(POV - Emily Parker)

Emily could barely see what was ahead; the hallway was completely dark and devoid of life. There was no sound at all, except for the footsteps of the trio. Emily and Laura continued to follow the small Anomaly, which illuminated the path ahead with its bright eyes.

Emily knew it was sheer madness to follow an Anomaly, no matter how harmless it seemed; it felt like a death sentence. But what other choice did she have? Remaining in the dark meant certain death. Moreover, she didn’t know why, but it was clear that [Shadow] seemed to fear the small Anomaly, which only fueled her curiosity further.

Could [Shadow] know the true identity of the Anomaly? Or was it merely an instinctive fear? However, another question arose: why would [Shadow] feel fear in the first place? Who, or rather, what exactly was this Anomaly that Emily and Laura were following at that moment?.

“Boss, where are you going?”

Momentarily lost in her thoughts, Emily didn’t notice when the Anomaly turned down a corridor and nearly passed by it. Looking briefly ahead, she saw only an endless darkness, causing her to shudder. She could feel something moving in the darkness, or rather, the darkness itself seemed to move and watch her. Quickly, Emily returned to where Laura and the small Anomaly were.

“Sorry, there’s a lot happening. I need a moment to gather my thoughts”

As she said this, Emily cast a brief glance around. The walls had changed slightly; now, the entire corridor ahead had lights embedded in the floor, ceiling, and walls. This new illumination helped Emily orient herself, but the question still lingered: why was the Anomaly leading them to [Shadow]'s containment room?

“Boss, isn’t this the corridor that leads to [Shadow]'s containment room?”

Emily simply nodded at Laura’s question, who also seemed to realize where they were headed. The walk continued for a few more minutes until the trio finally reached the end of the corridor. In front of them stood a reinforced door with protruding panels. The small Anomaly took a few more steps before stopping in front of the door and turning its gaze toward Emily and Laura.

Even Laura could understand the Anomaly's intentions at that moment. It was unlikely that it had come to this place without a purpose. The only plausible explanation was that the Anomaly wanted to enter.

“Boss, what do we do now?”

Emily thought for a few moments about that. No matter how much she considered it, there was no reason not to open the door. It was indeed strange for an Anomaly to show interest in something, but so far, it hadn’t done anything to harm humans. On the contrary, it had always been cooperative. Thus, Emily saw no reason to refuse the Anomaly’s request.

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“Let’s open it. Now that [Shadow] has escaped, it’s likely that there’s nothing left in the containment room”

As she said this, Emily walked over to the side of the door, where there was an electronic panel. As she placed her eye near the device, it was scanned, and in the next instant, a message appeared on the panel, stating: “Authorized” With that, the door opened, revealing its interior.

Emily watched closely as the small Anomaly entered the containment room, its curious gaze examining every corner of the space. However, from Laura’s perspective, it seemed that the Anomaly was genuinely searching for something that should be inside.

Suddenly, the small Anomaly's eyes fixed on a specific point. Emily also directed her gaze to where the Anomaly's bright eyes were pointing and was surprised by what she saw.

Floating in the air was a dome-shaped object emitting a dark, pulsating aura. It appeared as though the dome was made from the shadows themselves. Emily’s mind raced faster than ever as she observed the floating object, and in the end, she managed to reach a small conclusion.

(Is that [Shadow]'s main body?)

There were several reasons for Emily to think this. First, after numerous tests conducted with [Shadow], it became clear that its body, capable of moving within shadows and merging with them, was not its main body but rather a form created from the shadows themselves to allow for movement.

Moreover, why would that object specifically be in [Shadow]'s containment room? Emily couldn’t think of any other alternative. Once again, she was surprised to realize that the small Anomaly seemed to know that [Shadow]'s main body would be right there.

“What exactly is supposed to happen now?”

A few seconds after Laura asked the question, the small Anomaly began to move toward the floating dome. Its steps were so subtle that they could barely be heard, echoing softly in the environment. Emily wondered, for a moment, how much the small Anomaly actually weighed.

However, seconds before the Anomaly fully approached the floating dome, the darkness around it began to distort. From within the shadow, something emerged: it was difficult to distinguish, but it clearly resembled a dark mist, even deeper than the darkness itself.

Emily and Laura remained silent, watching the scene unfold before them. Meanwhile, the small Anomaly fixed its gaze on the shadow with curiosity, tilting its head to the side, its face expressing a strange mix of neutrality and wonder.

***

(POV – Protagonist)

(Are we not totally in trouble?)

That was my first thought upon seeing the shadow suddenly emerge from the darkness. To be honest, my plan was just to go back and repeat what I did last time to absorb the powers of that Anomaly. However, there were two problems: first, I had no idea how to absorb powers, since last time the process happened completely automatically.

Secondly, I didn’t expect the shadow to confront me directly, especially since it seemed scared the last time I saw it. However, this wasn’t so surprising; I didn’t know exactly what that floating thing was, but it seemed important to it. It makes sense that the shadow would return to protect something it considers valuable.