This time, the operation was more calculated, more deliberate. They'd already delved into the second level of the ruins, a place forgotten by time and perhaps for good reason. Celine's team had been the first to encounter something… wrong down there. The first level had its own mystery—the statues had vanished, as if they'd never existed. But it was the second level that gnawed at them. The statues there seemed to watch them, the air heavy with a sense of being observed. And the drawings—those nightmarish depictions, humanoid figures with too many eyes, all staring, all seeing—had scratched their way into the minds of those who dared look too long.

Jacob hadn't been able to rest. The atmosphere was too thick, too charged with tension. Something was waiting to happen. Early the next morning, with the strange symbol still weighing on his mind, he sought out his mother. Clara, the commander, was in the makeshift command center, lost in the reports from the first day's expedition, her expression betraying nothing. But Jacob knew her well—she was on edge too.

"Chief Clara," Jacob said, standing before her, the camp buzzing faintly with the hum of equipment around them. "I request permission to speak freely."

Clara looked up, her eyes narrowing slightly. This wasn't normal. Jacob didn't break protocol—ever. And that made her suspicious.

"Go ahead, son," she said, her voice a little softer but no less commanding.

"Mom," Jacob began, his tone shifting to something quieter, almost conspiratorial as he handed her the piece of equipment. "I found this just outside the perimeter."

Clara's face darkened the moment her eyes fell on the object. She turned it over in her hands, the weathered surface catching the dim light. Her gaze lingered on the symbol, the faint etching that was barely visible but unmistakably deliberate. "Does this remind you of anything we use?" Jacob asked, watching her intently.

Clara's lips pressed into a thin line, her fingers tracing the worn emblem. "No," she said, her voice low, clipped. Her eyes remained fixed on the symbol, as though staring longer would reveal its hidden meaning. "Where exactly did you find this?"

Jacob recounted the precise location—just beyond the perimeter, near the crates—and the sense of wrongness that had overcome him the moment he saw the symbol. His words seemed to hang in the air, heavy with implications neither of them were ready to voice.

Clara's grip on the object tightened. Her eyes flickered with something Jacob had rarely seen in her—genuine concern. "That's… concerning," she said, her voice quieter now, almost as if she was speaking to herself. "We had agents stationed near the ruins the entire time we prepared for this operation. There's no way something like this should've slipped through unnoticed."

"Do we report it?" Jacob asked, though something in him already knew the answer. His mother's instincts were sharp, and if she hadn't already sent word, there was a reason.

"No," Clara said firmly. Her gaze hardened as she handed the object back to him. "I'll reach out to Gerald, have him look into this symbol."

Jacob frowned, unsettled. "Why not just report it, Mom? This could be critical—"

"Because," she interrupted, her tone sharp, the tension in her voice unmistakable, "there are two possibilities, and both are far worse than anything we'd be ready to deal with." Her eyes locked with his, her next words carrying a weight that made Jacob's stomach churn. "Either whoever left this behind is good enough to bypass Kadmon's perimeter, or…"

"Someone let them in," Jacob finished, the chill of realization creeping down his spine. His pulse quickened. The idea that someone inside their ranks might be compromised—that there could be a traitor—was a far more dangerous possibility.

The unspoken threat lingered between them. Jacob didn't need to ask what the consequences could be if either of those possibilities were true. The implications were staggering, and the stakes had just risen exponentially. If there was an enemy among them, this operation could unravel in ways none of them were prepared for.

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"For now," Clara said, her voice a steel edge, "we keep this between us. The second we announce this, it becomes a different kind of mission. And we don't want to tip our hand too early."

Jacob nodded, though the unease gnawed at him. His eyes drifted back to the strange symbol, burned into his mind now like a brand. Whatever this meant, whatever forces had left this behind—it was more than just a coincidence. And his mother's calm demeanor only hid the growing sense of dread they both shared.

"Be careful, son," Clara added, her voice softening again as she returned to her command persona. "And trust no one."

Jacob left the command center, the symbol's mystery and the weight of his mother's words pressing on him. The camp around him seemed the same as before, but something had shifted. Every face, every movement, every conversation now held a layer of suspicion, a hidden threat.

Jacob felt an instinctive distrust towards most people at the camp. He only trusted Lynn, Tessa, Kira, and of course, Celine and Clara. Everyone else seemed suspicious. Until they could confirm that a Kadmon member wasn't responsible for the recent events, he couldn't relax.

Everyone was busy preparing for the next incursion into the ruins. Yesterday, they had discovered a way to descend to the third floor. Many agents were on edge, knowing they were scheduled to go down today. If the second floor had those bizarre creatures, they couldn't fathom what awaited them on the third floor. Jacob, Lynn, and Tessa were ordered to stand by until needed. Celine was again in charge of today's incursion. As soon as everyone was ready, they began their descent.

The third floor was drastically different. It was completely overgrown with nature, with various types of vines snaking around every corner. An oppressive silence hung in the air, broken only by the occasional drip of water or the rustle of unseen creatures in the undergrowth. The air was thick and humid, making it difficult to breathe. A sense of dread permeated the atmosphere, and every shadow seemed to harbor a lurking threat.

Clara was once again with Kira in the command center, monitoring everything.

"Celine, report," Clara said, her voice steady despite the unsettling images flickering across the command center's monitors.

"This place is... unsettling," Celine replied, her voice echoing through the comms. "Everything seems to have been reclaimed by nature, except for those terrifying drawings on the walls."

The humanoid figures with their multitude of eyes seemed to follow the team's every move, their gaze growing more oppressive with each step deeper into the ruins.

"How are you holding up?" Clara asked, her concern evident.

"The atmosphere is getting heavier," Celine admitted, her voice strained. "It's like the air itself is pressing down on us."

Kira, her eyes glued to the monitors, noticed a disturbing pattern. The more they explored the third floor, the stranger and more unsettling it became. The drawings seemed to multiply, their eyes burning with an eerie intensity.

Suddenly, the team's progress was halted by a massive ancient door, its surface covered in intricate carvings. Unlike the rest of the floor, it remained untouched by nature, as if resisting the encroaching vines.

"We've found a door," Celine reported, her voice tight. "We've tried everything, but we can't budge it."

Despite their combined strength and Anima-enhanced abilities, the door remained stubbornly sealed.

"Request permission to blow it open," Celine said, desperation creeping into her tone.

"Denied," Clara's voice was firm. "The ruins are ancient. Blowing up the door could trigger a chain reaction and collapse the entire structure."

"Understood," Celine replied, her disappointment palpable. "We'll continue searching for clues on how to open it."

The team resumed their exploration, the weight of the unopened door and the watchful eyes of the drawings bearing down on them. The tension was thick, the silence punctuated only by the distant echoes of their footsteps and the unsettling feeling that they were being watched.

As the hours wore on, the unsettling atmosphere of the third floor intensified. The shadows seemed to lengthen, and the eyes in the drawings appeared to follow the team with a malevolent intent. The air grew heavy, almost suffocating, and an eerie silence descended upon the ruins.

Despite their relentless search, the team found no clues to open the ancient door. Frustration and fear gnawed at them, their nerves frayed by the oppressive environment and the lack of progress.

Back at the command center, Clara and Kira watched the team's struggles with growing concern. The unsettling energy emanating from the third floor was palpable even through the monitors.

As night fell, a pall of exhaustion and disappointment settled over the team. The decision to return to base was met with a collective sigh of frustration.

"I can't believe we're stalled by that damn door," Jacob grumbled, kicking at a loose stone.

"And we haven't found a single clue about what happened to Alphonse," Tessa added, her voice heavy with worry.

"We worked so hard to get on this assignment, and we've barely made any progress," Lynn lamented.

A spark of defiance ignited in Jacob's eyes. "What if we go back in tonight, on our own?"