The wave of fear washed over me again, stronger than before. I was alone in this creepy command center, the low hum of the machinery and the flickering overhead lights were my only company. For a moment, I allowed myself to collapse on the floor, the cool tiles grounding me as I struggled to collect myself. I closed my eyes, trying to stem the flow of a sudden panic attack that threatened to consume.

When I opened my eyes again, they fell on the console where Jacob had been working before. The light from the screen was blinking, a ghostly pale blue in the dimly lit room. He said he'd managed to connect to the Corps. That was my best chance. I had to reach out, to let them know the survivors here were still alive.

Rising to my feet felt like lifting the world itself, but I managed to stagger over to the console, the fear in my gut twisting into determination. I took a deep breath, pressing my palms against the cool metallic surface of the console. I had no idea how this worked, how to send a signal to the Corps. Jacob had operated it so easily, his fingers flying over the keys with a practiced ease that made my own hands look downright clumsy. The screen was covered in buttons labeled with complicated emergency serial codes that made my head spin. The symbols swirled together in a blur, and I looked away, feeling a sense of vertigo, helplessness, and frustration.

Al would know what to do. He'd always been the more tech-savvy of the two of us, taking apart old radios and TVs for fun. He had also been a bit of a geek about all of this, and actually got ahead of me on studying volume after volume of Magical Knight Corps doctrine manuals, operating codes, and training methods. But he wasn't here, and the crushing weight of responsibility lay heavily on my shoulders.

I stared at the blinking console, my heart pounding in my chest. A momentary flush of hot anger came over me. Anger at myself, for relying on Al so much. Anger at the monster for whatever it did to my companions. But the anger was a brief, fleeting spark, quickly extinguished by the flood of ice-cold fear.

If I couldn't figure this out, if I couldn't get the message out to the Corps, then everyone here would be screwed.

But I couldn’t deny it. I didn’t know how to send a distress signal. Frustration welled up within me as the blinking cursor on the screen seemed to mock my lack of knowledge. I was supposed to be in school today to learn exactly what all of this meant on the logistics track.

It wasn’t the vastness of Refuge Zeta that scared me, or the unknown entity. No, it was the isolating, brutal reality of being alone. A wave of bone-deep, heart-clenching fear rushed over me. A fifteen-year-old girl, utterly alone in a bunker under a city overrun by monsters, with the lives of countless people in her hands.

And I was failing them. I had no magical knights, firefighters, or snarky villain apprentice here to protect me. Just a scared, ordinary girl wearing worn-down clothes. The gravity of my situation hit me like a punch in the gut, causing me to double over and almost vomit.

Something caught my eye, a slight glint coming from the ground. My breath hitched in my throat as I reached over and picked it up. The small crystal that Twilight Aster had given me, the one that had been radiating warmth, was now dull and lifeless. A pang of loss pierced through me. Twilight Aster had entrusted it to me and now she had vanished into thin air. I clutched the lifeless crystal in my hand, feeling a sense of desolation wash over me.

I stood up abruptly, shaking my head in an attempt to clear it as I slid the crystal down the right pocket of my jeans. Staying here, stewing in my fear, wasn't going to accomplish anything. I had to figure out what had happened to my friends, to Jacob, to Twilight Aster, to Black Star. And I had to find out why Albert had been here, in this room. What had he been doing here? Why had he left the shelter? And how had he managed to get out? Maybe he and some other survivors had the same idea we did?

With that in mind, I moved away from the console, my gaze raking over the room, trying to find any clue, any indication of what Albert might have been doing here. Or even how he got out in one piece if that entity was lurking here before we entered the room.

My eyes fell on the heavy metal door we had entered from, now ominously silent and imposing. As I approached, the undercurrent of fear rippled through me once again, but I forced it aside.

The door was massive, made of dense, reinforced specialized alloys. It was designed to withstand the pressure of a nuclear blast. It had obviously failed to keep out the horrors of the new world.

I looked around the door, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. The keypad next to it blinked idly, basking the nearby wall in a low, blue glow.

I traced the wall around the door with my fingers, every corner, every edge, every inch. There were scratches on the wall. Faint evidence of a struggle that my companions and I couldn’t have noticed when we first entered. Why wasn’t there any blood?

My eyes landed on a piece of paper beneath a desk against the wall. I reached for it, and quickly realized it was a small piece of a torn and wrinkly map, similar to the one Jacob had printed out earlier. The map showed the layout of the central hub and the maintenance tunnels. There was a line drawn between Shelter 4 and the central hub.

That confirmed it then. I was almost a hundred percent certain Albert had made his way here from Shelter 4, but what exactly happened here? I couldn't find an answer here, but this discovery felt like a piece to the puzzle. Maybe he had made it back to the shelter? Or maybe he was still out there, waiting for help to come. My mind whirled with possibilities. The fear was still there, a relentless drumbeat in the back of my mind, but it was tinged with something else now.

Hope.

I remembered his warning on the post-it note, "DO NOT ENTER. DEATH INSIDE." A shiver ran down my spine. He'd managed to escape, but at what cost?

I looked at the door again, with new resolve. I had to leave this room. I had to find my best friend. We’d be able to figure this out together. Before I Ieft the room, however, I took a brief moment to check my status screen.

Name: Sienna Russo

Occupation: Magical Knight Cadet, High School Student

Status effects: Inspiration

Level: 24

HP: 393 / 393 (??)

MP: 935 / 730 (935)

SP: 128 / 381 (??)

Attributes

Strength: 4

Constitution: 6

Agility: 7

Intelligence: 17

Charisma: 11

Magic: 21

Skills

Luminary Conversion (Rank 2)

Luminary Bolt

Luminary Beam

Luminary Mirage

Luminary Shield

Aura Sight

Transformation

??

Active Quests:

(World Quest) Investigate the origins of the Outbreak

(Main Quest) Save Albert

(Main Quest) Save Twilight Aster

Level-up Options for Sienna Russo

1. Increase attribute points (2 points) - Cost: 2 skill points

2. Increase MP pool and regeneration (20 points) - Cost: 2 skill points

3. Upgrade existing skill: Luminary Conversion (Rank 3) - Cost: 9 skill points

4. Upgrade existing skill: Luminary Bolt (Rank 2) - Cost: 6 skill points

5. Upgrade existing skill: Luminary Beam (Rank 2) - Cost: 6 skill points

6. Upgrade existing skill: Aura Sight (Rank 2) - Cost: 6 skill points

7. Upgrade existing skill: Luminary Mirage (Rank 2) - Cost: 12 skill points

8. Learn new skill: Presence Amplification - Cost: 9 skill points

9. Learn new skill: Luminary Flash - Cost: 12 skill points

10. Emergency aura and luminary energy restoration - Cost: 2 skill points

The information certainly gave me pause. Before Twilight Aster had disappeared, I had nearly depleted my MP entirely. Yet, here it was, somehow fully restored.

At the same time, it hadn't even occurred to me because I was so preoccupied with saving the civilians here and Albert, but the 'Save Twilight Aster' quest hadn't been completed by the World System either. Could it somehow predict what would happen in this bunker?

With a deep breath, I pushed aside the thought of Twilight Aster and focused on the task at hand. I needed to find my friends, and maybe even find a way out of this godforsaken bunker. I didn’t know what happened to Black Star, Jacob, or Twilight Aster, but I wasn’t entirely convinced they were dead. After taking a deep breath, my eyes wandered back to the map piece in my hand.

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Stepping out of the room, I shivered as the cold corridor air hit my skin. It was then that reality struck me. I was completely alone. Each of my footsteps echoed through the hollow corridors, a haunting melody that seemed to ricochet off the walls, serving as a constant reminder of my situation. The arched concrete and metal tunnels stretched in winding curves ominously in front of me, a stark contrast to the well-lit, high-tech command room I just left.

In the relative quiet without my companions, every creak and groan of the underground complex seemed amplified, the eerie silence occasionally broken by the distant hum of machinery and hissing pipes. The farther I walked, the more the chilling feeling of isolation gripped me. The feeling was suffocating, the air itself seemed to grow heavy and oppressive. My skin prickled with goosebumps and my heart hammered in my chest, a cacophony in the quiet.

I had to find Albert. Maybe he was still around somewhere. The prospect of being reunited with him, with someone I knew, was the only thread of hope I was holding onto in this endless labyrinth of fear and uncertainty. Where could he be? He’d left Shelter 4 to come here. Where would he go after his attempt to send out a distress signal failed? Who had been with him?

My mind began to churn with scenarios and questions.

Was he hurt? Did he make it back to the shelter? And, the most terrifying thought of all, was he even still alive? It felt like the shadows in the corridor were closing in around me, as if they were trying to suffocate my hope.

I looked down at the map for clues to his whereabouts. It was incomplete, just a torn, incomplete piece, but the path Albert had drawn from Shelter 4 to the central hub was clearly marked. If I followed it in reverse, maybe I could find him safely back at the shelter or at least some hint of where he'd gone next.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself against the encroaching darkness and the paralyzing fear that threatened to consume me. I looked down the long, foreboding corridor, the path back to Shelter 4. It seemed to stretch on endlessly, a gaping maw of uncertainty.

Yet, I didn’t have a choice. I took the first step, a tremor in my legs, a sinking feeling in my stomach. My heartbeat seemed deafening in the oppressive silence of the corridor, each echoing footstep another punch to my fear-fueled adrenaline. The stark fluorescent lights cast long shadows that danced along the walls to the tune of my imagination, transforming the corridor into a chilling, ghostly nightmare.

I clutched Twilight Aster's lifeless crystal tighter in my hand, the sharp edges digging into my palm. I wasn't a hero, and I didn’t consider myself a Magical Knight right now or anything. I was just Sienna. A fifteen-year-old girl, alone in the dark, hoping against hope that she wasn't the last person alive in this underground complex. But I was Albert's friend, and I was going to find him, dammit.

Suddenly, my foot hit something and I tripped, sprawling on the cold concrete floor. The fall jolted me out of my thoughts, and for a moment, all I could do was lay there, staring up at the stark ceiling above. Then I turned my head, looking at what I had tripped over.

A flashlight. A small beam of light was still flickering from its bulb. A familiar flashlight. Albert’s keychain flashlight. The one he’d used when we’d run away from the school. My heart pounded in my chest, a wild rhythm of fear and relief. He'd been here. The realization was like a lifeline, a glimmer of hope in this terrifying abyss. But where was he now?

Clutching the flashlight in one hand and the map in the other, I pushed myself up and continued down the corridor. Every cell in my body screamed for me to turn back, to run away, to find somewhere to hide. But I couldn't. I had to keep going. I had to find Albert.

But as I ventured deeper into Refuge Zeta, the fear began to creep back in, wrapping its spindly, icy fingers around my heart.

Was that a movement in the darkness, or just my imagination? Was that a whispering wind, or the faint growl of a creature from another world? I could feel my mind spinning, the fear warping every sound, every shadow, every sensation. Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to turn back, to run and hide.

But I couldn't turn back. Not now. It was all up to me now.

I fingered the keychain once more, feeling Albert's familiar presence in my hands. I thought of all the times we'd spent together - laughing together at the silly things that don't matter anymore. And even though I was scared, so scared, I smiled at the few good childhood memories I had and kept moving forward.

Albert was out there somewhere. He had to be, and I wasn't going to give up now. At last, after several minutes that felt like hours of wandering, a faint glimmer of light appeared before me like a beacon in the darkness.

Shelter 4! The letters emblazoned beneath the entrance shone dimly, but still served as a beacon of hope for me.

In a burst of energy, I sprinted down the corridor until I reached a short ladder leading up to a hatch cover. It was cracked open just slightly - enough for me to slip through without much difficulty.

Crawling up through the ladder, I took a deep breath. The air was stale and smelled of mildew, but it was the first breath of fresh(ish) air I'd had in hours. I had walked out into a back area that clearly led to the control center I'd just left, and as I turned around, I caught sight of something that made my heart stutter with fear and relief: a trail of blood.

It smeared across the concrete floor, leading off into the darkness, and without hesitation, I followed it. The trail led me through a winding corridor out to a recreational area. The trail ended here, and I came out into a space that was eerily quiet.

It definitely seemed like there'd been activity here until recently. The room was full - shelves stocked with blankets, canned food, medical supplies, and plenty of water tanks. The lights were on and bright, powered by a massive generator in the corner. A cup of coffee sat on a table, still relatively hot, steam rising lazily from it, indicating that someone had been here recently. The radio crackled faintly in the corner, its dim lights flashing on and off ominously.

"Albert?" I called out, my voice echoing through the empty room.

There was no answer, only the sound of my own breathing and the soft hum of the fluorescents above me.

Still no Albert.

There was a door on the other side of the room that seemed to lead into another part of the underground complex. I knew I had to go through it, that I couldn't stop now, couldn't give up. I took a deep breath and turned the doorknob, the sound of metal on metal echoing through the eerily quiet room.

I stepped into the darkness, wishing against all odds that I'd find something - or someone - on the other side. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the corridor ahead, my heart began to pound in panic again

Shelter 4 should have hosted hundreds of survivors, but where were the people? If monsters broke in, where were the bodies? A cold chill crept up my spine as I looked around the room, trying to ignore the nagging sense of dread that was growing inside me. Something had clearly gone wrong here, and I was beginning to fear the worst.

A cold sweat began to break out across my forehead as my heart rate increased even more. My breaths came in short, panicked gasps as I frantically searched the room for any clue as to what could have happened here. My mind buzzed with a thousand scenarios, each one more terrifying than the last.

I felt a chill run down my spine at the thought that there may not be any survivors left. That I was all alone in this underground shelter except for whatever else was down here with me. I looked around the room as my eyes adjusted to the bright light.

I looked around the room as my eyes adjusted to the bright light. A kitchen area lined the far side of the room, a small cafeteria of sorts, stocked with cans and bottles. Remnants of hurried meals still visible were still visible on a number of tables. A scattered deck of playing cards on a round table, chairs toppled and hastily shoved aside. An open can of beans lay on the ground, its contents spilling out onto the pristine white tiles. A smartphone lay discarded near a trash can, its screen shattered in a spider-web of cracks. Its LED light blinked feebly on and off. It was eerie and haunting.

I picked up the phone, my fingers trembling as I cradled it in my hands. The screen flickered to life for a moment, the battery indicator barely a sliver, but it was enough to see the barrage of notifications. Messages of concern, of fear. It was like looking through a window into the moments right before... before whatever had happened here.

Setting the phone back down, I swallowed hard, a lump forming in my throat. There was a strange, distant look in my eyes as I stared at the silent shelter around me. The eerie calmness of it all was more terrifying than any monster I could face. I felt a shudder run through me, my heart aching with fear and sorrow. It was too quiet, too still.

I walked slowly, my footsteps echoing loudly in the quiet. The noise seemed to startle me, as if I'd expected silence to follow. I frowned, a peculiar feeling washing over me. Time felt slow here, and my movements felt sluggish, delayed. My thoughts were a foggy mess and I found myself struggling to concentrate, yet I continued forward.

Then, I spotted something draped over a chair that made my blood run cold.

It was a red hoodie, the one Albert always wore when it was cold outside, the one he’d worn when we’d last seen each other. My heart pounded in my chest as I ran over to the hoodie, tears welling up in my eyes.

I sat there, clutching his hoodie, thoughts running wild in my mind. What could've happened here? There were no signs of struggle, no indications of monsters breaching the shelter, and yet... the place was desolate. A thick shroud of dread hung over me as I considered the possibilities.

Fingers tightened around the fabric of Albert's hoodie, as though holding it could somehow bring him back.

A faint hum, a mechanical drone coming from the corner of the room, interrupted my thoughts. A small computer console, its screen flickering on and off, sat nestled between two rows of bunk beds. On the screen, the dull glow of a map flickered, showing a layout of the underground shelter. Points of interest were marked: recreational area, sleeping quarters, medical center...

One area, however, stood out. An area marked as "emergency exit."

My heart clenched. Could Albert have escaped through there? I got up, the hoodie clutched tight in my hand, and made my way over to the console. I examined the map, tracing the pathway to the exit with my finger. It led to a long tunnel that would eventually take one up to the surface, to the outskirts of Kaleidoscope City.

He had to have gone that way. He had to have. He would know how dangerous it was to be alone down here.

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest. A mixture of fear and determination coursed through me, a tumultuous torrent that seemed to fuel my next actions. Throwing the hoodie over my head, I walked towards the direction of the emergency exit.

The door opened easily and I stepped into the darkness, wishing against all odds that I'd find something - or someone - on the other side. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light of the corridor ahead, my heart began to pound in panic again.

I suddenly sensed a presence behind me. Someone was there.

In one quick motion, I whirled around - flashlight in hand - only to stare directly into the barrel of a shotgun.

My eyes widened in terror as I stared into the barrel, and I saw the face of the person behind it: Albert.

The light of the flashlight illuminated Albert's expression - a hot rage burning in his eyes. He looked thinner and unkempt — there was a stubble there that I'd never seen before. When did Al start growing facial hair? How did he lose so much weight in a short amount of time?

His trademark red hoodie was filthy and torn, and his face was cut and bruised. We were both still growing, and I wasn't sure how tall he was at this point, but he was definitely at least six feet tall now. But the gun... It was something I had never seen before. It wasn't the standard-issue military shotgun I'd seen before. This one was custom built, and looked particularly deadly. There was something off about this situation, but I was too scared to really think about it.

Albert's hands shook as he gripped the shotgun tightly, and for a moment, neither of us moved, our breaths ragged and terrified. He had clearly been in a fight, but what had happened?

"How dare you use her face again?!" He said, his teeth clenched as his hands trembled around the gun. "Fuck all of you faceless bastards."

Albert searched my face for an answer, his finger twitching against the trigger. I had to do something, and fast.

Before I could make my next move, Albert spoke again: "You're not her. I won't fall for it this time."

My heart stopped and I felt my whole body freeze in panic. Albert had a gun pointed at me, and his face was twisted with desperation, fear, confusion and hurt. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. The only sound that filled the room was the sound of my own pounding heart as it raced against time. The crystal in my pocket hummed again, almost as if it sensed the danger I was in.

Finally, I managed to stammer out an explanation, desperately trying to say something. Anything.

"Al. Please. It's me. Sienna. Please, just put the gun down."

A brief flash of blue crossed his eyes as he raised the gun at my chest and fired.