Chapter 67: Shadows from the Core

The ground shuddered beneath their feet as a blinding pulse of energy burst from Eden’s core. Metallic walls screamed, groaned, then began to collapse inward as if the Vault were being consumed from within.

“Go, go, GO!” Asher bellowed, gripping Evryn’s arm.

Alarms howled. Overhead lights flickered like dying stars. Steel corridors twisted and bent under the strain of the blast. Fires erupted in every direction, illuminating the chaos with orange tongues.

Evryn pushed forward, heart pounding, dragging Ivy behind her. Her mother’s hand was slick with blood—whether from her or someone else, she didn’t know. What she did know was simple: the Vault was dying, and if they didn’t leave now, they would die with it.

But even as the world around them collapsed, Evryn felt it—a presence. Cold. Familiar.

Seraphina wasn’t dead.

She was waiting.

They reached the emergency shaft as Jaxon punched codes into the panel, fingers trembling. Kira fired three shots down the corridor to cover them, but her expression tightened.

“They’re closing in. Clones on our six. We’ve got maybe ninety seconds.”

“Just a little more—” Jaxon cursed as the door sparked, then hissed open.

A shaft dropped downward into pitch-black. No ladder. No ropes.

“That’s the old magline drop,” Ivy gasped. “It’s a thousand feet straight down—”

“Yeah,” Asher said, adjusting a device on his wrist. “And it’s our only shot.”

He tossed a handful of repulsor cuffs at them. “Slap them on. Jump. Hope.”

“Hope?” Ivy blinked.

But there wasn’t time to argue. The clones rounded the bend.

Evryn grabbed Ivy’s hand and leapt.

As they descended through the shaft, time warped.

Evryn saw flashes—visions? Memories? Or warnings?

Seraphina’s eyes. Her voice. Asher’s face, twisted in guilt. A boy in a dark room whispering secrets. A needle. A name burned into a wall:

Project E.V.E.

When they landed, she staggered, tearing off the cuff. The others followed in rough thuds.

“This way,” Jaxon called, motioning toward an old service tunnel. But Evryn hesitated, staring at Asher.

“You knew.”

He froze. “What?”

“You’ve known about me. About her. For longer than you’ve admitted.”

Asher looked away, jaw clenched. “Now’s not the time.”

Evryn grabbed his arm. “Now is exactly the time.”

Kira stepped between them, weapon raised. “Evryn, he’s not the enemy.”

Evryn’s eyes flashed. “Then why did he disable the fail-safe in the Vault?”

Everyone froze.

“What?” Ivy said slowly.

“He was the last one near the core,” Evryn continued. “The one who insisted on taking us through the Syndicate’s access tunnel. And he had access to Seraphina’s encrypted neural map. He let her in.”

Asher said nothing.

Jaxon backed away. “Tell me it’s not true.”

Asher looked up at Evryn, eyes hollow. “I didn’t betray you.”

“But you lied,” she said coldly.

“I was part of the Syndicate once,” Asher confessed, raising his hands slowly. “Before I met any of you. Before I knew what they were doing to people like you, Evryn. I was a tech engineer in Neural Design. My code is what helped stabilize her—the early Seraphina prototype.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Ivy snapped.

“Because if you knew… you never would’ve trusted me.”

Evryn stared at him, breath caught in her throat.

“And you’re right.”

Footsteps echoed from the tunnel behind them—clones, fast and relentless.

“Keep moving,” Kira snapped, pushing Asher forward.

“No,” Evryn said, her voice calm and terrifyingly quiet. “He doesn’t come with us.”

“I’ll stay,” Asher said. “I’ll hold them off.”

“You think that makes it right?” Ivy demanded. “You put her in there with that thing—”

“I saved her,” Asher said. “More than once. I could’ve handed her over a hundred times. But I didn’t. I chose you.”

Evryn turned her back. “Then prove it.”

Asher looked to Kira—then tossed her his gun. “Go.”

Kira hesitated, then nodded.

Asher turned, facing the horde alone.

The group made it to a hidden chamber—one Evryn remembered only faintly. She stopped cold when she saw it.

A nursery.

Cribs lined the walls. Each with a nameplate:

EVE-01

EVE-02

EVE-03...

Evryn’s breath caught.

Ivy walked to one plate, brushing the dust off.

“I thought they terminated the others,” she whispered. “They told me… she was the only one.”

Jaxon examined the terminal, eyes wide. “No. They weren’t terminated. They were transferred.”

“Where?” Evryn asked.

The screen flickered to life.

A single word displayed:

EXODUS.

Evryn’s heart raced. “She’s building an army.”

“No,” Ivy said. “She already has one.”

Gunfire erupted above.

Then silence.

They waited.

Then footsteps echoed down the tunnel—and a figure emerged from the shadows.

Asher.

Bleeding. Staggering.

Alive.

“I bought us time,” he rasped.

Evryn stared at him, emotion battling reason.

“Why did you come back?”

Asher smiled weakly. “Because I meant it. I chose you.”

And then—

A click.

A soft beep.

Evryn looked down.

A blinking red dot on his wrist.

A tracker.

Her blood turned to ice. “You led them here.”

Asher's eyes widened in horror. “No—I didn’t know. It activated when I synced to Seraphina’s neural wave—I thought I’d disabled it—”

But it was too late.

The walls shook.

And from the darkness…

Seraphina stepped through.

Alive. Whole. Smiling.

“Let’s end this.”