The secret passage was narrow at first, walls cold and smooth, lit only by faint, flickering remnants of old-world lamps. It smelled of dust, rust, and the faint tang of ozone, as if electricity had once coursed through the corridor in power too strong for the present.
At the end of the passage, the trio emerged into a vast hall. The ceiling arched high above, filled with broken panels and dangling wires. Consoles lined the walls, screens cracked but faintly blinking. For a moment, it looked like a command center frozen in time. The air thrummed with quiet energy, almost as if the hall itself remembered what had once occurred here.
Maya crouched behind a console, eyes scanning every corner. "This… this is important. Connor, can you access anything?"
Connor knelt by one of the active terminals, fingers hovering over his interface device. His Interface Breach skill flickered to life. Sparks of code and encrypted firewalls danced on his wrist screen. But the deeper systems, far older and more secure than he had ever encountered, resisted.
"Impossible," he muttered, frustration creasing his forehead. "It's too advanced. My skill isn't strong enough for this."
Maya's jaw set. "Then I'll do it."
She pressed her hand against the console, letting her vision flare. Her Temporal Glimpse erupted outward in a blinding flash. Pain pierced behind her eyes, and her knees buckled. The world around her dissolved into white-hot light, and she fell—but did not collapse. She entered something else. A dream? A memory? She could not tell.
Maya found herself standing inside this same hall, but it was alive. The walls gleamed with polished steel. Consoles hummed, screens displayed timelines, energy readings, and maps of fractured cities. Men and women in crisp uniforms moved with purpose, voices urgent.
She could hear them debating.
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"The time rends are stabilizing in unpredictable ways," one said. "But the zones… some persist longer than others. Permanent anomalies cannot be ignored."
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Another voice countered, frustrated:
"Permanent? Are you suggesting we treat them like fixed coordinates in time? Nothing is fixed. Everything is fluid."
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A third chimed in, calmer, with a hand resting on a console:
"We have to understand which zones are predictable. If we can map the cycles, we can anticipate them, perhaps even control them. That is why the Epilsons exist. They are markers, fixed points in a sea of chaos."
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Maya felt the weight of their words. These weren't casual scientists. They were people who had foreseen the Pulse, who had worked to manage the fractures in time even before anyone else knew they existed.
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"The Epsilons are permanent," one said finally. "Not random, not temporary. They are anchors in reality. Clearing a rend in an epilson is temporary; the scar remains. The zones reappear because the fractures are tied to the initial Pulse energy. This is the world's new constant."
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Another voice spoke with hesitation:
"And the zombies?"
"Side effect. An unfortunate byproduct of overlapping timelines. Physical remnants of past events. That is why our teams must treat Epsilons as hazardous and contain them whenever possible."
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Maya could see their gestures, the maps, the screens highlighting the zones—the lines converging on Epsilon-1, Epsilon-6, and others.
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"We must predict their patterns," said the first voice. "Otherwise the breaches will escalate."
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" That is why we must hurry in cracking the code. We lost so many men during the expeditions,we can't fail them"
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"Are these anomalies natural?" someone asked.
"No," replied another. "They are Pulse-born, yes, but they can be studied. Measured. Anchored. Controlled. Predictable… if we understand their origin and the energy signatures."
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Maya's mind reeled. Every fragment, every word, every map they gestured at gave her a blueprint of the world she had just stepped into. The Epsilons were not just dangerous zones—they were intentional markers, permanent scars in a fractured reality.
Pain throbbed through Maya's head. She realized she was not unconscious in the usual sense. This was a liminal space—her mind observing the past, extracting knowledge like a stream of encoded memories.
She felt herself pulled back, the vision fading, leaving her in the quiet darkness of the abandoned command hall. Alex and Connor knelt at her side, concern etched on their faces.
Maya sat up slowly, sweat streaming down her face. "The Epsilons… they're anchors. Permanent, predictable in part, dangerous always. These researchers sent people non an expedition to bring back a code. They've been trying to crack it they believe that the code has answers to the rends"
"Is that what the Akentens where searching for"asked Connor. "Probably, or it can be a meer coincidence", retorted Alex.
"Whether it's a coincidence or not, the Akentens will not let us of. I personally believe they are here for the code "
Alex exhaled, looking at the dimly lit command hall. "If that is the case haven't we just gotten ourselves in deep shit"
Maya's gaze hardened. "No. We found the key to understand it. And now… we're the only ones who can follow it."
" Connor, can extract information from the console " ,said Maya.
"No.my skill level is insufficient for that"
Maya then instructed him to take out the core memory from the console." We'll crack it later",she added
Alex then proceeded to blast the console with his shock wave exploding it into smithereens.
It's was there light bulb lit up in Connor."If the Akentens aim is this place they would have than some homework. They probably have personal who can unlock the passage way"
Alex nodded," it also means we can't go back the same way"
" Fret not, during the vision I got a blueprint of the passage. In the corridor a few meters before reaching this place at the left side of the wall. There is hidden contraption it Olens up a tunnel that leads to edge of the epilson.",added Maya
So the trio proceeded and left the place.
Soon after the Akentens arrived and found the destroyed console and the missing memory core.
" Do you know their identities", the leader inquired. Sonn after the aid- de- camp passed a screen showing background of Maya and co. After scanning through he only issued an order." Find them, Bring them alive"
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.
Meanwhile...
Brock had just arrived Infront ot the the tier 1 mission board scanning through available missions.
- Arrange supplies in warehouse
Duration: 1 day
Rewards: 1 credit
- Provide 50 kilograms of wood
Rewards: 1 credit
...
- Help in informatory
Duration: 3 days
Rewards: 2 credit
He realized that all the tier 1 missions which rewarded 3 and above where being monopolized the wanderes who had formed faction of their own.
Seeing this he decide to pick the ware house mission since he the hub will provide him food for free and he could sleep in the warehouse.
They next day he begun his toil.....