Armed with Elias Thorne's cryptic guidance and the translated fragments of the Eclipse Codex, Kiran and Elena focused their search. The Chronicler had spoken of "Echoes of the First Crossing," ancient sites where the Veil had once thinned and the Eldritch had almost broken through. One such location, a forgotten research annex of the original Eclipse Foundation, lay buried beneath the sprawling, derelict industrial zone of Sector Seven, a place the city had long since abandoned. It was a digital ghost, wiped from every public record, existing only in the most protected, esoteric databases.
The entrance was a crumbling service tunnel, barely wide enough for them to squeeze through, leading down into oppressive darkness. The air grew heavy, damp, smelling of decay and something else — a faint, metallic tang that Kiran recognized from the Foundation. His skin crawled. Elena, despite her apprehension, moved with a journalist's instinct, her small headlamp beam sweeping across the corroded pipes and peeling paint of the subterranean labyrinth. "Thorne said this place was used for 'preliminary containment studies'," she whispered, her voice echoing unnervingly. "Before the full-scale experiments. Maybe there's uncorrupted data here, something not touched by Neo-Eclipse."
Deeper within, the tunnel opened into a vast, cavernous space, eerily silent but for the drip of water. Massive, rusted machinery stood like skeletal giants, their purpose obscured by time and grime. Then, a low hum began, a familiar, sickening thrum that vibrated through Kiran's bones. "They're here," he hissed, pulling Elena into the shadows of a collapsed conduit. Figures emerged from the gloom – not Lux, but a squad of armored Neo-Eclipse operatives, their movements precise, their weapons silent and deadly. Leading them was a towering brute, his skin covered in intricate, swirling tattoos that seemed to pulse with a faint, dark light. This was Subject 05, a 'Brute' type, known for his ability to siphon and redirect kinetic energy, making him virtually unstoppable in a head-on confrontation.
Kiran knew a direct fight was suicide. He blurred, activating his time-stutter, drawing Subject 05's attention, baiting the lumbering figure into a blind charge. The world warped around Kiran, allowing him to plant a precisely timed EMP charge on a key structural support. As time snapped back, the ancient metal groaned, then shrieked, collapsing in a cascade of twisted steel and rubble. It separated them from Subject 05 and his squad, buying them precious moments. But the effort cost Kiran dearly. A cold, sharp pain lanced through his left arm, and when he looked down, fine cracks had appeared in the skin, spreading like hairline fractures on glass. Elena gasped, reaching for him, but he waved her off, his gaze fixed on a small, hidden alcove revealed by the collapsing debris. There, nestled amongst forgotten research instruments, lay a crystalline shard, pulsating faintly with an inner light. It was etched with the same arcane symbols from the Codex. A Codex fragment. They hadn't just found a lead; they'd touched the very essence of the ancient terror.