We ran. The alarm continued to scream through the Blackridge Core as red lights flashed across the walls, and behind us the unknown creature moved through the facility with terrifying speed. I could hear its footsteps getting closer while the System counted down void gate reactivation at twenty five minutes.I pushed myself harder. Claire ran beside me while Victor stayed behind us with Noah and Elias. Mary remained close to Daniel, but I could see fear in her eyes. My brother was running on my other side, and for the first time I was running beside someone who looked exactly like me. It was difficult to accept, but there was no time to ask more questions."Where is the control chamber?" I asked Daniel."Straight ahead. There should be a sealed door."We reached the end of the corridor, but there was no door, only a solid metal wall. Daniel stopped. "This is it."I looked at him. "There is nothing here.""The door is hidden."My brother stepped forward and placed his palm against the

I stared at the location glowing on the System map. One gate was still open, not in Blackridge, not even close. The location was far beyond the city, hidden somewhere I had never heard of.My brother stood beside me, his face pale. "That is where they took the other subjects."I looked at him. "You mean the children from the facility?"He nodded. "Some of them."My chest tightened. "How many survived?"He looked at the map. "I do not know."The System interrupted us, confirming the external void gate as open, its location unknown, its distance eighteen hundred and forty two kilometers, and three hundred and sixteen void signatures detected. I stared at the number. "What are those signatures?"Claire stepped closer. "People?""Players and subjects."Daniel moved toward the screen. "No. That cannot be possible."My brother turned toward him. "You thought the facility was the only place?"Daniel remained silent. My brother continued. "There were other facilities."I looked at my father.

The red lights continued flashing across the facility, and nobody spoke. Outside the windows, the sky had changed. A dark cloud covered everything above the trees, but it was not a normal storm; it moved against the wind, spreading across the sky like something alive.My System remained open.[NEW THREAT APPROACHING][THREAT CLASSIFICATION: UNKNOWN][ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 29 MINUTES]I looked at Daniel. "You know what is coming."He shook his head. "I know what they are capable of.""That is not an answer."Daniel looked toward the dark sky. "They were the reason the original System was created."My brother stepped closer. "Who are they?"Daniel took a slow breath. "The Architects."The word made the room strangely quiet. Victor frowned. "Architects?"Daniel nodded. "They were not part of the facility. They were above it.""Above the Hunters?" Claire asked."Above everyone."I looked at the dead artificial subject on the floor. "And they created the System?""They designed its original s

The Architect Commander ran, and nobody moved. Ethan stood in the middle of the ruined facility, gripping his Beginner Blade while dust drifted from the ceiling. Around him, the remaining Architect soldiers had stopped advancing, their silver masks facing the enormous structure above the facility.Then the entire building shook. A deep sound rolled through the ground. It was not a roar. It sounded like something breathing beneath the world.Ethan's Danger Sense exploded, and the warning came so strongly that his hands tightened around the blade.SYSTEM WARNINGUNKNOWN ENTITY DESCENDING.THREAT LEVEL: UNMEASURABLE.ORIGIN: VOID.Ethan looked at Daniel. His father had gone pale."What is it?" Ethan asked.Daniel did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked toward the ceiling. "The reason they built the System," he finally said.Another tremor struck, and concrete fell from above, forcing Claire and Victor to move away. Noah pulled Elias behind a broken wall while Mary stayed close to

"We are standing on it."Daniel's words stayed in my mind as I looked at the floor beneath us. The End Witness was sealed somewhere below the Blackridge Core, not somewhere far away, not in another facility, but beneath our feet.The Original System suddenly flickered.MAIN MISSION UPDATED.MISSION: FIND THE PRISON.OBJECTIVE: LOCATE THE SEALED PRISON OF THE END WITNESS.TIME REMAINING: 23 HOURS 41 MINUTES.FAILURE: PRISON WILL OPEN.I looked at Daniel. "You knew."He shook his head. "I knew there was a prison beneath Blackridge. I did not know what was inside.""You built the System.""I helped build it.""That is not the same thing."Daniel looked away. Mary stepped between us. "Ethan, your father has been trying to protect you."I turned toward her. "By keeping everything from me?"She had no answer.My twin stood near the Original System, studying the floor. "There is something beneath us."Claire walked toward him. "What do you feel?"He closed his eyes. "A door."The System reac