The Other Side
666 Words
The shaking became stronger.
Cracks spread across the floor of the settlement.
Everyone ran toward the exits.
Sera shouted orders.
“Move! Get everyone to the upper tunnels!”
Nyra remained beside the machine.
She couldn't stop staring at the message on her laptop.
WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU.
Kian grabbed her shoulder.
“Nyra, we have to go.”
She looked at him.
“What if this is what they wanted?”
Kian paused.
“What?”
“The Architects. The signal. Everything.”
Nyra looked at the ancient machine.
“What if they weren't trying to get into our world?”
She pointed at the machine.
“What if they were trying to get us to open it?”
Elias suddenly looked terrified.
“No.”
Nyra turned.
“You know something.”
“I know enough.”
“Then tell me.”
Elias looked toward the floor.
“The ancient humans didn't seal the connection because they lost a war.”
Nyra waited.
“They sealed it because they discovered what was on the other side.”
The shaking stopped.
Silence filled the settlement.
Nyra whispered:
“What was it?”
Elias looked at her.
“We don't know.”
A deep sound echoed beneath them.
Like something enormous waking up.
Then every light in the settlement turned silver.
The ancient machine activated by itself.
A projection appeared above it.
Earth.
Then the view zoomed inward.
Past the cities.
Past the oceans.
Past the mountains.
Deeper.
Deeper.
Until it reached something hidden beneath the planet's surface.
A massive structure.
It was larger than a city.
Perhaps larger than a country.
Nyra stared.
“That was here the whole time?”
Elias nodded.
“We never found it.”
Nyra stepped closer.
The structure had the same symbol.
The same symbol that had appeared on the first night.
The same symbol on her skin-shaped scar near her wrist.
She touched it.
The projection changed.
A message appeared.
ORIGIN POINT LOCATED.
Kian stared.
“Origin point?”
Nyra's laptop suddenly displayed another message.
THE FIRST SIGNAL DID NOT COME FROM SPACE.
Nyra's eyes widened.
“It came from here.”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
Nyra looked at him.
“You said humanity sent the first signal.”
“We thought we did.”
The ground trembled again.
A crack opened beneath the ancient machine.
Silver light poured through.
Nyra stepped backward.
Something was rising.
Sera raised her weapon.
“Everyone back!”
The machine exploded upward.
A massive column of silver light shot through the ceiling and into the sky.
Across the world, abandoned satellites suddenly activated.
Old radios turned on.
Dead computers restarted.
Every surviving screen displayed the same message.
THE SIGNAL HAS RETURNED.
Then another appeared.
PHASE TWO BEGINNING.
Nyra looked upward.
The clouds began changing.
But there were no alien ships this time.
There were thousands of lights appearing beneath the clouds.
On the ground.
In cities.
In deserts.
Under oceans.
Across the entire planet.
The symbols were waking everywhere.
Kian whispered:
“It's not an invasion.”
Nyra nodded.
“No.”
She looked at the lights.
“It's a system reboot.”
Elias stared at her.
“What did you just say?”
Nyra slowly smiled.
“The apocalypse wasn't the end.”
She looked toward the horizon.
“It was the beginning.”
Her laptop beeped one final time.
A new map appeared.
A destination was highlighted.
Not Earth.
Not the Architect homeworld.
Somewhere beyond both.
Then came the final message:
WELCOME BACK, NYRA VALE.
Nyra stared at the screen.
“Back?”
She looked at Kian.
“Why do they keep saying that?”
Before he could answer, the sky opened.
But this time, Nyra didn't see the Architects.
She saw a city.
A city made of silver towers.
And standing at the center of it was a figure who looked exactly like her.
The figure lifted its head.
And smiled.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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