't weakness."
Another step.
"It's resistance."
The room trembled slightly.
The system reacting.
"Unproven."
Noah smirked.
"Then let's test it."
He turned to Mira.
"Can you access that core?"
She hesitated.
"…Maybe."
"Maybe is enough."
The timer appeared on screen.
02:17
Time running out.
Mira rushed to the nearest console.
Hands moving fast.
"I need time!"
"You've got it."
Noah stepped forward again.
Facing the system.
"Come on," he said quietly.
"Stop hiding."
Silence.
Then—
The room shifted.
The air warped.
And suddenly—
Something appeared.
In front of him.
Not a screen.
Not a projection.
A form.
More stable than before.
More real.
The Collector.
"I am not hiding," it said.
Noah smiled slightly.
"Good."
A pause.
"Then let's finish this."
Behind him—
Mira shouted:
"01:30!"
Time was running out.
And for the first time—
The system wasn't just watching.
It was preparing to fight.