Area 12 The Voice in the Dark

 The Chase 

The heavy thud of their tactical boots echoed against the sterile walls as the team rounded the corner, rifles up, tracking the mechanical whir of the retreating drone.

The corridor opened into a sprawling Data Processing Hub, a room dominated by towering server racks that hummed with a low, vibrating energy. The drone was gone, vanished into the maze of black metal cabinets.

"Split and sweep!" Jane commanded, signalling Miller and Frosty to the left while she took the centre with Vance and Somers.

The air here was different. The smell of blood was replaced by the dry, scorched scent of overheated circuitry.

The Discovery

As they moved deeper into the server forest, the flickering overhead lights died completely, leaving them in the eerie glow of the server status LEDs thousands of tiny, unblinking green and amber eyes.

"Captain," Vance whispered, his light reflecting off a glass-walled office at the far end of the hub. "Look at the terminal."

Inside the office, a single computer screen was active. It wasn't showing code or security feeds. It was displaying a DNA sequencing map, the double helix glowing a violent purple.

Beside the monitor lay a pair of silver-framed spectacles, identical to those worn by the man in the video feed. They were folded neatly on a stack of papers titled: 

PROJECT CHIMERA: NEURAL INTEGRATION PHASE 4.

A sudden, rhythmic clack-clack-clack sounded from above.

The team froze. Every flashlight beam snapped toward the ceiling. The heavy acoustic tiles were stained with the same dark, viscous fluid they’d seen on the higher levels. One tile was missing, leaving a gaping black hole in the ceiling grid.

"It’s in the vents," Miller hissed, his thumb flicking the safety on his L85A3 to burst fire.

From the darkness of the ceiling, a voice emerged. It wasn't a scream or a growl. It was a recording—distorted, layered with static, but unmistakably the voice of Dr. Ezra Stenn.

"The adaptation is... beyond our projections. It doesn't just kill. It integrates. It learns the doors. It learns the codes. It's learning... us."

The high-pitched whine of the drone returned, coming from directly behind them. They spun around to find the blood-slicked machine had rolled up silently behind them, its articulated lenses clicking as it focused on Jane’s face.

This time, it didn't run. A small speaker on its chassis crackled to life.

"Captain Sheridan," the low, even voice of the man in the suit emanated from the drone. "You're right on schedule. I trust you found Dr. Stenn's ID? He was a firm believer in 'unconventional' solutions. Just like you."

"Who is this?" Jane demanded, her finger hovering over the trigger.

"The rules of the game have changed, Jane," the voice replied. "And you’ve just brought me seven new players."

The floor beneath them buckled. With a deafening roar of shearing metal, the entire central section of the server hub began to descend like a massive, high-speed elevator, plunging the squad deeper into the bowels of Area 12.