The path to truth began with dust, shadows, and a map scorched at the edges.
Elijah Vega stood before the yawning mouth of a cave in the heart of the Sierra Madre. Around him, Isa, Adrian, and a small detachment of trusted guards waited silently as the wind stirred the jungle leaves.
"This is the place," Adrian said, holding up a brass compass modified with a strange oscillating crystal. "Signal's strongest here. Whatever Raines left behind—it's below."
The entrance was hidden behind vines and jagged stone, masked by time and overgrowth. It had taken weeks of deciphering broken coordinates buried deep in the corrupted core Elijah recovered in Baler. Every clue pointed here: a lab Raines had once described as "the cradle of the new timeline."
Descent
The cavern sloped sharply downward. The deeper they went, the more unnatural the stone became. Concrete gave way to seamless alloy—walls embedded with lights that flickered to life as if sensing their presence.
At the bottom of the descent, a circular vault door awaited. Adrian hacked into its core with trembling fingers, sweat trickling down his neck. Isa kept her rifle raised, scanning every crevice.
With a low hum, the door unsealed.
Inside lay a world preserved in ice and silence.
Holographic consoles flickered on. Screens displayed schematics of machines more advanced than anything they'd encountered, and in the center of the lab, encased in crystalline stasis, was a server tower etched with the logo:
VIREK Initiative – Genesis Node
Echoes of the Past
Adrian booted up the system. Files flooded the screens.
Subject: Vega, Elijah. Timeline Divergence Node.
Status: FAILED TERMINATION.
Contingency Active – VIREK Subroutine Beta Initiated.
Elijah stared, numb. "They knew I'd arrive here."
A video log played. Raines, gaunt and smiling.
"If you're seeing this, then I failed. Or perhaps succeeded, depending on how you define disruption. Vega is a fulcrum—an anomaly. Not of this world, not truly. His arrival should've destabilized their resistance, but something interfered. Someone."
He turned to the camera.
"If he's still alive, activate VIREK. Let the future reclaim him."
Isa hissed. "They built this war around you."
"No," Elijah said. "They built this war because of me."
A Living Archive
In the deeper chambers, they found a room unlike the others—lined with sarcophagi. Inside were preserved bodies of test subjects: some human, some grotesquely altered by cybernetic grafts. On one wall was a mural etched in red glass, depicting a future skyline ablaze, airships fighting creatures of steel and shadow.
Below it were words in Latin:
Tempus ipsum rebellabit.
Time itself will rebel.
"Raines wasn't the end," Adrian whispered. "He was just the opening act. These... these are prototypes."
Isa opened a final door.
Within, they found a humanoid form—perfectly preserved. Female. Synthetic. Sleek chrome body, eyes shut. A small inscription on her wrist
ELI-AH
Without warning, the entire lab shook. Lights flickered red. A screen lit up:
VIREK SIGNAL DETECTED. PRIMARY UNIT WAKING.
The strange woman opened her eyes.
Blue.
Human.
She looked at Elijah.
The guards raised their weapons. Elijah held up a hand.
"Eli-Ah? is that you" Elijah said
"Elijah? What are you doing in this timeline?" Eli-ah said
"Its a long story, but you? what are doing in that chamber? " Elijah said
" I was involved in Raines original project. I was thrown back into the past and been operating in secret" Eli-Ah said
"I have come to preserve what remains. Time is unraveling. And you, Elijah, are both the cause... and the key."
The air turned cold. Above them, the surface rumbled. Distant mechanical roars echoed across the jungle.
Whatever came next would not be stopped by bullets or banners.
The battle for the future had begun.