The last thing I saw before the blue light consumed everything…
was Eden Moore.
Calm.
Too calm.
Standing at the edge of something that wasn't meant to be crossed.
His eyes held steady through the distortion.
And his voice reached me…
not through space…
through layers.
"Don't believe everything Elias says."
Then..
nothing.
No tower.
No bridge.
No chamber.
Everything vanished.
For a moment…
there was no "place" left to stand in.
Then..
my vision returned.
Slowly.
Like time was restarting…
just for me.
I was standing.
Somewhere else.
Not a layer I recognized.
Not a structure.
Not a system space.
A forest.
…
No.
Not a forest.
The trees were too tall.
Far beyond anything the City of Shadows had built.
Their trunks twisted upward like something that had grown without rules.
Roots tangled across the ground..
thick.
Heavy.
Interlocked.
Like something beneath the earth was trying to hold itself together.
Thin blue light pulsed beneath the bark.
Not reflected.
Not external.
Inside.
Like the trees were carrying something…
alive.
The air felt wrong.
Green fog drifted between the trunks.
It moved when I breathed.
Not with me.
Through me.
I stood inside a circle.
Carved into the ground.
The markings weren't random.
Half of them..
symbols I had seen before.
Eden's towers.
Not identical.
But close enough to feel like the same language…
trying to become something else.
The other half..
equations.
Precise.
Structured.
Cold.
I didn't understand them.
But my eyes followed them anyway.
As if they remembered something I didn't.
And the rest…
The rest didn't belong to anything I could name.
A thought settled in my mind.
Clear.
Cold.
Uninvited.
This isn't a place.
It's a result.
A sound broke the silence.
Not natural.
Not alive.
Metal.
Dragging.
The fog moved first.
Pulling back.
Not willingly.
Forced.
Then..
footsteps.
Heavy.
Measured.
Deliberate.
Something moved between the trees.
A distortion.
Half shadow.
Half structure.
Then..
it stepped into view.
An animal.
Or what used to be one.
Its upper body was organic..
barely.
Its lower half..
metal.
One leg reinforced with iron plating.
Red points of light embedded along its joints.
A nozzle along its shoulder exhaled thin blue vapor.
It moved…
like it didn't understand what it was.
Alive.
Or running a command.
Experiment.
That word came before thought.
It paused.
Just for a moment.
Then vanished back into the fog.
Gone..
like it had never been there.
Only then did I understand.
This forest wasn't growing.
It was being tested.
I moved.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Until I reached one of the larger trees.
The bark was cracked.
Layered.
Artificial beneath the surface.
A metal plate had been fixed into it.
Old.
Corroded.
But intact.
E.K — Forest Laboratory 3-A
Do not touch the plants.
Do not breathe the mist.
Do not trust your memories.
I stared at the initials.
E.K.
"…Elias."
The name settled before I could question it.
The ground shifted.
Not violently.
Not suddenly.
But deliberately.
Something below me..
woke up.
The soil split open.
Not like earth breaking..
like something inside it was unfolding.
Roots rose upward.
Glowing.
Moving.
Not growing.
Crawling.
They wrapped around stone.
Through gaps.
Across the surface.
Like cables.
Alive.
Then..
an opening formed.
A tunnel.
Its walls weren't dirt.
Metal.
Smooth.
Cold.
Covered with a thin layer of living algae that pulsed faintly against the surface.
A voice echoed from within.
Distorted.
Mechanical.
Broken.
"Error… energy leak…"
"Test unit 04 escaped…"
"Pursuit protocol… active…"
The forest shifted.
Subtly.
But completely.
Nothing here was natural.
Nothing here was fully alive.
Nothing here was fully dead.
And I wasn't supposed to be here.
Something exploded out of the tunnel.
Fast.
Violent.
Unstable.
It landed between me and the opening.
Not an animal.
Not a machine.
Something forced into being both.
One eye..
alive.
Trembling.
Afraid.
The other..
red.
Unblinking.
Watching.
A thin blue line ran along its spine.
Glowing.
Contained.
Like something from another layer had been forced into this body..
and refused to stay quiet.
It saw me.
Stopped.
Its head tilted.
Slow.
Uncertain.
Like it was trying to remember something it no longer had.
"…outside… the scope…"
The voice came from it.
Distorted.
But…
human.
Then..
it moved.
I didn't think.
Didn't plan.
I moved.
The impact hit where I had been standing.
The ground cracked.
Symbols flashed blue.
Reacting.
Every movement it made..
triggered the forest.
This place wasn't just watching it.
It was connected to it.
And me?
I didn't belong here.
The next strike came faster.
Closer.
I hit the side of a tree..
hard..
felt the air leave my chest..
Metal claws tore through the space beside me.
No pattern.
No hesitation.
Just execution.
I couldn't keep up.
The next hit..
would land.
Then..
a voice cut through everything.
Sharp.
Precise.
Commanding.
"Back off."
A bolt of electricity tore through the air.
It hit the creature directly.
Its body locked.
Convulsed.
Collapsed.
Smoke rose from its joints.
Slow.
Blue.
Silence returned.
But not the same silence.
Someone stepped out of the fog.
Older.
Controlled.
Measured.
A lab coat.
Worn.
Used.
Not symbolic.
Glasses reflecting light that wasn't there.
In one hand..
a weapon still humming with residual energy.
In the other..
a notebook.
Edges worn down from repetition.
He looked at the creature.
Not angry.
Not shocked.
Disappointed.
Then..
he looked at me.
"This unit…"
A pause.
"…wasn't supposed to be outside the vault."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Studying.
Not surprised.
"You…"
Another pause.
"…aren't from here."
I didn't answer.
He smiled.
Small.
Cold.
"Well," he said quietly,
"this is the worst possible time for you to arrive."
A device on his chest blinked.
Faster.
Unstable.
The forest shifted again.
Watching.
Listening.
Then he turned.
As if everything happening here..
was normal.
"If you want to stay alive…"
He stepped toward the tunnel.
"…follow me."
I didn't hesitate.
I followed.