Page 107 of Immersed
He traced the symbol with his fingertip, feeling a slight depression in the center. Pressing it did nothing, but when he rotated it clockwise, a soft click emanated from within the wall.
The bookshelf swung inward, revealing a dark passage beyond.
They shone their flashlights into the revealed passage—a narrow corridor that stretched into darkness, its walls lined with what appeared to be filing cabinets.
“The archive,” Asher murmured.
Levi stepped through first, the others following behind. The air insidewascolder, with an underlying metallic tang that reminded Levi of blood. Their flashlight beams revealed row upon row of metal cabinets, each labeled with a coding system of letters and numbers.
“This place is massive,”Maddie whispered, her voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space.“There must be thousands of files here.”
“We need to be systematic,”Levi said, examining the nearest cabinet.“Look for anything related to Administrative Access, biometric security, or the lower levels.”
They spread out, each taking a section of the archive. Levi found himself before a cabinet labeled“Project Immortalis”and felt a chillthathadnothing to do with the room’s temperature. He pulled open the drawer, revealing dozens of manila folders stuffed with papers.
The first folder contained patient transfer forms—hundreds of them, each authorizing the relocation of a patient from the main sanitarium to“Special Research Division.”The dates spanned decades, continuing long after the sanitarium closed.
“Theyweretaking patients,”Levi said, holding up the forms for the others to see.“Healthy ones, mostly. Transferring them to a research division that didn’t exist.”
“For what purpose?”Owen asked, adjusting his glasses as he peered at the documents.
Levi flipped through more papers, finding a summary report with Faine’s signature at the bottom.“Organ harvesting,”he said, stomach turning as he scanned the clinical descriptions.“Hewas... collecting parts. For something called ‘biologically integrated regenerative medicine.’”
“You mean hewasstealing organs from mental patients?” Maddie’s voice rose with horror.“That’s monstrous!”
“It gets worse,”Asher added, holding up a different file he found.“These are experiment logs. Hewasn’tjust taking organs. Hewas... modifying them. Integrating mechanical components.”
“Why?” Tyler asked, visibly disturbed. “What was the point?”
“Immortality,”Levi replied, finding the answer in Faine’s own handwritten notes.“He believed the human bodywasjust a machine that could be maintained indefinitely with the right replacement parts.”
“Like replacing parts in a car,”Owen murmured.“Just swap out the components that wear down.”
“But that’s not how the human body works,”Maddie protested.
“Apparently, he thought it could be,”Levi said, turning a page to reveal diagrams of modified human organs with attachments.
Elliothadbeen unusually quiet, examining a large rolled blueprint he found in a tube.“Guys,”he said now, spreading it across a dusty table.“I think I found the building schematics. The real ones.”
They gathered around, flashlights illuminating the detailed drawing. The blueprint showed not just the sanitarium as they knew it, but an elaborate network of hidden passages, chambers, and a massive sublevel laboratory complex.
“Jesus,”Tyler breathed.“The whole place is hollow underneath.”
“Not hollow,”Levi corrected, studying the drawings.“Full of machinery. See these sections?”He pointed to areas marked with gear symbols.“The walls, floors, ceilings—they’re designed to move. Reconfigure.”
“Like a giant puzzle box,”Owen said with disturbing enthusiasm.“The entire building can change its internal layout.”
“But why?” Maddie asked. “What’s the purpose?”
Levi found the answer in another folder labeled“Energy Harvesting Protocols.”Insidewerecharts, graphs, and technical specifications for a system that made no sense.
“Fear,”he said, the realization dawning as he read Faine’s notes.“He believed fear generated a measurable energy. Something he called ‘psychic potential.’”Levi looked up at the others.“The building is designed to trap people, to disorient them, to make them afraid. And then to... harvest that fear somehow.”
“That’s scientifically impossible,”Owen scoffed.
“Tell that to the building,”Asher replied dryly.“Pretty sure it didn’t get the memo.”
A smaller blueprint caught Levi’s eye—a detailed schematic of what appeared to be a security system. Three distinctcheckpointsweremarked, each with the now-familiar triangular symbol and annotations describing“biometric verification protocols.”
