The arch blazed with light, flooding the cavern in an eerie brilliance. Dust rose in swirls, caught in the invisible current of energy now vibrating through the chamber.
"Step back!" Hayes shouted, pulling Daniel by the arm. But it was too late. The crystal's glow had synchronized fully with the arch, and the two pulsed together like a single living heart.
A sound—low, deep, and resonant—echoed through their helmets. It wasn't mechanical. It was ancient, alive, like the groan of a world remembering its purpose.
The empty space within the arch shimmered. First like rippling water. Then like molten glass. Then, suddenly, like nothing at all. A hole cut straight through reality, its edges burning with blue fire.
Marquez's voice shook. "It's a portal. A functioning portal. My God…"
Before Hayes could issue a command, the ground beneath them trembled violently again. Rocks cascaded from the ceiling, smashing into the floor around them.
"We can't stay!" Okafor shouted over the comms. "The whole chamber's collapsing!"
They turned to retreat—but the tunnel they'd come from was already caving in, stone and dust pouring down in an unstoppable wave. Their exit was gone.
Hayes' jaw clenched. "We either go through… or we die here."
No one argued. Survival left no room for debate.
Together, the crew edged closer to the arch. The glow distorted their visors, bending light in ways that made their stomachs churn. Daniel hesitated at the threshold, staring into the impossible void beyond.
"What if it doesn't lead anywhere?" he asked, voice cracking.
Hayes met his eyes. "Then we find out together."
A final quake split the floor, throwing them off balance. Instinct took over. One by one, the crew lunged through the arch, swallowed by the burning light.
Daniel was the last. The cavern behind him collapsed fully, crushing the chamber into ruin. With no other choice, he leapt forward—
—into nothingness.
---
When the light cleared, they were no longer on Mars.
They stood on a vast plain beneath a sky that was neither day nor night, lit by stars that seemed impossibly close. Strange towers of stone rose in the distance, glowing faintly with the same sigils as the arch. The air was heavy, alive with a hum that vibrated in their bones.
Daniel turned slowly, eyes wide behind his visor. "Where… where are we?"
No one answered. Because none of them knew.
But deep in the distance, something stirred.
Something vast.
Something waiting.