The doorway sealed behind them with a soundless shimmer. The walls folded in, smooth and flawless, leaving no seam, no path back.
Hayes cursed, slamming the butt of his rifle against the glassy floor. The blow echoed, but left no mark. "We're sealed in. Just perfect."
Marquez kept her eyes on Daniel, who was still kneeling, sweat beading his forehead despite the cold. The faint blue glow in his pupils hadn't faded. Worse, the light under his skin spread in thin veins, pulsing with each heartbeat.
"Don't move him too quickly," she warned. "We don't know what that… whatever that was… did to him."
Okafor crouched nearby, analyzing. "It's not harming him. The crystal is… integrating. Like it's rewriting his biology."
Hayes spun around. "You're talking like this is some miracle. He's turning into them. Did you not see those things? They called him their vessel!"
---
The Doubt
Daniel finally spoke, his voice hoarse. "I'm still me." He looked up at them, his glowing eyes catching the chamber's light. "I didn't ask for this."
Hayes aimed his rifle square at Daniel's chest. His voice shook, but his finger hovered close to the trigger. "You could be a ticking bomb. For all we know, the second that crystal finishes whatever it's doing, you'll be one of them. And I'm not letting you take us all down with you."
"Hayes, stop!" Marquez snapped, stepping between them. "He's a kid. He's scared. And he's the reason we're still alive. Without him, that crystal wouldn't have opened the way for us."
Okafor nodded reluctantly. "She's right. If the planet chose him, then killing him might do more harm than good."
Hayes's jaw tightened. "Or maybe it'd save us."
---
The Voice in the Walls
Before anyone could argue further, the chamber itself spoke.
Not in words, but in sound—deep tones rising like a song. The pillars lit up in sequence, one by one, until the entire hall blazed with light. The vibrations grew so intense they rattled through their bones.
Daniel clutched his chest. The crystal burned, but this time it didn't hurt—it aligned. The tones weren't random; they were speaking to him.
He whispered the translation without thinking: "Deeper. The heart calls deeper."
Marquez frowned. "You can understand it now?"
Daniel nodded weakly. "It's inside me. The meaning… it just comes."
Hayes lowered his rifle slightly, but his glare didn't soften. "Yeah? And when it tells you to kill us, will you translate that too?"
Daniel didn't answer. He couldn't.
---
The Path Forward
Suddenly, the mirrored floor shifted. Cracks of light raced outward, splitting the surface. Then the ground beneath them rotated like a massive gear, forming a spiral staircase plunging into darkness.
The light from the pillars dimmed, focusing only on the descent.
Okafor exhaled slowly. "Looks like we've been given a way forward."
Marquez looked at Daniel, who was still trembling. "Or a way deeper into the trap."
Hayes tightened his grip on his rifle. "Either way, we don't have a choice. And if the kid steps out of line… I'll do what's necessary."
Daniel didn't look at him. His gaze was fixed on the black stairwell yawning below.
Something in his chest told him this was only the beginning.