Location: Scarab Engine Chamber – Hollow Core
Sarah stared at the Engine, breath shallow, heart thundering.
The projection had faded. The chamber was still.
Too still.
Zaki stood beside her, fur bristling, eyes locked on the glowing Scarab at the heart of the machine.
She stepped forward, slow, controlled, until she stood at a raised pedestal that hummed beneath her palm. Symbols lit up beneath her hand—not warning her away, but… inviting.
She didn't trust it.
"There has to be a failsafe," she muttered.
The ancient civilizations couldn't have built something this powerful without a shutdown, a way to stop the cycle.
Right?
She reached toward the central glyph—one shaped like an eye closed in sleep.
Then—
It opened.
A pulse of energy knocked her back.
Not physical. Mental.
Voices filled her mind. Not chaotic. Not angry.
Just... aware.
"You come not as Queen.
Not as Priest.
But as Blood."
She scrambled to her feet. "What are you?"
"We are memory made metal.
The soul of civilizations reborn."
"You call it resurrection.
We call it… equilibrium."
Sarah backed toward the edge of the platform. "You're going to kill everyone up there."
"No.
We will let them destroy themselves.
And from the ruins, the next will rise."
The Scarab pulsed again.
Now she heard them. The other voices trapped inside.
Scientists. Kings. Children. Ancient priests. All echoing, all repeating, all remembering.
Millions of souls… recycled.
This thing didn't just remember humanity. It was feeding on it.
Sarah gritted her teeth. "I'm ending this."
She grabbed a shard of metal from her belt—military-grade hacking spike.
No interface. No Wi-Fi.
But maybe…
She stabbed it into the glyph panel.
Sparks flew.
The Engine screamed.
Zaki howled as the ground shook.
But then—
The lights dimmed.
The pulse slowed.
For a moment… it worked.
Until the chamber began to repair itself.
The glyphs reformed.
The Scarab's wings began to rise.
"You are not the first to resist," said the voice.
"You are not the first to break the cycle."
"But you are the first… whose son has survived it."
Sarah froze.
Her throat tightened.
"…Adam."
"He hears the rhythm.
He remembers the blood.
He is the key, Sarah.
And he will open what you fear most."
Cut to: Adam – still deep in the Hollow
He jolts upright.
He feels her.
His mom.
Her fear. Her defiance. Her voice.
And he feels something else now too—
The Scarab is watching him