The survivors huddled around the console, its flickering light barely pushing back the encroaching shadows. The facility map displayed on-screen had begun to distort, corridors twisting like living veins.
Elias traced a path with his finger, ignoring how the screen seemed to ripple at his touch. “One shot to end this,” he muttered.
Brin stood beside him, laptop clutched to his chest, black fluid now staining his chin. “The core’s in Biolab Three,” he slurred. “Maximum biomass concentration. It’s strongest there.”
Velasquez’s hand shook as she pointed to the location. “Biolab Three. I passed through there earlier. I saw… things. Things I can’t unsee.” Her eyes met Elias’s, haunted by horrors she couldn’t articulate.
Patel methodically checked connections on his equipment. “We need a diversion. I can overload the eastern power grid—make it think we’re hitting another location.”
Foster’s eyes lingered suspiciously on Patel before returning to her tablet. “Keep your signals clear, Patel,” she muttered, voice edged with doubt. “I’ll coordinate from here. But the communications are degrading. Korvus is interfering with all electronic signals.”
“Here’s the plan,” Elias said, voice steady. “We split into teams. Alpha team—myself, Rowe, and Brin—takes the syringes to the core. Beta team—Velasquez and Patel—creates the diversion. Foster maintains communications link.”
He marked two distinct paths on the map. Privately, he recognized Brin was becoming a liability, but the scientist knew the core’s specifics better than anyone.
“Biolab Three… it’s not a lab anymore,” Velasquez warned, suppressing a shiver. “There are faces in the walls. Watching. Moving.”
Patel nodded. “The power grid’s unstable. I can trigger a cascading failure in the east wing. Should draw attention away from your approach.”
“What if it knows?” Foster’s voice cracked. “What if it’s listening right now?” A strange harmonic undertone momentarily echoed through the room, as though in response. Everyone froze.
Rowe’s grip tightened on his rifle. “Doesn’t matter. We hit it, or we all die anyway.”
Brin’s voice was barely above a whisper. “It’s mimicking us. Voices, faces… maybe more.” His bloodshot eyes darted frantically around the room.
“We stick to the plan,” Elias said firmly. “We trust each other.” But the words felt hollow as the facility hummed around them, like a predator’s purr.
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