The Silent Cure: The cure for humanity lies in the one man i

Chapter 25: The Unraveling

The space where the glass bridge once stood was an absolute, dead black. It did not shine; it sucked up light. Novak was just. gone. The only indication that he had ever existed at all was the faint, metallic scratch of his gear on the cavern wall far below, a sound which seemed to suck hope out of the air.

Finch appeared on the far side, a messianic figure silhouetted by the glow of his lab. "Come along, Ken!" he yelled, his voice trembling with the fervor of a zealot. "The passage is inevitable! Why encounter it in fear when you can welcome it in wonder?"

The neural interface on Sophia sank another inch. Her wide, frightened eyes were fixed upon Ken. A single tear had etched a path down her temple. She was frozen, a hostage in her own flesh, unable to stop her own death.

Larsen, the sole operative left, raised his pulse rifle. His hands were firm, his face a mask of professional anger. He opened fire.

The energy bolt crossed the chasm—and vanished against an invisible shield a foot