Chapter 16: The Visitor

I couldn’t sleep.

The facility hummed around me with that constant low vibration of hidden machines and surveillance systems. Red standby lights blinked softly on the ceiling. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the cracked floor, the floating glass, and Soren’s calm face telling me I was a disaster waiting for permission.

My body still didn’t feel like mine.

Footsteps approached down the hallway. Slow. Careful. Not the heavy boots of the security guards.

The door opened slowly with a soft click.

A young woman stepped inside and closed the door quietly behind her. She wore a standard hunter support uniform, dark tactical gear with the IHA patch on her shoulder. Copper skin, wild curly hair tied back messily, and eyes that looked exhausted.

Maya.

I recognized her immediately. She had been part of the outer support team for the Abyss Gate expedition. One of the few who stayed behind at the staging area.

“Maya?” I sat up slowly in the bed, heart suddenly racing. “How did you get in here? They don’t let anyone near this wing.”

She didn’t answer right away. She just stood near the door, staring at me. Her hands were clenched tightly at her sides. Not with anger. Not with hatred.

With visible fear.

The blue screen flickered faintly in my vision, but I ignored it.

“I had to see you,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “They wouldn’t let anyone near this floor. I had to bribe a technician and wait until the night shift change. Elias… what happened in that gate?”

I swallowed hard, gripping the edge of the blanket. “You shouldn’t be here. If Soren finds out…”

“I don’t care,” she cut in, taking one hesitant step closer. “The official report says the entire elite team was wiped out. But you walked out alive. The only one. People are talking. Some say you did something to them. Others say the gate changed you. I need to know the truth.”

I looked away, shame burning in my chest. “The truth? The dungeon killed them. All of them. Kain, Lira, Marcus… it crushed them using their own powers. And it left me standing there like it was protecting me. Like I was the reason they went in.”

Maya’s eyes widened. She took another small step forward but stopped when her boot crunched on a piece of broken glass. “Protecting you? Why? You were just the porter. You didn’t even have a system before.”

“That’s what I keep asking myself,” I said, my voice cracking. “My name was carved on the core seal before we even entered. The dungeon knew me. It wanted me. The others… they were just in the way.”

Maya wrapped her arms around herself, fear clear on her face. “So what does that mean? Are you still you? Or did something else come back wearing your face?”

The question hit me hard. I felt my throat tighten. “I don’t know anymore. There’s this blue screen only I can see. It says I’m a SEAL. A container. There’s something ancient inside me now. And every time I get angry or scared, the seal weakens. I cracked the floor earlier just because I raised my voice at Soren.”

She stared at the spiderwebbed cracks across the concrete, then back at me. Her voice dropped to a trembling whisper.

“What did you bring back with you, Elias?”

I felt the words lodge in my chest. I wanted to lie. I wanted to tell her I was still the same quiet porter she used to nod at during prep. But I couldn’t.

“I don’t know exactly,” I admitted, voice raw. “Soren says it’s a Primordial Core. Something that was locked away for a long time. Now it’s inside me. The system is counting down. Structural Integrity. 98% now. Every strong emotion costs me another percent. They’re keeping me here because they’re scared of what happens when it hits zero.”

Maya took a shaky breath. “So the rumors are true. You’re not just a survivor. You’re carrying the thing that killed them.”

Tears stung my eyes again. “Yeah. And the worst part? Part of me still feels relieved that someone finally sees me. Even if it’s because I’m dangerous now. Even if it means I might destroy everything.”

She took one more step closer, but kept careful distance between us. “I saw the bodies they recovered. Or what was left of them. Kain’s armor was crushed like a tin can. I keep thinking… if I had gone in with the main team instead of staying at base camp, would I be dead too?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Maybe. The dungeon only wanted me. It ignored me completely while it executed everyone else. Like I was already marked.”

Maya’s hands twisted together. The fear on her face was unmistakable. “Then tell me the truth. Are you still Elias? The quiet guy who always carried the extra ammo without complaining? Or is there something else looking at me through your eyes right now?”

I felt my chest ache. “I’m trying to be Elias. But I can feel it sometimes. This pressure. This other thing watching everything I do. Learning from me. Waiting. Soren says I have to never lose control. But how am I supposed to do that when I feel guilty every second for surviving?”

The machines beeped steadily in the background. Maya glanced nervously at the door, then back at me, her voice barely audible.

“What if you can’t control it?” she asked. “What if one day you get angry or scared and the thing inside you wins?”

I looked down at my hands. They were still shaking.

“Then I guess I stop being me,” I whispered. “And whatever comes out instead… that’s what everyone will remember.”

Maya took a small step back, fear deepening in her eyes, but she didn’t leave.

The blue screen pulsed faintly in my vision.

\[STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 98%\]

And for the first time since waking up, I wondered if Maya had come to see her old colleague…

…or to look at the thing that had taken his place.