The facility was hidden inside a mountain, accessible only through a narrow tunnel that looked like it had been carved by hand centuries ago. The walls glowed faintly with symbols that I recognized from the system's interface, suggesting that even without the system being active, the structure had been designed to resonate with system energy.
I found my father in a laboratory deep within the mountain. He was not being tortured or imprisoned. He was working. He was willingly helping a group of system users attempt to rebuild the system from its basic components.
"William," he said when he saw me. "You came. I was not sure you would."
"Why are you helping them?" I asked.
"Because they offered me something I have wanted for a very long time," James said. "They offered me a second chance.
