The hologram’s static pulse washed over the rooftop like a sudden drop in temperature, as if the Architect’s presence forced the air itself to contract. Ethan froze. Marcus Vale didn’t move either, not out of fear, but calculation. The Architect represented the one thing neither of them had been able to predict, contain, or outrun.“Good evening, gentlemen,” the hologram said, its voice layered in shifting frequencies, male, female, mechanical, human, all at once. “You’ve been busy.”The drone drifted closer, its red core glowing in sync with each syllable.Ethan stepped forward by half an inch. “If you’re here for the Cipher Drive, you’ll have to come in person.”“Oh, Ethan,” the Architect replied, almost amused. “I’m not here to take anything. I’m here to offer you a choice. You’re fond of choices, aren’t you?”Vale’s eyes narrowed. “Choices from you usually mean traps.”“That depends on the intelligence of the recipient,” the Architect replied. “And your track record is… inconsiste

The blast doors groaned shut above them, sealing off the last sliver of light from the street as Ethan and Vale descended into the service tunnels. The air down here was stale, metallic, humming faintly with static from the ancient power conduits that still pulsed weakly through the old infrastructure. Ethan kept the Cipher Drive clutched in one hand, feeling its faint warmth, the coded heartbeat of something the Architect desperately wanted. Too desperately.Ethan’s pulse thudded as he followed Vale deeper into the narrow concrete throat of the city’s underbelly. The Architect’s voice still echoed in his mind, You cannot hide from me. A threat. A promise. Or both. Ethan didn’t know which terrified him more.“How far down do these tunnels go?” Ethan whispered.“Far enough to make ghosts uncomfortable,” Vale muttered, sweeping his flashlight across rusted pipes and forgotten maintenance nodes. “These passages were built before the new grid. Before the Architect modified the entire city

Ethan stood frozen before the circular archive door, its surface shifting with faint pulses of blue-white light that throbbed in perfect sync with the pain behind his eyes. The resonance wasn’t merely physical, it felt aware, like something on the other side was listening, breathing, waiting for him.Vale moved beside him, one hand gripping his weapon, jaw hard enough to crack. “We’re not opening that door,” he said firmly, the kind of tone soldiers use when they’re trying to prevent a catastrophe.But Ethan didn’t answer. He couldn’t.The vault was tugging at him softly, steadily, like a hook buried deep under the ribs, pulling.Orlaine watched him with the stillness of a scientist who had seen too many outcomes, none of them good. “Ethan,” she said softly, “what do you hear?”He swallowed, throat dry. “A rhythm. Like a heartbeat. But it’s not… biological.”Vale scowled. “You’re sure it’s not the mind-key messing with you?”“It’s not a hallucination,” Ethan whispered. “It’s real. It

For three seconds, the chamber held still.Three seconds where the only sound in the entire subterranean vault was Vale’s ragged breathing as he held Ethan’s limp body against his chest. Three seconds where the shattered Prism Core flickered weakly in dying strands of white light.Then the red glow on the walls pulsed againslow, deliberate, like a heartbeat awakening.Vale’s throat tightened.“No, no, no Ethan, stay with me. Lorna?!”“I’m here!” Lorna’s voice cracked through their comms. She sounded terrified, scrambling. “I saw the surge from my end. His vitals dropped but Vale, you need to get him out NOW!”Vale lifted Ethan slightly, shaking him.“Hey come on. You’re not leaving me. Get up.”Ethan’s eyelids fluttered. Barely. He was conscious enough to hear, but not strong enough to speak. Blood trickled from his nose, tracing a thin line down his jaw.Then the wall of red symbols shifted.Not random glitches.Not static.Words.PHASE TWO INITIATED.The dome trembled.“Lorna!” Val

The tunnels shuddered as if the earth itself were reacting to Ethan’s decision. A cold gust rushed through the metallic corridor, rippling the cables overhead like the city’s veins were trembling. Vale swung around first, blades already half-drawn, her eyes narrowing into predatory slits.“That wasn’t a quake,” she said. “That was a pulse.”Ethan knew it too.The Architect had found them again.Mirra jerked her tablet toward them, her fingers tapping rapidly. “System spike across Sublevel K. He’s penetrating the firewall of the Underground Grid. I, I don’t know how he’s doing it this fast.”“Because he’s not searching for us anymore,” Ethan muttered. “He’s following the Drive.”The Cipher Drive pulsed brighter in his hand, lines of blue code sliding across its surface like living veins. It wasn’t a device, it was a beacon. And every second they held it, they were drawing the Architect toward the last place on earth he should ever access.The Root Core.Vale grabbed Ethan by the arm an