The Wind Howled Across The Arctic Tundra As Zeyad And Laila Stood At The Threshold Of Borealis Station Its Massive Steel Gate Groaning Open With A Sound That Echoed Through The Ice Fields Like A Giant Waking From SlumberThey Had Crossed A Wasteland Of Ash And Fire To Reach This Place And Now A New Kind Of Cold Waited For Them One That Crept Beneath Their Armor Into Their Bones And Into Their ThoughtsThe Interior Of The Station Was Dimly Lit Long Hallways Stretched Into Darkness Lined With Frosted Glass And Rusted Panels Lights Flickered Erratically Casting Shadows That Twitched Like Living ThingsZeyad Held His Rifle Close Eyes Scanning Every Corner Every DoorwayLaila Walked Beside Him Her Knife Drawn Her Steps Silent As The DeadA Faint Hum Resonated Through The Walls A Pulse Like A Heartbeat Mechanical Yet Organic FamiliarThey Passed Through Abandoned Quarters Laboratories Cracked Monitors Flickering With Ghost Images Desks Covered In Dust And Dried BloodThen Came The VoiceSoft

The Storm Had Not Passed But It Had Grown Quiet Enough To Move Zeyad Knew That Silence Was The Most Dangerous Sound In This New World For It Never Meant Safety Only That Something Was ListeningThey Had Reached The Third Sublevel Of Borealis Station A Place That Was Not On Any Official Map The Stairs Had Given Way To A Tunnel Made Of Concrete And Bone As If The Facility Had Been Built Over Something Older Something AliveLaila Walked Ahead Her Flashlight Cutting Through The Fog That Hung Inside The Walls The Air Was Thick With Moisture And Mold Her Every Breath Condensed In The Beam Of Light Like A Ghost Chasing Her FaceZeyad Checked His Weapon The Display On His Rifle Showed Eight Rounds Left In The Current Magazine The Rest Was In His Pack Tucked Under The Strap Of The Satchel That Also Carried A Cracked Data Disk And A Fragment Of Hive Tissue Still Pulsing Slightly In Its Sealed ContainerThey Were Not Just Soldiers Anymore They Were Carriers Of Secrets Of Curses Of Evidence That

The Ground Trembled As The Wind Howled Through The Frozen Passageways Of Borealis Station It Was Not The Cold That Made Zeyad Shiver But The Feeling Crawling Up His Spine The Sense That They Were Being Watched Not Just By Cameras But By Something Older Something BuriedLaila Walked Ahead Her Eyes Locked On The Dim Hallway Lights Flickering With Each Surge From The Backup Generator Every Step Echoed Off Steel Walls Lined With Frost Her Breath Clouded In Front Of Her Mask Fogging Then Clearing In A Nervous RhythmThe Doors Had Opened For Them But No One Had Greeted Them The Station Should Have Been Abandoned According To The Last Log Sent From Fort Exodus But Lights Were On Systems Responded And The Air Though Cold Was Still PressurizedZeyad Raised His Rifle As They Turned A Corner Past The Remains Of What Had Once Been A Checkpoint Barricades Torn Apart Blood Frozen Into The Grates Bodies Missing As If Something Had Cleaned Up After The ViolenceThis Place Isn’t Dead Laila Said Softly

The Walls Trembled With The Force Of The Alarms As Zeyad And Laila Ascended The Elevator Shaft One Floor At A Time Each Meter Up Felt Like A Race Against Something Ancient And UnstoppableBehind Them The Core Chamber Glowed With That Unholy Blue Light Its Pulsing Slowing But Growing Brighter As If Preparing For Something Larger A Final Transmission A Last Pulse Before DetonationZeyad Checked His Interface His Vision Was Blurred From The Neural Feedback But The System Still Flashed One MessageExternal Reinforcements Detected Infection Path Confirmed Initiating Station LockdownThey Reached The Upper Platform Just As The Floor Beneath Them Shuddered Sending A Wave Of Heat Up The Shaft Laila Leapt First Her Boots Hitting The Metal Deck Just As A Blast Wave Rushed Behind Them The Lift Crumpled BelowThey Had Moments LeftZeyad Looked Around The Command Level Had Changed The Panels Were No Longer Static Screens But Glowing Patches Of Living Tissue Punctuated With Steel Connectors The Sta

The First Thing Zeyad Noticed As He Regained Consciousness Was The Unnatural Stillness In The Air. It Was Not The Peaceful Kind Of Silence That Followed A Battle. It Was The Tense, Coiled Pause Between Heartbeats Before The Body Realized It Was Wounded. Before The Mind Processed The Pain. Before The Scream Escaped.Zeyad Sat Up Slowly, His Joints Screaming In Protest. His Armor Was Cracked Along The Chest Plate, Blackened From Heat. Around Him, The World Had Been Reduced To Rubble. The Tunnel Had Collapsed Behind Them. The Path To Borealis Station Was Gone, Swallowed By A Seismic Shift That Had Torn The Earth Like Paper.Laila Sat Nearby, Her Head Bowed, Hands Wrapped Around Her Knees. Her Rifle Lay Across Her Lap, Scorched But Functional. When She Heard Him Move, She Looked Up Slowly, Her Eyes Red From Smoke Or Grief Or Both.We Are Still Alive. The Words Were Simple, But Zeyad Knew Their Weight. They Meant More Than Survival. They Meant They Had Endured The Unendurable.Not For Long