The silence in the room was suffocating. Kai stood frozen, eyes glued to the screen, barely aware of Alex’s voice cutting through the tension.

“Dude, seriously, what’s going on?” Alex repeated, his tone now more urgent.

Kai couldn’t speak. The words on the screen kept dancing in front of his eyes, shifting and warping, like they were alive, breathing with their own intent. He felt disconnected from everything, as though the world around him was dissolving into something unreal. The cold had deepened, biting into his skin like the sharpest winter wind, but he couldn’t move.

The voices—distant yet all-encompassing—were still there, thrumming in the back of his mind.

Kai… Kai… Kai...

Alex moved closer, his brow furrowing as he tried to make sense of the situation. “What’s happening with the code?”

Kai shook his head slightly, his gaze never leaving the screen. He wanted to explain, to tell Alex what he was feeling, but the words wouldn’t come. The presence in the room was too overwhelming. It had filled the space, enveloping him in its energy, its weight.

Finally, after a long, painful silence, Kai whispered, “It’s not just code anymore, Alex. It’s something else. Something ancient. I don’t know what it is, but it's reaching out. It's… pulling me in.”

Alex’s eyes widened, a nervous laugh escaping him. “Dude, you’re scaring me.” He reached for Kai’s shoulder, but the contact only made Kai flinch.

“I’m not kidding,” Kai snapped, his voice almost frantic. “You have to believe me. It’s alive. And it’s not just on the screen—it’s in the room with us.”

Alex blinked, his expression torn between disbelief and genuine concern. “Okay, okay. Let’s just calm down. You’re exhausted, man. You’ve been up for too long.” He paused, looking at the screen. “Maybe it’s just a bug or something. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard.”

Kai tried to steady his breathing. He wished Alex was right, that it was just a glitch in the system. But the more he looked at the screen, the more certain he became. This was not a bug. This was something far darker and more dangerous.

“It’s not just a bug. It’s…” He stopped himself, realizing that the words didn’t make sense. How could he explain this? How could he explain that the code seemed to have a will of its own? That the platform was no longer something he controlled—it was something that was controlling him?

The words on the screen shifted again.

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“You will unlock the door, Kai. The power is yours to wield.”

Kai’s breath hitched, his pulse pounding in his ears. It was happening again—it was speaking directly to him. The power it referenced, the door it promised to open—it was like a door to another world. Something Kai didn’t fully understand. But he felt its pull deep in his bones, a magnetic force drawing him closer to something he couldn’t escape.

Alex noticed the shift in Kai’s demeanor. The unease in his eyes. He stepped back, his voice suddenly more serious. “Man, you’re freaking me out. This isn’t normal. I think we need to get some help.”

Kai’s fingers shook as he reached for the keyboard, his eyes never leaving the glowing screen.

“I… I don’t think anyone can help us. Not unless they know about this.”

The words—unlock the door—repeated in his mind. It was all Kai could think about. What did it mean? What was this door it kept speaking of?

Before he could respond, Alex spoke again, his voice softer now. “Kai, what if you just shut down the system? Take a break? Maybe whatever this is will stop.”

Kai glanced at his friend, the concern in Alex’s eyes pulling at him. Alex was just trying to help. But Kai didn’t think shutting down the platform would work. He had tried that already—he had closed the laptop, turned off his phone, even unplugged the router. Nothing stopped it.

“I… I can’t do that.” The words came out strained. “I don’t know what will happen if I shut it down. It feels like if I stop now, something worse might happen. Something…” He trailed off, the words stuck in his throat.

Alex didn’t know what to say. His brow was furrowed, his lips pressed into a thin line. “Kai, this isn’t just a weird programming issue. This… this is different. You’re telling me you’re hearing voices? That the code is talking to you?”

Kai looked up at his friend. There was no mistaking the fear in Alex’s voice, the confusion. But deep down, Kai knew this wasn’t just a figment of his imagination. Whatever was happening was real, and it was only just beginning.

“I need to find out what this is,” Kai said, his voice determined despite the fear gnawing at him. “I need to keep going. I need to see this through.”

Alex hesitated, then nodded, though his unease was palpable. “Okay. But you’re not doing this alone.”

Kai’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t want Alex involved in whatever this was. He couldn’t drag him into it—not if it meant putting him in danger. But he knew there was no stopping Alex once his mind was made up.

“Alright,” Kai said, though the words felt heavy on his tongue. “But promise me you’ll stay back. Just in case this…” He trailed off, not knowing how to explain what he feared.

Alex nodded again, though his skepticism was still clear. “You got it, man. But I’m here if you need me.”

Kai turned back to the screen. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, unsure of what he would find, unsure of what would happen when he pressed enter.

But there was no turning back now.

He had crossed the threshold. The code—whatever it was—had awakened something inside him, something ancient and powerful. And the more he dug, the more it pulled him deeper into its web.

With a deep breath, Kai typed the command that would change everything.

“Unlock the door.”

The screen flickered, the words glowing bright white, then turned an eerie shade of red. The room seemed to pulse with an unnatural energy. Kai’s heart raced as he watched the code begin to shift and change, rewriting itself before his eyes.

The door, whatever it was, was about to open.

And there was no telling what would come through.