After turning off the first defenses, Kiran and Elena walked the rest of the way, leaving the old car behind to fool their enemies. The air got colder and thinner as they went up into a deep, hidden valley in the mountains. It was always dark there. The Neo-Eclipse base was not just a building. It was a huge, complete fort built right into the rock. Its outside looked like natural stone mixed with advanced, almost invisible metal, made to hide from radar and blend in with the land. High-tech sensors hummed quietly, now visible as slight waves in the air, guarding every way in. But thanks to Echo's detailed maps, they found an old, unused tunnel for hot underground steam. Its doors were weak from being old, letting them get past the main defenses.
Inside, the base was very different from its rough outside. Long, bright white hallways stretched far into the distance, lit by soft, pulsing lights in the ceiling. The air hummed with power, a strong, deep sound that made Kiran's bones vibrate and even made Elena's teeth ache. It was the clear feeling of new technology mixed with wild, raw magic. It was a scary mix. They moved carefully through clean lab rooms filled with strange, almost living machines. They saw holding cells that glowed with a sickly light, hinting at terrible experiments. Huge power lines, thicker than Kiran's body, carried a lot of energy to a main, dark room deep inside the mountain. Elena, her journalist's curiosity fighting with a growing feeling of terror, pointed to complex maps on a floating screen. "They are trying to thin the Veil directly," she whispered, her voice tight with horror. "Trying to force it open faster than the Great Eclipse will."
Their quiet movement suddenly stopped with a sharp, metal sound. Lux. She appeared from the dark shadows of a hallway ahead. She was not alone this time. Two big figures, their faces covered by advanced helmets, stood ready behind her. "Hello, Subject 07," Lux said softly, her voice cold, but with a satisfied sound. Her eyes, like pieces of ice, were fixed on Kiran. "You are always easy to predict. Koval wanted you unharmed, but I am losing my patience." She moved quickly, her fractal duplication power starting with a strange shimmer, instantly filling the hallway with many glowing copies of herself. Each copy had a humming energy gun. Kiran did not wait. "Elena, run! Find the Codex Containment!" he yelled loudly, pushing her quickly towards a narrow, almost hidden maintenance tunnel. He faced Lux directly, his body tight and ready to fight. His time-stutter power started, but this time, he used it not just to avoid hits, but to attack. He moved faster than her copies could even see, hitting them with strong, exact punches and kicks. He aimed for the weak spots he remembered from their last fight – the flickering edges of her copies, the tiny delay in her real body's movements. Every hit was strong and true, each punch showing how good he was at fighting. He was a deadly dancer. He had to keep her busy, to give Elena the time she needed to find out what Dr. Koval was really looking for in this huge base.