Chapter 90: The Source

The metallic data device remained suspended above the laboratory table, projecting fragmented records from the destroyed research facility into the room. A suffocating silence stretched between them as the blue light cast long shadows against the reinforced steel walls.

Ancient tectonic faults, atmospheric energy concentrations, elemental roots, Zerg biological networks, and unknown crystalline structures floated side by side in midair. Every piece of data seemed unrelated on the surface.

Yet the more Raviah studied the glowing figures, the more a terrifying pattern began to take shape before her eyes. She turned her head slowly toward the general, her expression unreadable.

"Take me to Sector Seven."

Rhyder shifted his weight, his sharp jaw tightening as he looked down at her with a look of stern concern. "Why?"

"The underground Core," she replied, keeping her voice steady despite the apprehension gnawing at her insides.

His expression hardened instantly, the mood in the room turning tense.

The Core discovered beneath Sol Haven had already changed everything they understood about the apocalypse. It had produced an intense energy unlike any known Beast or human Core, transmitting encrypted images directly through the subterranean Zerg network.

Whatever intelligence existed deep beneath the mountains had actively responded to Raviah’s presence.

Elias slowly nodded, his dark eyes reflecting the cool holographic glow of the monitor. "The facility’s records mentioned similar anomalies."

Raviah’s eyes narrowed into sharp, inquisitive slits. "Where?"

"Deep geological regions," Elias explained, adjusting the holographic output controls with practiced ease. "Places where atmospheric energy behaved abnormally even before the Awakening Wave hit."

He enlarged the central projection with a swift flick of his wrist.

A vast topographical map of the continent expanded across the laboratory table. Several distinct locations pulsed with unsteady, deep crimson markers across the terrain.

Raviah stared at the geographical spread, her eyes tracking each glowing point. Then her breath caught in her throat as the realization dawned on her.

"They form a pattern," she whispered, her fingers hovering just over the display screen.

Every major anomaly directly corresponded with a deep tectonic fault, an ancient underground structure, or an unusually concentrated elemental energy field.

One of the largest pulsating markers sat directly beneath Sol Haven itself.

Sector Seven.

"The strange plant," Raviah whispered, her voice barely audible above the low hum of the cooling fans.

Rhyder looked down at her, his dark brows pulling together into a frown.

"The one we found before the Awakening?"

"Yes," she said, turning to meet his sharp gaze.

The plant had been unlike any ordinary mutated vegetation they had encountered in the wasteland. Its deep roots had reacted to atmospheric energy long before the world officially entered the evolutionary phase. Its complex biological structure had been abnormal even back then.

Raviah brought up her old laboratory records on a secondary display with a swipe of her hand.

The plant, the subterranean movement, the atmospheric energy surge, the Zerg Core, the human Core, the unknown secondary Core, and the awakening wave all lined up in order.

She placed each historical event onto the same visual timeline. Her blood ran cold as the horrifying truth struck her.

"They aren’t separate phenomena."

Elias stepped closer to the edge of the glass table, leaning over the console.

"You think they’re connected?"

"I think they’re consequences," she corrected, her gaze fixed on the timeline.

Raviah pointed her index finger directly toward the center of the illuminated continent map.

"The atmospheric energy isn’t appearing randomly across the surface. Something is actively feeding it into the environment from below."

Rhyder’s expression darkened, his posture growing rigid and protective.

"And the source is underground."

"Possibly," Raviah murmured, refusing to declare it an absolute certainty just yet.

But every piece of evidence was pointing in the same direction.

The first strange plant, the subterranean movement, the Zerg nest, the crystalline cores, the mutations, the elemental awakening, and even the sudden acceleration of biological evolution were linked.

Perhaps the apocalypse wasn’t an external disaster meant to eradicate life at all. Perhaps the entire world was undergoing a planetary activation.

Elias looked visibly unsettled, his skin pale under the harsh fluorescence of the lab lights.

"Our researchers called it the Primordial Source."

Raviah turned toward him sharply, her brows arching in surprise.

"Primordial Source?"

"They believed all elemental energy originated from a single ancient reservoir somewhere deep beneath the planet’s crust," Elias explained.

He brought up another file from the recovered device, though most of its contents were badly corrupted by static.

Only a few isolated lines of text remained legible across the flickering screen.

[PRIMORDIAL ENERGY SOURCE]

[ORIGIN UNKNOWN]

[AGE: PRE-HUMAN]

[ENERGY OUTPUT: UNMEASURABLE]

[BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE: EXTREME]

Rhyder stared intently at the final line of glowing text. "What does biological response mean?"

Elias answered, his voice hollow in the room. "It means everything exposed to it changes."

A stifling silence filled the vast laboratory as the weight of his words settled on them.

Raviah looked past the main terminal toward the sealed blast door that led deeper underground. "If that’s true, then the Zerg aren’t invading this world."

"They’re evolving because of it," Elias said, his hands resting flat against the metal console.

"And the zombies," she added softly, her mind racing through the endless implications.

"Another response," Elias replied with a grim nod.

"The beasts," Rhyder muttered, his fist clenching by his side.

"Another," Elias confirmed.

"The Elementals," Raviah said, her voice dropping to a low murmur.

Elias nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on her. "And perhaps you."

Raviah’s fingers curled into tight fists against her sides as a cold chill ran down her spine. She didn’t like that answer at all.

It wasn’t because the thought frightened her. It was because it explained entirely too much about her strange power. She turned toward the heavy blast doors leading down to Sector Seven.

"I need to see the Core again."

Rhyder immediately followed her step for step, his hand instinctively hovering near his holster.

The massive steel elevator descended through thick layers of reinforced concrete and ancient subterranean rock. The deeper they plunged into the Earth, the stranger the surrounding atmosphere became.

The digital displays on their hand-held instruments began fluctuating wildly with chaotic static. Energy readings rose steadily with every meter the platform dropped. Then the elevator ground to a sudden, jarring halt. The mechanical doors slid open with a sharp metallic hiss.

Sector Seven was dead silent, bathed in a deep, unnatural stillness. The enormous subterranean chamber remained exactly as they had left it days prior. Except for one startling, impossible detail.

The underground Core was glowing. It was no longer pulsing with its usual eerie purple or dark crimson light. It was pure white. A brilliant, almost colorless radiance pulsed steadily from beneath the ancient bedrock.

Raviah stepped forward out of the elevator frame, her boots ringing against the stone floor. Her own internal core responded instantly to the radiant light, vibrating violently within her chest.

A sudden, excruciating pain exploded through her chest, making her vision blur. She staggered sideways, her breath escaping in a sharp gasp as her balance failed her.

"Raviah!"

Rhyder caught her before her knees could strike the ground, his strong arms wrapping firmly around her waist. His warmth anchored her, but then something far more terrifying happened within her body.

The spatial dimension inside her mind opened on its own. She felt the dimensional rift tear wide open without her consent.

Every stored weapon, every crate of medicine, every agricultural seed, and every unit of food trembled in the void. Every resource she had painstakingly accumulated since awakening her memories shook uncontrollably.

Then the entire internal spatial dimension violently shuddered, sending shockwaves through her soul. A series of translucent systemic alerts flashed across her vision in rapid succession.

[WARNING: SPATIAL DIMENSION INSTABILITY]

[UNKNOWN ENERGY DETECTED]

[ENERGY SOURCE: UNIDENTIFIED]

[DIMENSIONAL BOUNDARY FLUCTUATION]

Raviah’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief as she clutched at Rhyder’s jacket.

"No..." she breathed, feeling her control slip away.

The blinding white light beneath Sector Seven intensified, illumination sweeping across the cavern. Fissures of pure, luminous energy spread across the chamber floor like a blazing spiderweb.

Her internal spatial dimension responded as if something vast on the other side of reality had recognized it. And then, something knocked.

The sound echoed clearly inside her mind, once, twice, three times. It wasn’t striking against the laboratory door above. It wasn’t pounding against the solid stone walls of the cavern. It was striking directly against the boundary wall of her spatial dimension.

Raviah froze in Rhyder’s grip, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.

Something on the other side of the void was actively trying to force its way inside.

Rhyder tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. "What is happening?"

Raviah stared blankly into the glowing empty space before them, her pupils dilated with fear. Her face went pale, devoid of color. "I don’t know."

A fourth violent energy pulse struck the dimensional boundary.

The entire underground chamber shook violently as dust and loose rock rained down from the cavern ceiling. And somewhere deep inside the dark expanse of her spatial dimension, something opened its eyes.