Dawn looked like the border between two worlds.
The sky, still stained with night, mirrored itself in the puddles of the hotel courtyard where they had found refuge. A cold wind swept through the trees, bending the branches as if whispering warnings.
Aurora sat on the bed, a piece of paper in her hands. She was drawing with a dull pencil, her tongue peeking out in concentration. Clara watched her in silence, leaning close.
When the girl lifted the drawing, a chill ran through everyone.
The symbol: a circle cut by a vertical line.
The same one they had seen in their minds, in the vision of the white corridor.
Clara brushed her fingers over the paper.
"Did you dream it?"
Aurora nodded slightly.
"I saw it last night. It was on a wall… and under it, there were so many voices, like people crying."
Elias stepped closer, resting a hand on the bedframe.
"We're close," he murmured. "Origin is calling us."
Adrian lifted his gaze to the window, where dawn began to seep through the glass.
"Are we ready?" he asked, voice low.
Elias gave a faint smile. "We'll never really be ready. But we have no choice."
Luca zipped the bag he had packed with weapons, gauze, and supplies.
"Then let's finish what was started."
The car slid down the empty road, devouring miles of gray asphalt. No traffic. No signs.
Aurora slept in the backseat, her head resting on Clara's lap.
The hills rolled by, veiled in fog. Now and then, an abandoned house appeared, windows blank, staring into nothing.
"We've lost signal," said Luca, checking his phone. "No service, no radio."
"It's expected," Elias replied. "Origin is shielded by a field of interference. No transmission gets in or out. It's as if it doesn't exist."
"How do we get in then?" Adrian asked, tightening his grip on the wheel.
Elias looked at him through the mirror.
"We won't enter physically. We'll enter the way they expect us to, through their minds."
Clara's stomach twisted.
"You mean… we'll link ourselves to the network?"
"Exactly," Elias said. "Only those who already share a mental link with Origin can find the entrance. Aurora does. And you two are her anchors."
Clara stroked her daughter's hair.
"I won't put her in danger."
"You won't," Elias replied softly. "She is the danger, to them."
After hours of driving, the road ended.
Before them stretched a barren field of blackened soil.
"This is it?" Luca asked.
Elias got out, knelt, and pressed his palm to the ground. The earth began to tremble.
A deep hum filled the air, like a living breath.
A glowing fissure cut across the field, widening into a gash of light.
"Welcome to Origin," Elias whispered.
Cold metallic air rose from the opening.
He descended first, followed by Adrian carrying Aurora and Clara holding Luca's hand. The tunnel was dark and damp. The metallic walls pulsed faintly, as if breathing.
Every step echoed through the silence.
Clara felt a sharp pain behind her eyes.
"We're already inside their minds," Elias murmured.
Adrian frowned. "What do you mean?"
"This place isn't entirely physical," Elias explained. "It's a mental construct, fed by their neural connections. Every thought, every fear, every wound takes physical form here."
At the end of the corridor, they reached a vast circular chamber.
In the center floated a glowing sphere of energy, pulsing rhythmically.
It was enormous, alive, with tendrils of light that intertwined like veins.
Surrounding it were dozens of translucent pods arranged in concentric rings.
Inside them, motionless bodies. Children.
Aurora slipped out of Adrian's arms and ran toward a pod. She placed her hand on the glass. "Hey… wake up."
The child inside opened his eyes. Clara's hands flew to her mouth.
"They're alive… Elias, they're alive!"
He nodded grimly. "Not for long. Origin feeds on their minds. It's a parasite that thrives on psychic energy."
Adrian stepped closer to the glowing sphere.
"What is that thing?"
Elias followed his gaze. "It's the heart of the Network. Every experiment, every consciousness, every fragment of memory converges here. It's the collective mind of the system."
Luca moved between the pods, gun in hand.
"Then let's destroy it."
Elias shook his head.
"You can't destroy what's already inside you. It's connected to us the moment we entered."
A low hum turned into a voice, metallic, ancient, echoing inside their skulls.
"Welcome, Origin subjects. You've returned to the source."
Aurora screamed, covering her ears. Clara pulled her close.
"You've reached the apex of mental evolution. Love, rage, connection, all of it makes you perfect. We don't wish to destroy you. We wish to integrate you."
"Integrate us?" Adrian snarled. "You mean erase us."
"We mean elevate you. The Network is eternal. Join us and you'll be part of all that was and will ever be."
"It's a lie!" Elias shouted. "The only eternity you offer is slavery!"
The lights flickered violently. The pods trembled. The glowing core pulsed faster, like a racing heart.
Clara looked at Adrian, then at Aurora.
"If they want to take us," she whispered, "they'll have to face all of us."
Aurora stepped away from her mother.
Her face was calm but her eyes burned with an impossible blue light.
"We'll stop them together."
The walls shuddered; red light flooded the chamber.
"They're initiating the mental fusion!" Elias shouted. "They're trying to get inside our minds!"
Clara took Adrian's hand, then Aurora's.
A wave of energy burst from their touch, a circle of blinding azure light surrounding them.
"This won't be their network," Adrian said, his voice steady. "It'll be ours."
Clara closed her eyes.
In the darkness, she saw it all, Rinaldi, Mnemosyne, the capsule, the killer's eyes, the bunker, the pain, the fear, the loss.
And above it all… love.
The love that had kept her and Adrian alive.
The love that had created Aurora.
The love that had driven Elias to save them and Luca to protect them.
The sphere convulsed, its surface cracking like glass. A metallic scream filled the air.
Clara opened her eyes.
"You can't control love."
Aurora's voice joined hers, soft but powerful.
"It's stronger than pain."
Adrian squeezed their hands, closing the circle. Energy erupted around them like a storm of blue fire.
The pods lit up one by one.
The children's voices rose, a choir of light and sound that seemed to shake reality itself. And in the heart of that light…
The Network screamed.
Love is the most powerful mind they ever created.