Chapter 98: The Throne Room

 

The Swiss Alps. Genesis Sanitarium. Sector Zero: The Core. Depth: 800 Meters.

They rappelled down the shaft into silence. The air here was different. It didn't smell like a hospital or a laboratory. It smelled like Ozone and Ancient Dust. The temperature dropped. Their breath came out in white puffs.

They landed on a platform made of polished black obsidian. Before them stood a massive set of double doors. Not metal. Not wood. Bone. Giant, fossilized ribs of some leviathan creature, curved to form an archway.

"This isn't Nazi tech," Harper whispered, touching the bone. "This isn't Templar either." "This is... older."

Sebastian checked his weapon. One magazine left. "Stay close," he said. "Whatever happens, don't touch the purple crystals."

He pushed the doors open. CREAAAAK.

---

[The Cathedral]

The room beyond was vast. A cathedral carved out of the living rock of the mountain. But instead of stained glass, the walls were lined with Amethyst Clusters the size of cars. They pulsed with a rhythmic, violet light. Thump... Thump... The heartbeat was deafening here. It wasn't a sound anymore. It was a physical pressure wave that rattled their bones.

In the center of the room, surrounded by a moat of dark, bubbling liquid, stood a Throne. It was made of twisted gold and wires, hooked up to a massive machine that extended into the ceiling like a pipe organ.

And sitting on the throne was The Chairman.

Sebastian raised his gun. "It's over!"

The figure on the throne didn't move. He was wearing a simple white suit. No armor. No guards. He slowly turned his head.

Sebastian froze. The Chairman wasn't the withered old man he had seen on the screens. He was Young. Maybe twenty-five. Handsome. Smooth skin. But his eyes... his eyes were Solid Purple. No iris. No pupil. Just glowing violet voids.

"Welcome, Mr. Sterling," The Chairman smiled. His voice didn't come from his mouth. It resonated directly in their heads. Telepathy.

---

[The Burden]

"You..." Sebastian lowered his gun slightly, confused. "You are not the Chairman."

"I am Chairman Number 14," the young man said, standing up. He took a step off the throne. As he moved, Sebastian saw the truth. The Chairman’s back was connected to the throne by thick, fleshy cables. They were fused into his spine. And his skin... where the suit didn't cover... was burning. Not with fire. But with radiation. His veins were black, necrotizing. He was rotting alive.

"My predecessor lasted ten years," The young man coughed, spitting up purple blood. "I only lasted five. The energy... it consumes us faster now."

"What are you talking about?" Harper stepped forward. "Consumes you?"

The Chairman gestured to the floor. The floor was transparent. Thick, reinforced glass. Beneath their feet, deep in the abyss, something was moving. Subject Lazarus.

It wasn't a monster. It was a Titan. A massive, biological entity, curled up in a fetal position. It glowed with the same violet light as the crystals. It was beautiful. And terrifying.

"It fell to Earth a thousand years ago," The Chairman whispered. "The Meteorite in Avignon... that was just its Key. This... this is the Lock." "If it wakes up, it will sing. And its song will rewrite the DNA of every living thing on this planet." "We don't want to rule the world, Sebastian. We are Suppaling it." "The Syndicate exists to fund this facility. To buy the liquid nitrogen. To pay the scientists. To keep the lullaby playing."

---

[The Replacement]

The Chairman walked toward Sebastian. The cables dragged behind him like a tail. "Why did you think we hunted you?" The Chairman asked. "To kill you? No."

He stopped inches from Sebastian. "We hunted you because you are a Sterling." "Arthur Sterling didn't just find the virus. He found the Frequency." "Your bloodline... it has a natural resistance. You can withstand the Song longer than anyone else."

The Chairman reached out a trembling, blackened hand. "I am dying, Sebastian. My cells are failing. If I die, the connection breaks. Lazarus wakes up." "And humanity ends."

He pointed to the Throne. "Take my place." "Sit on the chair. Plug in. Become the new Warden." "You will be immortal. You will be powerful. You will save the world." "But you will never leave this room again."

---

[The Dilemma]

Sebastian looked at the Throne. It was a torture device. A golden cage. To save Harper... to save the world... he had to become the very thing he hated. He had to become the Chairman.

"No," Harper grabbed Sebastian’s arm. "Don't listen to him! It's a lie!"

"It is the truth," The Chairman’s voice boomed in their heads. "Look at the screens!"

Monitors on the wall flickered to life. They showed simulations. [ SIMULATION 409: CONTAINMENT BREACH. ] [ OUTCOME: GLOBAL EXTINCTION EVENT. 99% FATALITY. ]

"You have a hero complex, Mr. Sterling," The Chairman smiled sadly. "This is the ultimate sacrifice." "Give up your life so they can live."

Sebastian looked at the monitors. Then at the Titan beneath the glass. Then at Harper.

"You're right," Sebastian said softly. "I do have a hero complex."

He walked toward the Chairman. He holstered his gun. He stood in front of the dying young man.

"But I am also..." Sebastian’s hand moved. Fast as lightning. He didn't reach for the Throne. He reached for the Cables connected to the Chairman's spine.

"...a very bad employee."

---

[The Breaker]

Sebastian grabbed the cables with both hands. "Harper! The glass!" Sebastian yelled.

"What?" Harper screamed.

"Shoot the glass!"

Sebastian pulled. With a roar of effort, he ripped the cables out of the Chairman’s spine. SQUELCH. Purple fluid sprayed everywhere. The Chairman screamed—a sound of pure agony and release. "You fool! You've killed us all!"

The Chairman collapsed, dead before he hit the ground. The Throne went dark. The hum stopped.

Then... Silence.

For one second, there was peace. Then, the ground shook. Beneath the glass, the Titan’s eye opened. It was the size of a stadium. And it was looking right at them.

SCREEEEEEEEEECH! A psychic scream hit them like a freight train. The glass floor began to crack.

"Harper! Shoot it!" Sebastian yelled, grabbing the dead Chairman’s body to use as a shield against the radiation.

Harper raised her sniper rifle. She aimed not at the monster. But at the Cooling Pipes running along the ceiling of the abyss below.

"I hope you know what you're doing!" Harper pulled the trigger. BANG.

The bullet hit the main valve. Liquid Nitrogen, thousands of gallons of it, poured down into the abyss. Directly onto the waking Titan.

---

[The Freeze]

The creature roared as the freezing liquid hit its exposed flesh. It tried to rise. But the cold was absolute. Flash Freeze. The Titan slowed down. Its eye began to frost over. The violet light dimmed. It fell back into its slumber, encased in a new tomb of ice.

The shaking stopped. The facility groaned, but held.

Sebastian dropped the Chairman’s body. He stood over the abyss, breathing hard. "We didn't kill it," Sebastian said grimly. "We just hit the snooze button."

"How long?" Harper asked, staring at the frozen god below.

"Maybe a year. Maybe ten." Sebastian turned to her. "But now, we hold the remote."

He walked to the main console of the Throne. He smashed the controls with his gun butt. CRASH. "No more Chairmen. No more sacrifice." "From now on, we guard it our way."

(End of Chapter 98)