Page 49 of Obsession

As I strode across the pockmarked ground toward the imposing black-stone edifice of the academy, my decision crystallized. The faster we could save Kann and Britta, the faster we could all join the mission and bring everyone home.

The answer was obvious. Someone needed to go after Kann and Britta just like the rescue team was going after Sasha.

Which was why I was going to ask Zav to send me into the simulation.

Chapter

Thirty-Two

Britta

Kann pushed aside thick curtains of vines, muttering under his breath about how they seemed more overgrown in the past. I helped him search, my fingers tangling in the damp foliage as they brushed over slick stone. The vegetation was cold and slimy against my skin, making me shudder. I dreaded going into the dark tunnel, but I wasn’t crazy about staying outside and waiting for the program to disintegrate around us.

When Kann finally located a hidden lever and the entrance creaked open, we slipped inside. The familiar, dank chill of the tunnel hit me immediately, along with the musty scent of aged stone and stagnant water. The ceiling hung low overhead, water dripping steadily from its rough surface. The ground beneath my feet was soggy, each step accompanied by a wet squelch that made my skin crawl.

"You are safe. Everything will be okay," I whispered to myself, trying to keep my breathing steady as the walls seemed to press closer. "You are safe. Everything will be okay."

Kann stopped walking so suddenly I almost ran into him. "You are safe, Britta," he said softly. "Everything will be okay."

Heat rushed to my face as I realized I'd been chanting out loud. But instead of teasing me, he reached back and took my hand, squeezing it gently before leading us forward through the tunnel. The warmth of his grip anchored me, making each step deeper into the tunnel less terrifying than it might have been.

I tried to remember how long my previous trip through the underground passage had been, but then I’d been with a large group. Now, it was only two of us and the echo of our breath and footsteps seemed to bounce off the walls and press closer. My chest constricted until my breathing was shallow and my head ached.

Finally, Kann pushed open a rusty grate that creaked as if it had already been rusted and abandoned for a hundred years, and we emerged into the dungeons. Since we were now inside the academy, I wished I hadn’t lost my cloak.

Instead of walking past empty cells like I had before, they were filled with captured cadets. Torchlight flickered against the stone walls, casting dancing shadows through the iron bars and across the arched ceiling. The air was thick with the smell of unwashed bodies, sweat, and urine, making me stifle the urge to gag. Drexian cadets lined the cells, some leaning against the bars, others sitting on hard wooden benches, a few lying motionless on the sparse bedding.

As we hurried past, they began to notice us. Some stood, pressing against the bars, calling out in harsh whispers for us to help them. Each plea made my stomach twist—these weren't just simulated characters, they represented real cadets who had endured this centuries ago. Kann kept moving, pulling me alongas we raced toward the winding stairs at the end of the cellblock. The steps were treacherously slick, forcing us to slow our pace despite our urgency.

At the top, we emerged into a long corridor with worn stone floors—one I recognized as running beneath the main floor of the academy. But everything looked different, newer. The stone walls gleamed with a polish long since worn away in our time, as yet unmarred by the scorch marks and battle damage from the Kronock attack that would come centuries later. Real flames danced in iron sconces along the walls, so different from the sterile faux flames I was used to, emitting heat as they licked the walls. The air was crisp and clean, free of the dust and faint scent of char that plagued the academy in our time.

I tried not to dwell too much on how impressively Zav and I had created the simulation. I’d known that the Taori had brought his advanced skills to the project, but now I wondered just how different Taori technology was and what else he had added to the program to make it so real. How did the NPCs we’d encountered seem to have independent thought? They should have been capable of basic responses and actions, but the Drexians in this simulation seemed real.

My pulse quickened. It all seemed too real.

Kann tugged me forward, and we rushed toward the end of the passage where another curving staircase waited. We were so close to the corridor where we’d entered the program that I wanted to forget about keeping a low profile and just run.

“Halt, cadets!” The command rang out behind us.

Fear shot through me, icing my skin. I was a human in the Drexian Academy before Drexians knew humans existed. I was a female who would never have been allowed past the stone gates of the school in this time. I looked at Kann and saw my own terror reflected in his eyes, his usual confident expression gone.

“Run!” Kann's grip on my hand tightened as he yanked me up the stairs.

We burst into the main hall and kept running, taking another stairwell two steps at a time until we reached one of the dormitory towers. My lungs burned as we raced down the hallway, Kann trying door after door as the sound of pursuit grew closer. Each echoing footstep behind us made my heart stutter, images of those dungeon cells flashing through my mind. Would they throw me in a cell, or would I be questioned?

Finally, a door gave way. Kann stumbled inside, pulling me with him. He slammed the lock home, and we both pressed our backs against the wall, hardly daring to breathe as footsteps thundered past in the corridor. His hand was still clasped tightly around mine, both of us trembling slightly from adrenaline and fear. Gradually, the sounds faded away, leaving only the rapid beating of my heart and our ragged breathing.

As the immediate danger passed, I allowed myself to glance around the room we'd invaded. It was spartanly furnished with a single narrow bed and a desk that held a few leather-bound books. No personal touches, no decorations—just the basics provided to every cadet.

"We can only hope," Kann said, still slightly breathless, "that whoever lives here is either still in the hunt or locked away in one of those cells."

I nodded but couldn't shake the feeling that we were still trapped—just in a slightly larger cell than the ones we'd seen below. At least this one had a view of the courtyard through its narrow window, even if that view was starting to flicker, as if it were running out of power.

Chapter

Thirty-Three

Kann

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