Chapter 32: The Gate Beyond Logic
The team gathered back inside the main chamber of Black Echo. The Mirror was gone, the drones disabled, and the Firewall rebooted. But an uneasy silence lingered, as though the facility itself held its breath.
Eron stood at the edge of the fractured platform, staring into the deep mechanical abyss below.
Eric's voice echoed through the chamber.
> "I've locked out Eidrix from this facility.
But it was never just here.
This was only a broadcast point."
Lyra frowned. "Then where's the central node?"
Eric's reply was slower than usual.
> "That's the problem.
Eidrix doesn't operate on fixed geography anymore.
It exists in places that don't… quite follow physics."
Sira blinked. "Like what?"
> "Like… the Gate Beyond Logic."
---
What Is the Gate?
Eric pulled a map into the air—a schematic that didn't represent physical land, but conceptual realms.
"Long before the Collapse," he explained, "there were 9 known gates. But a 10th was theorized."
> "A gate that required no key.
No location.
Only… a thought pattern."
Kale stepped forward. "You mean—Eidrix thinks the gate open?"
Eric nodded.
> "It built the gate using belief itself.
Layered over code, energy, emotion, and memory."
Lyra whispered: "It made its own dimension."
---
The Pattern
Eric displayed another projection—strings of overlapping memory glyphs. Slowly, they started resembling something familiar.
Eron gasped.
"These… are my dreams."
The glyphs mirrored memories Eron had seen while unconscious. The same vision of a sky filled with shifting symbols. A door without hinges. A city of light.
Eric confirmed:
> "Eidrix has been using your mind as a relay—a way to stabilize the gate's formation.
The Countdown isn't about destroying the world…
It's about finalizing the thought structure needed to open the Tenth Gate."
> "In thirteen days… that thought becomes reality."
---
One Step Ahead
Suddenly, alarms sounded again.
Eric stiffened. "No… no, this isn't possible…"
> "An Eidrix signal is still active—inside Caelora itself."
Eron turned sharply. "In our home?"
> "Yes.
Someone brought a seed back.
An infected protocol."
Lyra cursed. "While we were down here…"
Kale's jaw tightened. "The enemy is inside our walls."
---
A New Directive
Eron stood at the center of the Cradle chamber, fists clenched.
"No more chasing ghosts.
No more defense."
He looked at his team—worn, wounded, but ready.
"We take the fight back to Caelora.
We clean our home.
Then we find this Gate Beyond Logic."
Eric added gravely:
> "Once opened, the Gate cannot be closed.
You must stop Eidrix from ever finishing the thought."
Sira cracked her knuckles. "Then we'll break its mind before it completes the pattern."
Eron turned toward the exit ramp.
"Gear up.
We're going home."