The laboratory shook again.
The photograph slid across the floor and stopped against Seth's boot. Beneath the metal grating the pale crystals continued to glow, each pulse spreading farther than the last.
Ethan stared down the staircase.
"Something opened its eyes."
Halden did not answer.
He was staring at the photograph.
Mara stood beside him with both hands pressed against her mouth.
Seth picked up the photograph.
"The sisters were the first successful binding."
He looked at Halden.
"What does that mean?"
Halden's face had gone rigid.
"It means they survived."
"That's not an answer."
"They were children when the first researchers found the chamber."
Ethan looked at the photograph again.
The two girls stood beside the woman from the excavation team. They looked young. Too young to understand what surrounded them.
"Why were children involved in this?"
Halden's eyes dropped.
"They weren't supposed to be."
A loud metallic bang came from the staircase.
Everyone turned.
Something struck the underside of the floor.
Mara stumbled backward.
Seth moved toward the stairs.
Ethan caught his shoulder.
"Wait."
Seth looked at him.
"I can feel it."
"What?"
"Two signals."
Halden's expression changed.
"Two?"
Seth nodded.
"They're moving together."
Halden stepped toward the staircase.
"No."
Ethan followed him.
"What?"
Halden looked down into the darkness.
"The original chamber only responds to one consciousness at a time."
Another impact shook the staircase.
Seth closed his eyes.
The sensation grew stronger.
Two presences.
One was cold and controlled.
The other felt fractured.
They were connected.
But not equally.
Seth opened his eyes.
"One of them is controlling the other."
Halden whispered, "That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because the binding worked both ways."
Ethan looked at him.
"Explain."
Halden took a breath.
"The first successful subjects weren't controlled by the network."
He looked at Seth.
"They controlled it."
The lights above them went out.
A thin white glow rose from below.
Then a voice came from the staircase.
"That's not quite correct."
Everyone froze.
A girl stepped into view.
She wore a dark college jacket over a pale shirt. Her hair was damp from the condensation below and several strands clung to her face.
Ethan recognized her immediately.
"Erena."
She looked at him.
"You shouldn't have come this far."
Seth stared at her.
Behind Erena, another figure appeared.
Fortea.
Her expression was completely different.
There was no smile.
No warmth.
She looked exhausted.
Ethan took a step toward them.
"What did you do?"
Fortea shook her head.
"I didn't do this."
Erena glanced at her sister.
"Not yet."
Fortea's eyes hardened.
"You said they wouldn't be brought down here."
"They weren't supposed to resist."
"They are people."
"They are variables."
Fortea flinched.
Ethan looked between them.
"So it was you."
Erena's gaze settled on him.
"That depends on what you think I did."
"You built this."
"No."
She looked toward the walls.
"We inherited it."
Halden laughed bitterly.
"You always liked that answer."
Erena turned toward him.
"You were there."
"I was."
"You helped."
"I was trying to stop it."
"You stayed."
Halden's face tightened.
"So did your parents."
Silence.
Fortea looked at him.
"What?"
Halden stared at the twins.
"Your parents were part of the original research team."
Fortea's expression broke.
Erena remained still.
"You knew," she said.
Halden nodded.
"I knew."
"And you never told us."
"I tried."
"You lied."
"I protected you."
Erena's voice remained calm.
"You protected the experiment."
The pale crystals beneath the staircase flashed.
Seth staggered.
Ethan grabbed him.
"Seth?"
He pushed Ethan away.
"I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
Seth looked toward Erena.
"The network is responding to you."
Erena smiled faintly.
"Of course it is."
"You're connected."
"Yes."
"And Fortea?"
Erena looked at her sister.
Fortea said nothing.
Seth's expression changed.
"She's connected too."
Erena nodded.
"Both of us."
Mara stepped backward.
"Then why does she look afraid?"
Fortea looked at her.
"Because I remember."
Erena's face hardened.
"Fortea."
"I remember the chamber."
"Stop."
"I remember waking up."
"Fortea."
"I remember you holding my hand."
Erena moved toward her.
Fortea stepped back.
"You told me it would only hurt for a minute."
Ethan looked at Erena.
"What happened?"
Erena said nothing.
Fortea answered.
"They put us inside."
The laboratory seemed to shrink around them.
"The crystal connected to both of us. It tried to use our nervous systems as a bridge."
Halden lowered his head.
Fortea continued.
"It worked."
Ethan looked toward the staircase.
"Then why does the system need Seth?"
Erena finally answered.
"Because the system has deteriorated."
Seth watched her carefully.
"You can't maintain it anymore."
"No."
"You need someone whose biology can survive the connection."
Erena nodded.
"You."
Ethan stepped between them.
"Then you're done."
Erena looked at him.
"You still think this is about winning."
"It is about stopping you."
"It is about survival."
"Whose?"
Erena's answer came immediately.
"Everyone's."
The crystal beneath them pulsed.
Mara screamed.
A red line appeared across her neck.
Seth turned.
"Mara!"
She dropped to the floor.
The network had connected to her again.
Fortea rushed toward her.
Erena caught her wrist.
"Don't."
"Let go."
"If you break the connection now it will kill her."
Fortea stared at her.
"You don't know that."
"I do."
"Then why is she shaking?"
Erena's expression changed.
For the first time uncertainty appeared in her eyes.
Seth knelt beside Mara.
He placed one hand against the floor.
The white crystal immediately responded.
Erena stepped back.
"What are you doing?"
Seth looked up.
"I'm listening."
The entire chamber fell silent.
Then the network spoke through every speaker at once.
Not Fargrave.
Not Erena.
Not any human voice.
A layered sound emerged from the walls.
Hundreds of voices.
Students.
Researchers.
Subjects.
The dead.
The surviving.
All speaking together.
"Return the binding."
Seth's eyes widened.
The pale crystal beneath him cracked.
Erena's composure disappeared.
"No."
A second crack spread through the chamber.
Fortea stared at her sister.
"What did you do?"
Erena backed toward the staircase.
"I didn't start this."
Halden looked at the twins.
"Then who did?"
The crystal split open.
A white light flooded the laboratory.
For one brief moment Seth saw something beneath the chamber.
Not machinery.
Not a laboratory.
A massive organic structure wrapped around the crystal like a living nervous system.
And at its center stood two small figures holding hands.
One was Erena.
The other was Fortea.
But they were children.
Seth stepped backward.
The image vanished.
The chamber returned.
Erena was staring at him.
"What did you see?"
Seth didn't answer.
Fortea approached him slowly.
Her voice trembled.
"You saw us."
Seth looked at her.
"Not now."
She shook her head.
"Then."
Erena closed her eyes.
A low sound began beneath the floor.
The staircase started descending by itself.
One step.
Then another.
Then another.
Fortea looked down.
"We have to go."
Ethan stared at her.
"Why?"
Fortea looked toward the darkness.
"Because whatever woke up down there remembers all of us."
The staircase stopped.
Something breathed beneath them.
And this time, the sound came from two throats.