The construction site on Velia County's east side looked like every other urban development project—razed earth, skeletal steel frameworks reaching toward grey November sky, and workers in hard hats navigating mud with practiced irritation. Nothing about it suggested dimensional instability or eldritch threat. Which, Niko had learned over six months of investigation work, was precisely when things became dangerous.
He stood at the site's perimeter fence, one hand resting on the cold metal links while his spirit sense extended outward in careful sweeps. Beside him, Ayesha consulted the modified scanner Ji-yoon had built—a hybrid of Response Division tech and his own inspired modifications that detected dimensional fluctuations conventional equipment missed.
"Readings are consistent with the pattern," Ayesha said, her breath misting in the cold air. "Low-level dimensional thinning, approximately fifteen meters below current ground level. Energy signature is old, though. Centuries, not recent."
Niko nodded, withdrawing his spirit sense before it could attract unwanted attention. Six months of junior investigator work had taught him subtlety—the hard-won kind that came from realizing drawing entity notice during reconnaissance was monumentally stupid.
Their Response Division credentials had gotten them past site security with minimal fuss, though the foreman had been visibly skeptical about two teenagers in tactical jackets claiming jurisdictional authority over dimensional safety. Director Chen's signature on their authorization forms had settled the matter, but Niko suspected they'd be fielding complaint calls later.
"Third site this month," he observed, pulling out his tablet to cross-reference their current location with the maps Professor Morse had left them. "All construction or excavation projects. All showing dimensional thinning at depth."
"And all within the geographic clusters Professor Morse identified." Ayesha zoomed in on her scanner display, frowning at the data. "But the energy signatures don't match Umbrathax or any documented entity classification. They're... structured differently. More geometric."
That was new information, and potentially significant. Niko made a note to have Ji-yoon run comparative analysis against the Division's entity database. If they were dealing with a variant classification, protocol required immediate reporting to—
His tablet chimed with an incoming message. Ji-yoon, with characteristic timing.
*Geological survey data just posted for your location. Foreman filed it this morning. You need to see page seventeen.*
Niko pulled up the attached file, scrolling through technical documentation about soil composition and load-bearing calculations until he reached the flagged page. Then stopped, reading the passage twice to confirm he'd understood correctly.
"They found a structure," he said, angling the tablet so Ayesha could see. "Fifteen meters down, exactly where your scanner detected the dimensional thinning. Stone construction, non-contemporary materials, architectural style inconsistent with any known local historical period."
Ayesha's grey eyes sharpened with the particular intensity she got when pieces started connecting. "The foreman didn't mention a structure."
"Because the survey was filed this morning and we arrived forty minutes later. He probably hasn't reviewed it yet." Niko checked the timestamp. "The excavation crew would have encountered it yesterday, which matches the spike in dimensional readings Ji-toon detected at nineteen hundred hours."
"So we have an ancient structure of unknown origin, located precisely where dimensional barriers are thinning, at a site that corresponds to Professor Morse's maps." Ayesha's voice carried the careful neutrality of someone deliberately not jumping to conclusions. "That's not coincidence."
"No," Niko agreed. "It's not."
They stood in shared silence for a moment, processing implications. The investigation they'd been conducting for six months—tracking the pattern Professor Morse had died protecting—had yielded fragments of concerning data. Dimensional anomalies appearing with increasing frequency. Energy signatures that didn't match known entity classifications. Geographic clusters suggesting coordination rather than random manifestation.
But this was the first time they'd found physical evidence. An actual structure, old enough to predate contemporary records, located exactly where dimensional barriers showed weakness.
Niko's mind raced through tactical considerations. They needed to examine the structure directly, document it thoroughly, and determine whether it posed active threat or simply represented historical curiosity. But doing so required navigating both Response Division protocols and construction site logistics, and their authorization technically only covered preliminary dimensional assessment.
"We should call it in," Ayesha said, though her tone suggested she was testing the idea rather than advocating for it. "Report the structure, request full investigative deployment, follow proper channels."
"We should," Niko acknowledged. "But full deployment takes six to eight hours to organize, and construction resumes tomorrow morning at seven. If the structure poses active dimensional risk, we need to assess it before heavy machinery starts excavating in its immediate vicinity."
"And if we conduct unauthorized investigation of a potentially significant archaeological site, Director Chen will have extremely pointed conversations with us about jurisdictional boundaries and appropriate caution."
"Probably," Niko admitted. "But Professor Morse taught us that following proper channels only works when institutions are competent and responsive. Sometimes protecting people requires acting first and apologizing later."
Ayesha's smile carried fond exasperation. "You're getting dangerously comfortable with bending regulations."
"You're not arguing against it."
"Because you're right, and I'm also dangerously comfortable with it." She checked her scanner again. "Dimensional readings are stable. No indication of active entity presence or imminent manifestation. If we're going to investigate the structure, now is optimal timing."
Niko made the decision with the particular clarity that came from six months of learning to trust his instincts. "We document everything, maintain constant communication with Ji-yoon for remote monitoring, and retreat immediately if dimensional readings destabilize. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
They approached the foreman—a weathered man in his fifties named Rodriguez who looked singularly unimpressed by teenage authority figures—and explained they needed to examine the structure his crew had uncovered. Rodriguez's skepticism was palpable and entirely reasonable.
"The survey team said it's probably old foundation work from pre-industrial settlement," he said, crossing his arms. "Nothing that requires Response Division involvement."
"The dimensional readings suggest otherwise," Niko replied, keeping his tone professional. "We're not disputing the historical assessment, but our mandate requires examination of any structure located at sites with documented dimensional instability."
Rodriguez looked between them—two seventeen-year-olds asking to climb into an excavation pit to examine potentially unstable ruins—and made a decision Niko could see forming.
"You go down there, I'm sending two of my people with you. Safety protocol. And you sign liability waivers acknowledging that we advised against it."
That was fair, and more cooperation than they'd had right to expect. Niko agreed immediately, completing the paperwork while Ayesha coordinated with Ji-yoon via encrypted communication channel. Ten minutes later, they were descending into the excavation site via industrial ladder, accompanied by two construction workers who looked deeply unenthusiastic about the assignment.
The structure emerged from Velia County clay like a secret being gradually revealed. Stone blocks of dark grey material, precisely fitted without mortar, forming walls that disappeared into earth on three sides. The exposed section showed a corner junction and what appeared to be an entrance—a rectangular opening barely tall enough to permit human passage.
Niko crouched at the entrance, extending his spirit sense cautiously. Immediately felt wrongness—not the aggressive, predatory wrongness of entity presence, but something older and more fundamental. The dimensional barrier here was thin, worn smooth by centuries of... something. Usage, maybe. Intentional weakening.
Ayesha positioned herself beside him, scanner active, recording every fluctuation. "Energy signature is definitely geometric. I'm reading layered patterns, like... equations carved into dimensional fabric. This isn't natural formation, Niko. Someone built this deliberately to interact with the barrier between worlds."
The implications crystallized with uncomfortable clarity. An ancient structure specifically designed for dimensional manipulation, located at a site where modern entity manifestations showed increased frequency. Not coincidence. Design.
"We need to go inside," Niko said quietly.
The construction workers exchanged looks that clearly communicated their opinion of that plan, but didn't argue. Niko activated the spirit-light technique every awakened learned during first-year training—a simple luminescence that wouldn't drain his pool or attract notice—and stepped through the entrance.
The chamber beyond was modest, maybe four meters square. But what stopped him wasn't the dimensions—it was the walls.
Every surface was carved with symbols. Not decorative artwork but dense, precise inscriptions that covered stone from floor to ceiling. The writing system was unfamiliar, angular and sharp, but the purpose was immediately recognizable to anyone trained in spirit manipulation.
These were formulas. Ritual instructions. Summoning techniques.
"Oh no," Ayesha breathed beside him, her scanner forgotten as she stared at the walls. "Niko, these are deliberate. This is a summoning chamber."
He nodded, unable to tear his gaze from the inscriptions. His spirit shard—fully integrated now, no longer separate but intrinsic—resonated faintly with the patterns carved into stone. Recognition, maybe. Or warning.
"How old?" he asked.
Ayesha consulted her scanner, analyzing material composition. "Stone dates to approximately eight hundred years pre-colonial settlement. The carvings... they're not weathered like they should be. Something's preserving them. Active energy, maybe, or—"
Her scanner shrieked an alarm. The dimensional readings, stable moments before, were spiking rapidly.
Niko's spirit sense expanded reflexively, detecting what the scanner had found—something waking. Not an entity, not yet, but the potential for one. The summoning circle carved into the floor, dormant for centuries, was responding to their presence. To their spiritual energy. Beginning activation sequences written into stone eight hundred years ago by people who'd understood dimensional manipulation in ways modern awakened had forgotten.
"We need to leave," Niko said, already moving toward the entrance. "Now."
They evacuated the chamber at speed that was nearly running, the construction workers following with admirable urgency despite not fully understanding the danger. Reached the surface as Ayesha's scanner registered dimensional destabilization accelerating toward critical threshold.
Niko channeled spirit energy in the counter-pattern Professor Morse had taught him—a stabilization technique designed to calm dimensional fluctuations before they cascaded into manifestation. Felt the acceleration slow, pause, then gradually reverse as his energy imposed order on chaos.
Three minutes later, the readings returned to baseline. Crisis averted, but the implications remained.
"That was a trap," Ayesha said, breathing hard. "Or a test. Something designed to activate when awakened approached it. Someone built that chamber knowing people with spirit energy would eventually find it."
"And knowing activation would create conditions for entity manifestation." Niko pulled out his tablet, already composing the incident report. "This isn't archaeological curiosity. It's infrastructure. Ancient infrastructure for summoning entities, still functional after centuries, located at a site Professor Morse identified as high-risk."
Ayesha met his gaze, and he saw his own realization reflected in her grey eyes.
"The pattern she found," Ayesha said slowly. "The increasing frequency of manifestations, the geographic clusters, the coordinated timing. What if they're not new? What if someone is reactivating ancient summoning sites deliberately?"
Niko looked down at the excavation pit, at the stone chamber containing eight-hundred-year-old instructions for bridging dimensional barriers. Thought about seventeen other locations on Professor Morse's maps, all showing similar characteristics.
Thought about an entity called Umbrathax that had consumed students in a school built unknowingly atop ancient summoning infrastructure.
"We need to tell the others," he said. "Tonight. Because if you're right—if someone is deliberately activating these sites—then what happened six months ago wasn't an isolated incident. It was the beginning of something much worse."