[LOCATION: CVRC Surface Facility, Kanpur Megacity – 8:43 A.M.]
Smog mixed with holy incense as Lin passed through the front gates of the Central Void Research Complex. His uniform was dull gray. A cleaner's badge clipped to his chest. His crimson eyes dimmed to maroon thanks to the dampener injected into his bloodstream. For now, his signature was hidden.
The surface structure was sterile and clinical. Endless white walls. Cold lights. Yet beneath that sterile shell lay buried horror.
Lin moved like a shadow through the lower atrium. Every swipe of his mop mapped a patrol route. Every flick of his wrist recorded a blind spot in surveillance. By nightfall, he had already reached the access point for Sub-Level 5.
But Level 7 was sealed.
He needed Devika.
---
[LOCATION: Meditation Chamber, Level 3]
Dr. Devika Ramaswami sat cross-legged in silence. Fingers folded into precise mudras. She meditated before a shrine of Saraswati, eyes closed, breaths steady.
Smog mixed with holy incense as Lin walked through the front gates of the Central Void Research Complex. His uniform was dull gray. Cleaner's badge clipped to his chest. His eyes dimmed to a dull maroon — a dampener injected into his bloodstream helped suppress his signature. For now.
CVRC's surface structure was a labyrinth of sterile hallways and white light, masking the monstrous truth buried beneath. Lin moved like a ghost — silent, unseen. Every step planned. Every breath controlled.
As he cleaned the lower atrium floors, he mapped every guard patrol. Every surveillance line. Every security glitch.
By nightfall, he had already found the path to Sub-Level 5.
But Level 7 was sealed.
He needed Devika.
---
[CVRC – MEDITATION CHAMBER, LEVEL 3]
Dr. Devika Ramaswami sat in silence, fingers forming ancient mudras as she meditated before a shrine of Saraswati. She had not slept in three days. Too much was at stake. She had seen the Reactor pulsing — responding to something.
Someone.
She opened her eyes.
"You can come in."
Lin stepped through the shadows, his hand never leaving his coat. "You're not surprised."
"You carry entropy like a second skin. I could sense you an hour ago."
He didn't bother to explain.
"I need your help. The Reactor Ring. You're the key."
"I am," she said softly. "And if I help you, it collapses everything I've built for ten years. Why should I trust you?"
Lin's eyes gleamed faintly.
"I'm not asking for trust. I'm asking for guilt."
Devika flinched — but just barely.
"You were part of the early Gate experiments. The Contractor evolution trials in Delhi Sector. You watched children burn. Watched spirits die."
"I tried to stop it."
"And failed. Like me."
Silence.
Then, Lin pulled something from his coat. A locket — cracked. Inside, a photo. Rune. Smiling. Laughing. Before the Gates. Before the fire.
"She was nine. My sister. Gate-potential rank S+. She trusted them."
Devika's throat tightened. "I remember her."
Lin looked into her eyes.
"Then help me burn it all down."
---
[CVRC – SUB-LEVEL 7 – 02:12 A.M.]
The walls here pulsed like veins. The energy grew thick — spiritual pressure coiled like mist. Devika swiped her hand across a DNA-seal panel, reciting an ancient Vedic verse under her breath. The doors opened with a slow hiss.
Vault 3-Alpha lay ahead.
Within it: the Heart Reactor Ring.
A pulsating loop of alloy and soul. Whispers echoed from it — like prayers in reverse. Something alive. Something waiting.
Lin stepped forward, eyes narrowed. His corrupted arm flared, sensing a surge of ancient Gatelight from the Ring.
Then — alarms.
Red light flooded the vault.
"Contaminant breach detected. Unauthorized bio-ether signature."
Mao's voice crackled in Lin's ear — somehow overriding the silence.
"Abort mission. Repeat — CVRC initiated Omega Lockdown. They knew you were coming."
Devika's eyes widened. "They scanned your blood the moment you entered. They wanted you here."
Footsteps. Guards. And worse — spiritual defense units, Asetter clones grown from synthetic Gateblood.
Lin clenched his teeth. "Too late to abort."
Devika looked at him. "Take the Ring. I'll stay behind and delay them."
"No."
"You can't fight them all and keep it stable. You need a carrier. I'm the only one who knows how to sync its pulse without triggering collapse."
Lin's body trembled. The Ring was pulsing harder now — resonating with his corruption. Trying to join him.
Devika stepped forward, pressing her palm to his corrupted arm.
For a moment, peace.
The Ring stabilized. The shadows died down.
Lin reached for it — and it attached like a heartbeat.
"Go," she said. "I'll cover your escape route through the underforge tunnels. You'll have thirty seconds before this place floods with Ether Scorchers."
"Devika—"
"Tell the Syndicate…" she whispered, eyes dimming, "the age of gods is ending. Tell them the reckoning is near."
---
[EXIT TUNNELS – 03:01 A.M.]
Lin burst through a collapsing access shaft, shadows trailing behind him like black fire. The Reactor Ring pulsed against his chest, bound to him now. Blood dripped from his fingers. The toll of Gatelight fusion had begun.
His communicator crackled.
Mao's voice — barely audible.
"Mission… complete?"
Lin didn't answer. He looked down at the Ring. Then at the city lights above.
"No."
He stepped into the darkness.
"This is just the beginning."
---
TO BE CONTINUED…