For a long time, there was only silence.
The tunnels beneath Haven-9 no longer rumbled. The fire, the explosions, the deafening drone of plasma — all gone. Only the faint hum of residual energy echoed through the ruins.
Kiera stumbled through the smoke-filled passage, one arm over her mouth. The air reeked of scorched metal and ozone. Behind her, Rex coughed as he followed, his flashlight flickering over collapsed beams and shattered drones.
“Careful,” she whispered. “The floor’s unstable.”
They moved slowly, their boots crunching on the metallic ash that used to be machines. Every few meters, the walls pulsed faintly — golden veins of light that seemed alive, breathing with the same rhythm as a heartbeat.
Kiera froze when the pulse quickened.
“Did you feel that?”
Rex scanned the ar
