The destruction of the beacon at Ground Zero had brought a fragile calm to the city. The sky was no longer streaked with Rift energy, and the persistent hum of the Convergence signal was gone. But the scars of the battle remained: abandoned buildings, distorted streets, and lingering anomalies that refused to dissipate.
Jiang Xia and her team regrouped in a secure shelter on the outskirts of the city. Exhaustion weighed heavily on them, but none of them dared to relax. The Architects' signal might have been silenced, but the Rift's presence was still palpable.
Li Wen stared at his laptop, the glow from the screen reflecting on his tired face. "The energy levels are dropping, but not completely. The Rift isn't gone—it's just… dormant."
"How dormant?" Qin Chuan asked, leaning against the wall with his rifle across his lap.
Li Wen hesitated. "It's hard to say. The energy isn't stable, and there are still pockets of activity. If someone finds a way to reactivate it…"
"They won't get the chance," Jiang Xia said firmly. She glanced at the map Li Wen had displayed, showing hotspots where anomalies persisted. "We need to clean up what's left. No more nodes, no more signals."
Xu Min crossed her arms. "And Gao? We know he's still out there."
Jiang Xia's jaw tightened. "We find him, too."
---
An Unsettling Discovery
The first hotspot they investigated was a small industrial district near the edge of the city. Rift distortions lingered in the area, creating flickering shadows and faint echoes of the past. The team moved cautiously, weapons at the ready.
"This place is dead," Qin Chuan muttered, scanning the empty streets. "Whatever was here is long gone."
"Not everything," Li Wen said, pointing to his scanner. "There's still energy activity in that warehouse."
The warehouse was eerily quiet as they entered, the air thick with the remnants of Rift energy. In the center of the room was a terminal connected to a large cylindrical device pulsing faintly with light.
"What is this?" Xu Min asked, stepping closer.
Li Wen's face darkened as he studied the terminal. "It's a Rift stabilizer. Smaller than the ones we've seen before, but… it's still functional."
Jiang Xia frowned. "Why would Gao leave this behind?"
Before anyone could answer, the terminal emitted a sharp beep, and a holographic projection of Gao appeared above it.
---
Gao's Message
The hologram flickered as Gao's image came into focus. His expression was calm, but his tone carried a cold edge.
"Congratulations, Jiang Xia. You've managed to delay the inevitable. But you haven't stopped it."
"Still running your mouth, Gao," Qin Chuan muttered, raising his weapon toward the projection.
Gao ignored him, his gaze fixed on Jiang Xia. "The Convergence was only the beginning. The Rift is far more than a gateway—it's a bridge to something greater. Something beyond your understanding."
"What are you planning?" Jiang Xia demanded.
"You'll find out soon enough," Gao said, his smirk widening. "But I'll give you a hint: the Architects aren't the only ones listening."
The projection flickered and disappeared, leaving the team in tense silence.
---
The Rift's Evolution
"What does he mean, 'not the only ones'?" Xu Min asked, her voice tense.
Li Wen typed furiously on the terminal, pulling up data from the stabilizer. His face grew pale as he read the readings. "This… this isn't just a stabilizer. It's a transmitter. Gao wasn't just calling the Architects—he was broadcasting the Rift's presence to… something else."
Jiang Xia's stomach dropped. "Something worse?"
"Maybe," Li Wen said. "I don't know. But if this transmitter was active, there could be more of them."
Qin Chuan cursed under his breath. "So, we're not done after all."
Jiang Xia straightened, her resolve hardening. "Then we find the rest. Every stabilizer, every transmitter, and every trace of Gao's work. We finish this."
---
A Growing Threat
The team returned to their shelter, their minds heavy with the implications of Gao's message. Li Wen worked tirelessly to analyze the data from the transmitter, piecing together a fragmented map of possible stabilizer locations.
"There are at least three more sites," he said, pointing to the screen. "One in the mountains, one in the harbor, and one… underground."
"Underground?" Xu Min asked, frowning. "Where?"
Li Wen hesitated. "It's… deep. Beneath the city. Some kind of hidden facility. I don't have exact coordinates yet, but if Gao built it, it's going to be heavily fortified."
"Then we start with the easier targets," Jiang Xia said. "The mountains and the harbor. We'll deal with the underground facility last."
---
Foreshadowing the Architects
As the team prepared for their next mission, Jiang Xia couldn't shake the unease that had settled in her chest. Gao's words echoed in her mind: "The Architects aren't the only ones listening."
She stepped outside, the night air cool against her skin. The city was quiet, but the faint shimmer of Rift energy still hung in the distance, a constant reminder of the battle they had fought—and the one still to come.
"We'll stop you, Gao," she whispered, her gaze fixed on the horizon. "No matter what it takes."