A deep tremor ran through the corridor, rattling dust from the ceiling. The glowing symbols along the walls pulsed faster, their eerie light casting shifting shadows across the metallic halls.
Kael pushed himself up, his heart pounding. "What the hell was that?"
Liyara's gauntlet screen flickered wildly with unreadable data. "Something just released an energy surge-massive. I don't think we're alone anymore."
The creature in the darkness remained motionless, its glowing gaze fixed on them. Then, without a sound, it faded-melting into the blackness as if it had never been there.
Garran cursed under his breath. "I hate when they do that."
Then, the walls shifted.
The bunker groaned as hidden mechanisms activated. Panels slid away, revealing deep, pulsating veins of blue light running through the structure. The floor trembled again, and a low hum filled the air-like the sound of something massive, breathing.
Kael's stomach tightened. "This isn't just a bunker."
Liyara was already moving, her fingers dancing across the controls on her wrist.
"It's alive. Or at least, something inside it is."
Then, a voice crackled through their comms. Static at first, then words-cold, distant, and filled with an ancient authority.
"The Cycle begins a new."
The walls flared with blinding light.