CHAPTER 3: UNRAVELING TRUTHS
A SHADOW IN THE LAB
Elias' hands shook as he placed the Alpha-7 sample in the examination chamber. The familiar hum of laboratory equipment seemed odd and contaminated now. Each crystal formation symbolized innumerable Vaelari lives, with their essence extracted and condensed into this pure substance.
The display flickered as readings appeared on the screen. Numbers increased beyond historical limits, with the violet signal throbbing with unprecedented intensity. Elias changed the frequency modulator, but the wavelength patterns spread across numerous dimensions.
"This can't be right."
He calibrated the sensors, but the readings became even more irregular. The sample's resonance had increased tenfold since his previous measurement.
A spark erupted from the containment area. The crystal structure inside began to alter, reorganizing itself without any external input. Elias moved away from the chamber as the violet glow intensified, leaving odd shadows on the lab walls.
The monitoring equipment squeaked. Numbers scrolled quicker than he could process, dimensional coordinates merging into one. This was more than just data degradation; reality appeared to bend around the sample.
"By the gods..."
A new frequency showed on the scanner, which he had never seen before. It pulsed in perfect synchrony with Alpha-7, as if they were communicating over an inconceivable barrier. The crystal was not simply reacting to external stimuli; it was actively reaching out, looking for something.
The lab lights lowered, and spectral objects swirled on the border of his vision. In the violet light, a face emerged—gaunt, hollow-eyed, with its mouth locked in a wordless scream. Another emerged beside it, then another, all with the same face of horror and accusation.
Elias recognized them from the archive footage: Vaelari test subjects and their dying moments documented in the project reports. However, these were not simply memories or guilt-induced hallucinations. The faces moved deliberately, their ethereal forms drawn to the throbbing crystal like moths drawn to flame.
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A CALL TO ACTION
The spectral faces of the Vaelari surrounded the Alpha-7 sample, their ethereal shapes a disturbing reminder of past horrors. Elias looked up Seraphine's contact information on his terminal. His finger hovered over the phone button, and doubt gnawed at his conscience. The sample behind him pulsed with the terrible violet light, demanding attention.
He pushed the button. Seraphine's holographic picture appeared, and her visage hardened at the sight of him.
"I need answers. The Alpha-7 formula is doing something unprecedented."
"Drop this line of inquiry, Elias." Seraphine's voice had an edge that he hadn't heard before. "You're treading dangerous ground."
"People have died. There are thousands of Vaelari." His hands tightened into fists. "And now... their essence is reacting to the sample. We cannot disregard this."
Seraphine's image wavered. "Some truths are not intended to be shared."
"The world will crumble beneath their weight."
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The words struck him as a physical blow. Her previous dismissal had been more than just a bureaucratic obstacle; she had been attempting to safeguard him. Alternatively, defend something else.
"What if Alpha-7 could undo the damage?" Elias gestured to the sample. "Its frequency patterns suggest—"
"And risk releasing forces we cannot control?" Seraphine leaned forward. "Think carefully about what you're proposing."
Behind him, the Vaelari apparitions became more apparent. Their mute screams rang in his memory, demanding justice. However, if he revealed everything—the council's lies, the Architect's actual nature, and the mass genocide—civilization could fall.
"The truth always finds its way out," Elias added.
"Truth?" Seraphine's laugh was devoid of humor. "Elias, the truth is what breaks worlds. Are you prepared for that responsibility?"
The conversation stopped, leaving Elias alone with the throbbing crystal and ghosts from the past. He was faced with a difficult decision: whether to continue his work in secret, perhaps finding a method to correct historical wrongs, or expose everything and watch civilization fall apart.
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THE AWAKENING
As Elias manipulated the containment barrier around the Alpha-7 sample, his hands shook and his fingers danced across controls he was accustomed to but now felt dangerously unfamiliar. With a writhing eagerness he had never seen before, the Vaelari spirits strained against the barrier, their ethereal bodies casting violet shadows across his workplace.
The monitoring equipment was ablaze with warnings: resonance patterns were defying his decades of expertise, and dimensional stability was rapidly deteriorating.
"I just need to stabilize the frequency."
He silently cursed the perspiration on his brow as he entered commands into the system with practiced accuracy, boosting power to the confinement grid. His stomach tightened as the crystal structure inside pulsed faster, synchronizing with his heartbeat. Its familiar violet glow now had a sinister undertone.
As their agitation increased, the spirits' forms began to expand and bend in ways that defied accepted physics. Elias fought back growing panic as he double-checked his numbers. There was still a chance to avert disaster if he could counteract the increasing spatial disturbance by matching Alpha-7's distinct frequency. Years of meticulous investigation could not have led to this conclusion.
Indicator lights flashed from yellow to red as he turned on the resonance amplifier. Despite his protective gear, the crystal flared with a dazzling violet light that burned his retinas. Around him, equipment crackled and flared as energy levels surpassed safety thresholds, and he could smell the pungent odor of burned circuitry.
"No, no, this isn't right—"
Even reality appeared to stutter as he spoke, catching the words in his throat.
The sound of cracking glass, magnified a thousandfold, burst the containment field. A blast of pure violet energy lifted Elias off his feet and slammed him against the distant wall. Like tissue paper, the pulse tore through the lab's walls and continued unabatedly into the city.
The concrete underneath him cracked like ice during a spring thaw as the ground heaved and buckled. All around the building, alarms sounded, their desperate cries mingling with the noises of devastation.
Elias watched in terror through the openings in the lab walls as the energy wave grew into a perfect sphere, causing buildings to tremble to their core. Glass rained upon the streets below as windows smashed in timed waves. Entire areas went dark as a result of power grid failures that caused cascading blackouts.
"What have I done?"
With the understanding that this disaster was his signature, his voice was hardly audible above the commotion.
The air itself was warped like heat waves on steroids by the violet light, which became stronger until it was painful to look at. Around the margins of the pulse, reality appeared to bend and fold, forming inconceivable angles that his mind would not accept.
A towering figure of inconceivable geometry walked in the warped environment, watching with calculating curiosity from between dimensions. Elias locked eyes with it for a heartbeat, and clarity washed over him.
Old. Conscious. Awaiting. His mind was burdened with an immense amount of weight.
Then, like smoke in the wind, the figure disappeared, leaving behind nothing but the devastation. But Elias knew with absolute surety that the Architect had seen him and marked him with its cosmic attention.
And this was just the start of whatever great and horrible plan he had inadvertently begun.