Dead man surviving .. survival chance 0.002

Chapter 12: The Hollow Root

Milo nodded slowly. "Then let's find the core."

Rayn took one last look at the screen.

Then they opened the next door.

---

The corridor beyond was colder, darker. The floor panels buzzed faintly with energy, but the overhead lights flickered—some shattered entirely. The walls were lined with reinforced glass observation windows. Inside each, dark labs sat abandoned: chairs overturned, papers scattered, rusted metal tables covered in dust. Whatever had happened here, it had been violent. Sudden.

Rayn moved first, the dim emergency lighting casting long shadows behind him. Milo followed, glancing through each observation window.

"This place gives me the creeps," he whispered.

Rayn nodded. He felt it too.

A strange presence, almost like they were being watched—but from every direction at once.

They stopped at a sealed bulkhead. Unlike the last doors, this one had no keypad. Just a biometric scanner, long-dead. It sparked weakly.

"Dead," Milo said.

Rayn leaned in. There was a slot beneath the scanner—barely visible. A manual override?

He reached into his pack, pulling out the old data key from the archives.

"Think this'll work?"

"If it doesn't," Milo muttered, "we're stuck."

Rayn slid the key into the slot.

The scanner buzzed.

A low clunk echoed through the walls. Gears shifted. Then, with a painful metallic groan, the bulkhead split open.

A rush of stale air escaped. Cold. Heavy with the scent of rust and something faintly chemical.

They stepped into a vast chamber.

The ceiling arched high above them, lined with cables and strange piping. Multiple tiers of computer consoles surrounded a central dais, where a massive, black monolith stood—angled like a wedge piercing the floor. It pulsed faintly.

"What is that?" Milo whispered.

Rayn stared. The stone-like structure looked wrong. Like something half-formed. It shimmered, as if part of it didn't fully exist in this reality.

At the base, several consoles blinked. Still active.

They approached slowly. One console flickered to life as Rayn touched it.

> PROJECT GATE ENGINE: CORE ACCESS GRANTED

USER: KAEL, R.

DISPLAYING LOGS 1-10

Rayn blinked. "It knows me."

Milo leaned over. "Try the logs."

Rayn tapped the screen.

---

LOG 01

> Subject: Gate Engine Testing, Phase 1 Lead: Dr. Veil

> Theory: The Hollow Root consumes probability by rewriting localized causal strands. It is not a biological lifeform, but a thought-based infection—memetic in structure. Containment possible only by disruption of time-anchored causality.

> Plan: Initiate split-seal protocol using primary candidate (R. Kael). Timelines fractured at source node to create multi-branch redundancy. Each version of subject will serve as a seal node.

Rayn stared at the log.

"I'm the seal," he said.

Milo looked pale. "They used you to lock it away."

Rayn continued.

---

LOG 02

> Subject shows high resilience to temporal fracturing. Consciousness persists across branches. Side effects: hallucinations, identity confusion, memory bleed.

> Dr. Veil notes risk: if subject versions begin dying, seal weakens.

> Fractured existence required for indefinite containment.

---

LOG 04

> Emergent behavior detected. Entity adapting. Mimics now forming reverent structures near seal nodes. Worship? Alignment?

> Warning: entity may not be dormant. Awaiting further testing.

---

Milo looked around. "This thing, the Hollow Root… it thinks."

Rayn gritted his teeth. "It learns. It watches."

He flipped through the remaining logs. One showed a map—dozens of timelines, each marked with a version of him. Some crossed out in red.

"Dead," Rayn whispered. "The ones I saw in the Merge."

Suddenly, the console let out a soft ping.

> INTRUSION DETECTED. SECTOR C3-A STASIS FAILURE

Milo backed up. "That's where we came from."

Rayn turned. The monolith behind them pulsed harder. A ripple passed through the air—barely visible.

Then footsteps.

From the upper catwalk.

They both ducked behind the console.

A figure moved across the walkway. Jerky. Lopsided.

Rayn's heart pounded. "Another mimic?"

Milo checked his sidearm.

Then the thing stopped. Its head tilted toward the monolith.

It... knelt.

"It's worshipping it," Milo whispered.

Rayn remembered the mural. He who split the thread will return.

He slowly stood. The mimic didn't react.

It just remained kneeling.

Something deeper was happening.

He turned back to the console. New options had appeared.

> OPEN STASIS VAULTS [Y/N]?

"Should we?" Milo asked.

Rayn hesitated. "We need answers."

He pressed Y.

The ground trembled.

A section of the far wall opened, revealing a hallway lined with glass chambers.

Inside one—

Rayn stopped breathing.

Jun.

Frozen. Her eyes shut. Her skin pale. Tubes ran from her arms into the walls.

Milo stepped closer. "But she's... back with the others. Isn't she?"

Rayn stared in horror.

The console beeped again.

> STASIS DURATION: 7 MONTHS, 12 DAYS

Milo stepped back. "This is impossible."

Rayn turned toward him. "Or... this version of her is the real one."

He stepped closer, hand trembling.

"She looks exactly the same."

Milo pointed at a data panel beside the pod.

> Subject: J. KEST Status: VITALS NOMINAL Seal Clearance: Level B NOTE: Companion unit to primary seal (R. KAEL)

Rayn read the last line again.

"They used her too."

Suddenly, something moved behind the glass.

A shadow.

Rayn spun around.

A figure in the hallway. Small. Thin. Pale skin. Black eyes.

Rayn recognized her instantly.

The mimic girl.

From the alley.

She stepped forward. No longer twitching. No longer feral.

She looked directly at Rayn.

"You opened the door," she said.

Rayn froze.

Milo raised his gun.

"Don't," Rayn said quietly.

The girl tilted her head.

"The Hollow Root stirs. The seal is breaking."

Rayn stepped forward. "Who are you?"

She smiled faintly. "We were born when the thread split. You gave us shape."

"You're not just a mimic."

She nodded. "We are the echo of what you sealed. And now... we are remembering."

Rayn's mind reeled.

She walked to the stasis pod, looking at Jun.

"One of you must return to the center. One must remain. One must die."

Rayn stepped back. "What does that mean?"

The girl looked at him.

"The Gate is opening. And the Root... is hungry."

Then her form shimmered.

And vanished.

Rayn and Milo were left alone in the silent hallway.

Rayn turned to Jun's pod.

Then to the dark monolith in the main chamber.

And he felt it.

Something behind all this.

Beneath time. Beneath reality.

Waiting.

END OF CHAPTER 12