The Echo of Tomorrow

Chapter 14: The Abyss of Time

The corridors of the Nexus twisted like a serpent's spine, the flickering lights casting long, distorted shadows on the metallic walls. Lyra's breath came in sharp, measured inhales as she and Selene pressed forward, their footsteps muffled against the cold floor. The air here felt heavier, charged with an unnatural energy—like time itself was watching them.

Selene moved ahead, her fingers tracing unseen patterns along the wall. "The deeper we go, the less stable reality becomes," she whispered. "The TCA has tampered too much. They've ruptured the natural flow of time."

Lyra shuddered. She could feel it too. The whispers. Faint, almost indistinguishable murmurs that clawed at the edges of her mind. At first, she thought they were echoes from distant chambers. But as they moved further in, she realized the voices were inside her head.

Turn back.

You don't belong here.

The past will consume you.

She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed forward. Fear was a luxury she couldn't afford.

Ahead, the corridor opened into a vast chamber, unlike anything Lyra had ever seen. It was a cavernous expanse, the walls lined with massive glass tanks. Within them, shadowed figures floated—humanoid, yet disturbingly distorted. Their faces were blurred, flickering between different identities as if they couldn't decide what—or who—they were.

Selene stiffened beside her. "Time-locked anomalies," she muttered. "Failed experiments. People the TCA tried to erase but couldn't. They exist in a state of perpetual flux."

Lyra felt bile rise in her throat. "Are they alive?"

"Not in any way that matters." Selene's voice was flat, but Lyra could see the tension in her posture. "We need to keep moving. The Catalyst is near."

As they walked, the tanks pulsed with a dull, eerie glow. The figures within them twitched as they passed, their blurred faces twisting toward Lyra as if recognizing her. A chill crawled down her spine.

And then she saw it.

At the center of the chamber stood a towering, glass-like monolith, its surface fractured like a spiderweb. Energy crackled within, the same energy Lyra had felt at the heart of the Nexus.

"The Catalyst," Selene breathed.

Lyra took a hesitant step forward, her reflection staring back at her from the fractured surface. But as she reached out, the reflection changed. It wasn't her anymore. It was someone else.

A woman with hollow, sunken eyes. Her skin stretched too tightly over her bones, her lips twisted in a silent scream. And then—

The reflection lunged at her.

Lyra stumbled back, gasping, but the image vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Her hands trembled. "Did you see that?"

Selene's face was grim. "The Catalyst isn't just an object. It's alive. It feeds on possibility, on choice. It shows you what could be—or what should never have been."

Lyra swallowed hard. She could still feel the woman's eyes burning into her.

A sudden sound—like static, but deeper, more guttural—filled the chamber. The air vibrated. And then, the lights went out.

Darkness swallowed them whole.

Lyra's pulse skyrocketed. She could hear Selene shifting beside her, reaching for her weapon. The whispers returned, louder this time, crawling under her skin.

Then—

A voice. Not a whisper. Not an echo.

A voice that was real.

"You should not have come here."

The words were like rusted metal grinding against stone. Cold. Unforgiving.

And filled with something far worse than malice.

Lyra turned slowly, her eyes struggling to adjust. And then she saw them.

Three figures emerging from the darkness. Not TCA agents. Something else.

Their bodies flickered, shifting between forms, like the anomalies in the tanks—but these creatures weren't trapped behind glass. They moved freely, their limbs distorting, twisting in unnatural angles. Their faces changed with every step. Sometimes human. Sometimes… not.

Selene stepped in front of Lyra, her gun raised. "Wraiths," she hissed. "Remnants of broken timelines. The TCA tried to erase them, but they found their way back."

The tallest of the three took another step forward, its voice stretching through the void. "You are not welcome in the abyss."

Lyra's heartbeat hammered against her ribs. The air around them seemed to warp, pressing against her skull. She felt something—something—tugging at her thoughts, peeling them apart like fragile paper.

"Lyra!" Selene's voice cut through the suffocating pressure. "Don't listen to them! They feed on uncertainty. On doubt!"

Lyra clenched her fists. Doubt. That was all she had left, wasn't it? She had spent her whole life second-guessing, running, hiding from the truth. But now—

No. Not now.

She forced herself to stand taller. "I don't care who you are," she said, her voice steadier than she expected. "I'm taking the Catalyst. And you're not stopping me."

The Wraiths didn't speak. They just smiled.

A horrible, twisted smile that stretched too far, their teeth like shattered glass.

Then, all at once, they attacked.

Selene fired, the gunshots echoing through the chamber, but the bullets passed through the Wraiths as if they were nothing more than mist. Lyra barely had time to react before the tallest one reached for her, its hand phasing in and out of reality. She threw herself backward, narrowly avoiding its grasp.

The monolith pulsed behind her, its glow intensifying. Desperation surged through her veins. Think, think! The Catalyst was connected to time itself—if she could tap into it, maybe she could use it against them.

She turned and slammed her hands against the monolith. A jolt of energy surged through her, and the world broke.

Suddenly, she wasn't in the chamber anymore. She was somewhere else. Somewhere darker.

A city in ruins. Buildings collapsed into heaps of rubble. The sky—if it even was a sky—was cracked, like a mirror that had been shattered but never put back together. And in the center of it all—

The TCA headquarters.

Only, it was abandoned. Hollow.

A voice whispered in her ear.

"This is what happens if you fail."

Lyra's breath came in ragged gasps. She wasn't just seeing a vision. She was inside it.

And then, something moved in the shadows. Watching her.

Waiting.

She yanked herself back, her mind snapping to reality. The chamber came into focus again. The Wraiths loomed closer, but now—now she understood.

Time was broken, but it was still hers to shape.

With a fierce cry, she pressed deeper into the monolith's energy, pulling at the very threads of time itself. The chamber shook. The Wraiths howled, their forms distorting further, unraveling like threads in a dying tapestry.

And then—

Silence.

The energy faded, and the Wraiths were gone. Only echoes remained.

Lyra collapsed to her knees, panting. Selene was beside her in an instant. "Are you alright?"

She nodded weakly. "I saw it, Selene. The end. What happens if we fail."

Selene's expression darkened. "Then we won't fail."

Lyra clenched her fists, staring at the now-dim Catalyst.

She would not let the future collapse.

No matter the cost.