The tunnel below was narrower, older.
The metal walls sweated with moisture, and their steps echoed in strange, inconsistent patterns—as if the space refused to obey physics entirely.
Ada kept her rifle up, but the tightness in her posture had eased.
Vega noticed. She didn't comment, but she stayed close—close enough that Ada could feel her presence even without looking.
The silence grew long, then longer still.
"You hesitated up there," Vega said finally, her voice low, but not accusing.
Ada glanced sideways. "Which time?"
"The hatch. When it opened."
Ada exhaled through her nose, fingers flexing on the rifle grip. "Didn't expect the air to smell like death. Caught me off-guard."
Vega hummed, quiet. "You recovered fast."
"You were watching?"
"Always."
Their steps slowed as they approached a sealed chamber ahead.
The door was reinforced, rusted but solid. Lights above flickered, half-dead.
System text appeared in Ada's vision.
[ACCESS GRANTED. OPENING SEQUENCE INITIATED.]
Steam hissed from the edges as locks disengaged.
The door began to split open.
"What do you think we'll find?" Vega asked, voice softer now. There was something in it—an undercurrent.
Not fear.
Not quite curiosity.
Ada looked at her. "You asking as a soldier, or as Vega?"
Vega met her gaze. "Would it matter?"
The door groaned, revealing a room filled with stasis pods.
Most shattered. A few still blinked with life.
One at the far end lit up as they stepped in. A pulse.
Ada raised her weapon instinctively, but Vega laid a hand on her arm. "Wait."
That one touch—bare fingers brushing fabric—made Ada freeze.
The gesture wasn't tactical. It was… grounding.
The pod opened.
Inside wasn't a monster.
It was a child.
Human. Pale. Alive.
The girl blinked at the light, eyes unfocused.
Ada lowered her weapon.
Vega stepped forward carefully, kneeling. "Hey, you're okay now. We've got you."
The child said nothing, but didn't recoil.
Ada watched them, her voice low. "She shouldn't be here."
Vega looked up. "No. But she is."
System alert pinged again.
[UNKNOWN SIGNAL DETECTED. SOURCE: WITHIN THIS ROOM.]
Ada turned, scanning. "Something else is here."
Vega rose slowly, shielding the girl behind her. Her voice was calm. "Whatever it is, we deal with it. Together."
Ada nodded once. But her gaze lingered—not on the corners of the room, but on Vega's hand, still subtly placed between her and the child. Protective. Instinctive.
Something in Ada's chest shifted.
She'd seen Vega in battle. Cold, precise, lethal.
But this… this was different.
Then the room's far wall flickered.
Not light.
A screen.
And on it, lines of distorted code.
Then a voice.
Mechanical. Hollow.
But familiar.
"Ada Lane. Vega Reyes. Welcome to Core Zero."
They froze.
The signal wasn't coming from outside.
It was coming from the child.