"Vil... Vilm... Vilmi!" - A loud female voice rang out, making me involuntarily open my eyes.

In front of me stood my colleague Angela, a young red-haired girl with an incredibly energetic character, which often caused her problems and frequent troubles. Her thick hair was neatly tied into a tight bun at the back of her head. Her amber-colored eyes sparkled with a playful glint, filling those around her with a piece of her carefree mood. She wore the standard archaeologist's uniform, just like many others, including me.

"Angela...?" - I asked, still a little disoriented."

"Vilmi, did you fall asleep on your feet?" - There was concern in her voice.

Slightly disoriented, I decided to look around. Four more people stood near us, all dressed in the same uniform. But as soon as I looked behind Angela, a wave of horror washed over me. Right behind her was a huge abyss in the ground. The thought that I could have fallen into it if Angela hadn't stopped me made me feel slightly nauseous.

"You stayed up all night with your notes again?" - Klaim said reproachfully, like a parent scolding a child who had been playing video games all night. "I told you to rest before the descent," he added sternly. Klaim was the shortest of the guys in our group but had a well-toned physique, and his light hair seemed to reflect clarity of mind. His eyes showed years of experience and wisdom. He was the engineer and therefore responsible for working with research devices and other equipment.

"Vilmar, if you found something interesting, tell me during the break, haha," added the dark-haired man, his body strong, and his face covered with a short beard. He was always in a good mood, though unlike Angela, he kept his head clear and tried not to get into trouble. His name was Frederik, and thanks to his character, he had good relationships with Angela but also got along well with the rest of us. He mostly dealt with moving equipment and research alongside me; in our team, he was the strongest, so he took on all the heavy work.

There were also two others: The first was John, with pale skin and a tired, sickly appearance. His face literally expressed eternal fatigue at first glance. He was tall and slender, and part of his left ear was missing, making him easily recognizable in a crowd. John was a scientist and always worked with various devices. Despite his sickly appearance, he was perfectly healthy and full of energy. Though he was almost always silent, if you engaged him on a topic related to his work, it would be hard to stop him.

The second was his partner — Eliza: a beautiful woman with a slender figure and expressive curves. Her long, light hair fell freely over her shoulders like rays of sunlight come to life. She had an elegant and alluring appearance. Like John, she was a scientist and worked alongside him, and also acted as our doctor in case of emergencies.

"Alright, guys, we need to descend," Eliza's gentle but confident voice came through.

"Vilmar, are you okay? If you're feeling too bad, you should stay at the camp," she added.

"I'm fine... just thinking," I answered, beginning to come to my senses.

"Just be careful. We don’t want you accidentally getting into a dangerous situation," Frederik said.

"I’ll try. Alright, let's go down," I replied and walked toward the elevator that would take us to the bottom of the crater.

We all headed to the elevator at once. It wasn't far, so we reached it quickly. The descent, however, was long, but after a few dozen minutes, we reached the very bottom.

We exited the elevator and took a few steps forward, scanning the surrounding space. It seemed like the crater pierced the sky, a giant bowl framed by steep slopes. Beneath our feet lay a platform scattered with stones — from small rubble to impressive boulders. It stretched almost a kilometer ahead.

At one part of the abyss, there was a small camp where we would live and work for a while. After a brief inspection, we headed toward it. The path was covered with various rocks, soil, and trees that had fallen when the earth began to collapse. Cracks of various sizes appeared everywhere, some so large that we had to bypass them. When we arrived, we started inspecting the camp and unpacking our things. There were six residential tents and one filled with scientific equipment, where John, Eliza, and Klaim would be working.

The tents were arranged in a circle, and in the center between them was a small building for cooking and discussing our future work and plans. Not far from the camp was a small building with two doors, housing the toilet and shower. Electricity had been run throughout the camp to power the electronic devices, using a generator located in a separate room of the nearby building.

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The residential tents were large and cozy inside, with an atmosphere that calmed the mind and created a sense of peace and separation from the outside world. They were furnished with soft beds, small tables made of fragrant wood that emitted a pleasant smell of timber and resin, where we could work and store documents and notes. In the corner was a small stove in case it got cold at night, with a stack of firewood nearby. Across from the bed stood a dresser where we could store clothes, made of the same wood as the table.

The scientific tent was several times larger and divided into four sections. The main section was the control center where John would work and, most importantly, monitor seismic data to warn us if an earthquake began again. The second section was the communication center, which would allow us to stay in touch with the outside world. The third section was dedicated to the study of fossils, and possibly even ancient records and artifacts that we might discover. The fourth was the medical section, containing everything needed for treatment.

The camp was positioned to minimize damage in case of another earthquake. It was also located right at the entrance to an underground cave we would soon descend into. The entrance was in a small underground lake, part of which was above the surface. Thus, access could only be made with diving gear. When we finished setting up camp, it was already evening, so we decided our team would begin the exploration the next day.

We all gathered at the center of the camp around a large table, with Eliza and Frederik in the kitchen preparing dinner for everyone. They were the best at cooking among us. The rest of us sat at the table, either working on our tasks or enjoying lively conversations.

"Hey, Vilmar, what were you thinking about up there?" Frederik asked in a calm voice, full of curiosity.

At that moment, everyone paused for a second. They were all eager to know the reason for my behavior. I was not opposed to telling them why I seemed to fall asleep on my feet.

"Oh, nothing special..." I paused for a couple of seconds, gathering my thoughts before continuing. "It's just... Over the last year, I’ve had strange dreams a couple of times," I began. "In them, I found myself in space, surrounded by countless stars, and in the distance, there was a large black sphere hovering, glowing with a bright white light emanating from its center. I don’t know why, but as soon as I saw it, a deep animal fear enveloped me."

Recalling those strange moments sent chills down my spine. Everyone listened without interrupting, and it was clear they were interested. After all, we all shared an interest in such things and often told each other stories on similar topics.

"What happened next?" - Angela asked, her curiosity evident.

"Next, I started to get pulled in, and when it started, there was a terrible hum, followed by the sound of cracking glass, and cracks started appearing around me, as if the very space was tearing apart. Then I would always wake up, never having reached the sphere." I continued, and again, chills ran down my spine.

After I finished, the group’s enthusiasm waned, but my story sparked a desire to share similar tales. The next three hours were spent listening to each other's stories. Afterward, we all went to our tents to rest for the upcoming work.

The next morning, we gathered around the table again to discuss our next steps.

"So, shall we go over the plan again?" - I said as I sat at the table after brewing myself a cup of aromatic coffee. We all exchanged glances, and Klaim began explaining the plan.

"Well, let's start. According to the available data, this cave leads to ancient catacombs that we need to explore," Klaim said, nodding toward the lake. After a few seconds of silence, he continued. "We have a year to figure out where these catacombs lead, and then report back to our superiors. I remind you, there’s something in these catacombs that jams all devices, preventing us from finding out where these tunnels go. One of our main goals is to find out the cause of this anomaly. Just in case, everyone will be given firearms." He finished in a firm voice.

"All the tools are already at the cave entrance. The path to the catacombs is marked with signs and arrows," John added in a quiet voice.

"Correct, John and I will stay at the camp to monitor the devices and stay in touch with you. The rest of you will head to our goal. First, we’ll just explore the known part of the catacombs. Afterward, you’ll return, we’ll discuss what you found, and prepare for the entrance to the unknown section. Got it?" he asked, and we all nodded in agreement.

After we finished, Frederik, Angela, Eliza, and I changed into diving suits and went toward the lake.

"Good luck," John said. Klaim also supported us, nodding after John’s words.

"Yes, good luck finding something interesting," Klaim added with a smile.

"Thanks, you too," Angela replied.

The four of us put on our diving gear, exchanged a final glance, and began diving into the water. As soon as we descended a few meters, we all activated the His. The deeper we went, the denser the darkness became. At one point, it became so dark that the only source of light was the His. After a while, Eliza, swimming ahead, found the entrance to the cave. We swam up to it and began inspecting it. The entrance was a hole in the wall with a radius of several meters, and in some places, small clusters of blue crystals grew on the passage walls, slightly glowing from within and sparkling as they reflected the light from the His.

Frederik, intrigued, swam toward one and broke off a small piece. After a brief inspection, we swam deeper. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, some of which, like the walls, were covered with rare clusters of the same crystals we had seen at the entrance.

The further we swam, the narrower the cave became.

After a while, we finally emerged into the main cave. The exit was inside a room, similar to restrooms built in mines. Ahead, a passage three meters high stretched out before us. To the right of the passage, there was a table with two lanterns and eight smaller lanterns, two for each of us.

After turning on the lights and changing into more appropriate attire, we immediately contacted John and Klaim to inform them that we had arrived. After a brief conversation, we took the small lanterns, while Eliza and I tookt he larger ones.

"Well then, let’s go," I said and stepped into the darkness.