There was only a problem. The door was locked.

  Luca crouched in front of it, and began working, putting his multi-tool and experience on the task. The rest spread around him, trying to kept the thing at bay.

  “Just die!”

  His fingers moved with practiced precision but betrayed him with tiny tremors as another wave of headache crashed over him—it felt like being struck by a hammer. He sucked in a breath through gritted teeth and forced himself to focus on the alien lock mechanism before him. It looked like a strange alien-human mix, with sharp small pieces and circular smoothed ones.

  If it were no such an occasion like this one, Luca would have loved to pick it up piece by piece. Perhaps use it for his own door.

  “Die!” Ladon’s cries echoed down the corridor, sending painful waves through his skull.

  Despite everything, Nagato cracked a joke with hoarse voice, “it ran out of ideas.”

  “How could we make it go away?” Liona whispered, her words barely audible over the cacophony

  Ladon’s cries continued.

  “Hurry,” Nadeene urged, through clenched teeth. “Or this thing will be the last of us worries.”

  Luca graciously forgave her —he was making everything he could and more to get the fuck out there. His mind raced faster than his trembling fingers could work, sweat trickling down his temple despite the cold biting at his skin. Then, finally—finally—a soft ping rang out, clear and triumphant amidst the chaos.

  “It’s done,” Luca said, straightening up so quickly his knees protested. “We need to go. Now.”

  They bolted for the door without any other word. The heavy metal slab slammed shut behind them with a resounding clang, momentarily drowning out Ladon’s enraged howls. For half a second, they all froze, chests heaving, ears ringing. Surprised faces.

  “Six minutes left!” Nadeene shouted, breaking the brief reprieve.

  Bolting again, they rushed through the tunnel, green glowing lines lighting their path.

  A long wailing sound bounced off the walls. It wasn’t Ladon’s —that thing. But another one they had left on the mines —the same place they were right now. And it wasn’t alone, as the noise of murmurs followed after it.

  “We can't stop.” They couldn’t take a swim on the mud pool, even if they knew how to float, and had tested the technique before. It wouldn’t work on the humans. Probably. And there was no time to hide and stay quietly until they left anyway.

  The green marks in the walls flickering like a sickly heartbeat, and the smell —Luca had not missed it— enveloped them from all directions. They were running like chickens without heads. And they would got caught if they kept like that.

  And then, abruptly, they skidded to a halt.

  “Fuck!”

  The man who Luca had seen being ‘offered’ was now nothing but a rotting carcass on the floor. A woman lay atop the crude stone altar, her vacant eyes staring accusingly at the ceiling. Nagato’s flashlight beam swept over thin red wires snaking across the floor, connecting to a thick scarlet vein embedded deep within the rock face. It pulsed rhythmically, feeding… something.

  How many of them were they sacrificing to keep all those hallways, the rooms, the machinery running?

  “This way!” Luca hissed, gesturing down a narrower tunnel. The others followed without question, their breaths ragged. “We can get out there!” If he could recall the right path from hours before.

  They hadn’t gone far when a low, guttural growl reverberated through the tunnels. Luca’s eyes widened, his heart almost jumping out of his throat as massive shape moved through the shadows. Writhing tendrils spread towards them, glistening with a green liquid that hissed as it hit the ground.

  “Move!” Nadeene shouted, shoving Luca and then Liona forward. “Move, move, move—”

  They broke into a sprint, the alien’s screech echoing behind them. The creature lunged, its tendrils lashing out, spraying acid that sizzled against the walls. Luca ducked, feeling the heat of a near-miss as a droplet splattered too close for comfort. The tunnel twisted sharply, and they rounded the corner just as the sound of it hitting the wall resonated behind them.

  “Keep going!” Luca yelled, his voice barely audible over the cacophony of deep wails and hissing acid.

  Luca’s lungs burned, his legs aching, but he didn’t dare slow down. The others were close.

  A group of figures emerged from the last part of the path. Humans. Or something like that. Their clothes were tattered, their eyes wild and unfocused. Blood and dirt clung to them like parasites. And they didn’t speak –not with understandable words.

  Their murmur slithering on his mind, like another form of tendrils, oozing acid inside.

  It hurt.

  It ached on his bones.

  Luca didn’t think. They had no other way, time was running out, and their only ace had already been used. There was no time. He didn’t stop. Stretching out both arms, he shoved the man at the front with everything he had. The figure stumbled backward, crashing into the others like dominoes, and Luca darted past, his heart hammering so hard it felt like it might burst free from his chest.

  The others followed suit, shoving the decrepit obstacles aside as though they were nothing more than oversized puppets. They couldn’t afford otherwise.

  “Don’t stop!” Luca shouted, his voice hoarse, the muscles in his legs screaming for relief even as adrenaline pushed him forward.

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  The exit! It was too close!

  Relief surged through him for a fleeting moment before reality slammed back in: they would have to crawl to get out.

  “It’s too risky!” Nadeene shouted as she noticed it. “They will catch us!”

  “Who goes first?”

  “We cannot lose time figthing—”began Liona.

  Luca had no time for that. “Go on!” He shoved them toward the low opening, no listening to their words. They had no time for that. “I’ll go last! Come on!”

  As they wriggled under the jagged stone lip, Luca went next, and did his best to move quickly. But they were closing in, crawling behind them. Their murmurs grew louder, more insistent as if they could stretch its projection.

  He wanted nothing more than to leave that fucked place. Sadly, he couldn’t hurry more. His legs were already threatening with leaving him to his luck. Only the survival instinct gathered by hundreds of generations allowed him to continue.

  A hand suddenly clamped around his ankle, nails digging deep enough to draw blood. Luca hissed, kicking wildly, panic surging through him like electricity. Shawn’s face flashed in his mind—his brother, his little brother.

  Nagato, closest to him, turned back and stretched out a hand, gripping Luca’s arm with bruising force. “Pull!” he roared, voice cracking with effort. “Pull!”

  Luca tried to kick the madman off. He wouldn’t die there. He wouldn’t. Shawn needed his older brother to return. He couldn’t fail him again. Couldn’t fail this Shawn. No here. If he died here, what was the point? What was the fucking point? It would be better to have remained dead, his body left to rot and to be eaten by the wild animals.

  With one final surge of strength, Luca kicked violently, feeling the grip loosen just enough for him to wrench free. Then he was out, gasping for air as cool wind ruffled his hair. Freedom—or something close to it—greeted him.

  “Can you stand?” Nagato hauled him upright without waiting for an answer. “We need to get the fuck out there.”

  “One-minute left,” Nadeene whispered, her voice trembling with barely contained dread.

  “To the river,” Luca said, forcing the words out before doubt could paralyze him. “Let’s go!” Ignoring the fiery protest in his legs, they bolted away from the mountain, putting as much distance between themselves and the mines as possible.

  Soon the dirty stream appeared in front of them. Nadeene made a sound of incredulity.

  “You got to be kidding me.”

  Liona’s face fell down. “Oh no—”

  But she wasn’t talking about the death trap that looked like a river —or was it the other way round?— but beyond that.

  “Help!” Ladon’s voice came from the other side, among the trees. “Please—!”

  “Get in!” Without hesitation, Luca threw himself into the water, cold enveloping him instantly like a blanked of piercing needles. The current seized him immediately, dragging him downstream with merciless force.

  “Didn’t you say you don’t know how to float?!” Nagato screamed from the bank, panic sharpening his tone.

  Luca didn’t have the breath—or the focus—to respond. Water rushed into his mouth, nose, eyes, pulling at him from all sides. He flailed desperately, shaking his head clear long enough to catch glimpses of the blurry world above. Kicking hard, he fought against the pull, trying to keep his head above water just enough to breathe. The good news? They were moving faster than they ever could on land. The bad news? He wasn’t sure he’d make it out alive.

  What a fucking joke.

  He lifted his chin stubbornly, coughing and sputtering as he struggled to stay afloat. Through the haze of exhaustion and terror, numbers flickered in the corner of his vision.

  Eight seconds left.

  “Come on!” Nadeene’s voice reached him faintly, distorted by the roaring water. Suddenly, her hand grasped his arm, yanking him closer. “We’re close!”

  Luca’s eyes opened without his permission. The messy lines of threes seemed to have an end —they were closer, and closer!

  Closer—

  Closer—

  Closer—

  A scream pierced his ears. It was the last thing he heard before everything went black.

  “It cannot be,” the man spat, shaking his head with fervent denial. “It’s impossible for this to happen! I won’t hear another word about it!”

  “The security mechanism failed,” Michael repeated, his tone deliberate and slow, each word landing like a hammer strike. “It failed again.”

  “Technically, last time there were only rumors,” piped up a woman lounging back in her chair, her posture casual but her eyes sharp beneath half-lidded eyelids.

  “Yes, yes, rumors—nothing more than that!” The blond man seized on the lifeline she’d thrown him, clutching at it like a drowning sailor grasping driftwood. He spun toward the others, his face flushed, eyes blazing with defiance. “I don’t want any of you repeating a single word of this to anyone outside this room. There is nothing wrong—”

  “Oh, but there is,” interrupted a new voice, smooth as silk and twice as cutting. A figure stepped into the room, exuding an air of calculated menace. “And it won’t vanish just because you bury your head in the sand, Krito.”

  “Tiberius,” Krito snapped, his jaw tightening until the muscles stood out like cords. “What are you doing here? You have no authority here.”

  “The esteemed Delta supervisor doesn’t know?” Tiberius smiled—a predator baring its teeth—and leaned forward slightly, red lips parting to reveal unnervingly sharp teeth. “When it comes to system failures, the security team automatically has jurisdiction to intervene. And yes, this is an intervention.” His gaze swept over the room before settling on Michael. “Gentlemen—could you do me the honors?”

  From seemingly nowhere, men dressed in sleek, dark-blue suits materialized, moving with precision and purpose. They fanned out silently, their presence suffocating yet eerily calm.

  “You cannot do this!” Krito sputtered, backing away instinctively, though his bravado wavered under Tiberius’ icy stare.

  “Please, accompany me,” Tiberius said smoothly, turning his attention to Michael. His expression softened ever so slightly, though his voice remained firm. “I’m sorry for your loss, but I need to ask some questions.”

  Before Michael could respond, the door burst open, and a woman stumbled in, breathless. She froze mid-step when she took in the scene: Tiberius standing center stage, flanked by his silent entourage; Krito looking pale and cornered; the rest of the group tense and uneasy.

  “… Did I come at a bad time?” she asked hesitantly, glancing between them.

  “What happened?” Michael demanded, stepping forward. His voice cut through the tension like a blade.

  She straightened, regaining her composure, and offered a small, tight smile. “The four from the Mines got out.”

  “I told you all!” Krito exploded, jabbing a finger in the air triumphantly. “There’s nothing as a failure—this proves it! Everything is fine!”

  “They managed to find a hidden exit,” the woman continued, speaking over him as if he weren’t there. Her smile faded, replaced by something colder, harder. “Oh, everyone knows the security mechanism didn’t work. We’ve lost one of the two teams from Delta, and one from Gamma. Beta’s two teams…” She paused, her voice dropping lower, heavier. “…are in a very complicated situation right now.”

  “For this reason, it is imperative to obtain all available information,” Tiberius said. “Seeing that you are quite knowledgeable on the subject, I will ask you to join me as well. After you, ladies, gentlemen—“he turned to the woman on the chair. “—and Lamia.”

  “Always so gentleman,” she dragged the words, looking at her nails.

  There was nothing do but to follow him.