Chapter 5: The Phantom's Warning
Darkness swallowed the corridor as the last flicker of light died. Aiden stood frozen, every fiber of his being on high alert. The echo of footsteps had stopped—but the feeling of being watched remained.
Was it his mind playing tricks? Or was there truly something lurking in the shadows?
A faint mechanical whirr cut through the silence. Not alone. His grip on the metal pipe tightened. His augmented eyes struggled to adjust to the void around him, but deep within, something pulsed—an instinct, a warning.
Then—
"You shouldn't be here."
The voice was hollow, distorted, neither fully human nor fully machine. Aiden's breath hitched. Who was speaking? His fingers hovered over his wrist panel, ready to activate his scanning interface.
"They're watching."
A chill ran down his spine. They? Who were they? The ones who created the Genesis Core? Or something worse?
A sudden flash—data streamed into his mind, images of experiments, of bodies twisted beyond recognition. The whispers grew louder, overlapping, forming a cacophony of voices lost to time.
Aiden staggered back. His vision blurred, his chest tightened. His system was being hacked.
Then, just as suddenly as it began—silence.
The monitors flickered back to life. The door at the end of the hall hissed open. A corridor stretched beyond it, leading deeper into the facility.
Was this a warning? Or an invitation?
Aiden wiped the sweat from his brow. He had a choice.
Leave and pretend he never saw this.
Or step forward and uncover the truth.
He took a breath.
And walked through the door.