The Cathedral loomed ahead, its towering spires cutting through the crimson tinted skyline. It was a place of beauty and horror, where the sacred and the profane blended into an unsettling union. The once holy structure was now twisted, its arches and pillars distorted by the simulation's corruption. What had once been stone and glass now shifted, flickering like a broken hologram. The current Cathedral was the shattered reflection of what should have been.
It was more than just a building. It was a symbol.
And the Warden wanted them inside.
Ryker led the way, his steps slow but resolute. The others followed, each of them keenly aware of the weight of the moment. As they moved closer, the city behind them seemed to dissolve into static, the hum of corrupted energy filling the air like a distant, oppressive thunderstorm. The world around them felt wrong, as though the very foundation of reality was shifting beneath their feet.
'We are being pulled in. Not just physically… but mentally. It knows we are here.'
They reached the foot of the Cathedral's stairs. The doors, once a symbol of divine entry, were now a looming barrier. Twin gates that vibrated with a sickly, red glow. The massive doors stood closed, unyielding. Ryker paused, sensing the shift in the air.
'It's aware. It's adapting faster than before. This place isn't reacting to us…'
'It's anticipating us.'
The simulation had grown more intelligent. He could feel it in his bones. Whatever awaited them inside was not merely a physical challenge. It was something deeper. Something far darker.
"I don't like this," Sasha muttered, her fingers twitching toward her daggers. She glanced at the others, her voice low but firm. "This feels like a trap."
Ryker didn't answer immediately. He was watching the doors, feeling the pull of something far beyond the simulation's parameters. The Cathedral wasn't just a structure. It was a nexus, a place where all the code, all the corrupted data converged. And at the center of it all, something waited. Something Ryker couldn't yet comprehend.
'No…'
'I don't like it either. But we don't have a choice. It's already started'
"That's the point," Ryker finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It wants us to think it's a trap. But that's how we'll find the truth."
Arthur stepped forward, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade.
"Then let's not waste any more time." His voice was steady, but there was an edge of urgency to it.
"We go in… and we finish this."
The group moved as one, each member taking their place in formation as they approached the Cathedral's doors. The closer they got, the heavier the air became. It was as if the atmosphere itself was charged with a sinister energy.
CREEEAAAK!!!
Without warning, the doors began to creak open, their massive hinges groaning as they split down the center. A wave of blackness spilled forth an unnatural void that swallowed the light around them. Inside, there was no warmth, no candlelight. Only a consuming darkness that seemed to stretch on forever.
Ryker took a deep breath and stepped forward, his boots scraping against the cracked marble beneath him.
'No turning back. Not now. Whatever's inside… we face it together'
Ryker didn't hesitate. He knew the others would follow. And followed they did, one by one, until they were all inside the Cathedral. As soon as the last person crossed the threshold, the doors slammed shut behind them, sealing them within the shadowed walls.
And then… silence.
Not a whisper of sound. Not even the hum of static. It was as though the very world had gone still, as if the Cathedral itself was holding its breath. Ryker's pulse quickened, the weight of the silence pressing in on him.
Too quiet. It's watching.
The others were just as tense, each of them shifting uncomfortably in the dark.
Lia spoke first, her voice was barely a whisper. "What is this place?"
Ryker didn't answer immediately. He was too busy scanning the surroundings, trying to make sense of the space. The Cathedral had changed. It wasn't like any structure he had encountered before.
It was like walking inside a living thing.
Its walls pulsed with some unseen heartbeat. The pillars around them seemed to twist and bend unnaturally, and the floor was a chaotic mesh of shifting codes, like a digital web.
Suddenly, light flared beneath their feet. Bright crimson lines of data surged up from the floor, tracing intricate patterns in the stone as they spiraled outward. The lines converged into a massive circle. An array of symbols and runes that glowed with a sickly red hue.
It was a trap but not the kind they expected.
'This isn't about killing us. It's about understanding us.'
"Stay sharp," Ryker ordered. "This isn't just a fight. It's a test."
The air around them crackled as a figure emerged from the shadows. It moved slowly, deliberately, and as it stepped into the dim light, Ryker's heart skipped a beat.
It was the figure from the rooftop.
The one in red.
Tall. Imposing. Draped in robes of shifting code. Its face was smooth, featureless and yet Ryker could feel its gaze.
'No eyes. No mouth. But it sees me. It sees through me'
The red figure raised a hand and the Cathedral responded. The ground shook and a low hum reverberated through the chamber, the very air vibrating with a sinister energy.
No one spoke.
The figure didn't need to say anything. Its gesture was clear.
Ryker's breath caught in his throat.
'It's not attacking'
'Why isn't it attacking?'
At least, not yet. Instead, it was drawing them in, baiting them with eerie silence.
'It wants us off balance'
'Second guessing. Thinking too much and reacting too slow'
But Ryker knew better than to wait for an invitation.
This was no ordinary foe. This was something far more dangerous.
A puppet master pulling the strings from the shadows.
THRRMMM!!!!
Shit!
Without warning, the ground cracked open beneath them. The floor split and Ryker had only a moment to react before he and his team were sent plummeting into the darkness below.
They fell faster than they could comprehend, the air rushing past them in a deafening roar. Ryker's heart raced, but he forced himself to remain calm, drawing on every ounce of focus he had.
'Think…. Don't panic'
'This is still part of the simulation'
'Control the fall. Control the mind'
Around Ryker, others tumbled in the dark, their bodies twisting through the void as the world seemed to break apart.
The falling sensation was disorienting, the sense of weightlessness making it feel as though they were suspended in some otherworldly realm. He couldn't tell how long they fell or if time had even passed at all.
Finally, the fall ended.
Thud!!!
Arg!!
Ryker gritted his teeth, forcing himself to his feet. The others were already up though they were shaken, their clothes torn and battered.
They were in a new chamber, larger than the last but just as distorted. The walls here were made of cracked marble and the ceiling stretched out of sight, lost in the shadows above. A throne sat at the center, its design intricate but broken, its seat empty.
And yet… Ryker felt its presence.
'It's not empty. Not really. It's waiting for someone'
'Something'
And then it moved.
The figure from before the one in red appeared again, hovering just above the throne, its robes shifting and writhing like a living thing. The figure's eyes,
No, its mask glowed with an eerie, crimson light. It was watching them. Waiting.
The silence stretched on, oppressive and thick.
Then, with a movement faster than Ryker could track, the figure raised its hand.
The air around them shifted. The very fabric of reality seemed to warp.
And from the far walls, figures began to emerge.
Not just any figures.
Simulants.
Copies of Ryker and his team.
Each one was a perfect reflection,
No.
A flawed reflection of the originals. They were glitched, their movements jerky and uncoordinated at first, but there was something unnatural about them. They were copies, yes, but they were evolving, adapting and learning.
Lia cursed under her breath. "This isn't good."
The simulants didn't speak.
They didn't need to.
They were programmed for one thing: to fight.
Ryker's heart pounded as the first of the simulants, his own simulant stepped forward. It raised a hand, mirroring him.
His breath caught.
'This isn't just a battle. It's not about winning'
'It's about proving which of us deserves to be real'