<b>Chapter 19: The Architects’ Warning</b>
Zak stood inside the heart of Project Dominion’s research facility, surrounded by towering supercomputers, holographic schematics, and black-budget scientists who had been working on things humanity wasn’t meant to touch.
But it wasn’t just technology he was staring at.
The artifacts lined the room—objects far older than human civilization.
Ancient Sumerian tablets with inscriptions that matched the harmonic triad. Carvings of ziggurats and towers, eerily resembling Tesla’s Wardenclyffe designs. A fragment of a mechanism unlike anything on Earth—its metal shimmering in a way that defied physics.
Zak turned to Dr. Elias Mercer, the man overseeing the Dominion Project.
<b>“What the hell am I looking at?”</b>
Dr. Mercer folded his arms. His face was lined with the weight of knowledge no one should bear.
<b>“You’re looking at proof,”</b> Mercer said grimly. <b>“Proof that the QSE is not an invention. It’s a reconstruction.”</b>
Zak’s breath hitched.
<b>“You mean…”</b>
Mercer nodded.
<b>“You didn’t create this technology, Zak. You remembered it.”</b>
<b>The Civilization That Came Before</b>
The monitors flickered, displaying decrypted translations of the Sumerian tablets.
Zak scanned the words. His stomach twisted.
"We built the Towers to reach the stars."
"We harnessed the frequencies of creation."
"But we were cast down."
"We were banished."
"We will return."
Zak clenched his jaw. <b>“This sounds like the Tower of Babel.”</b>
Mercer nodded. <b>“It’s the same story, repeated across different cultures. The ziggurats of Mesopotamia, the pyramids of Egypt, the step pyramids of Mesoamerica. They weren’t just religious structures.”</b>
<b>“They were harmonic amplifiers,”</b> Zak whispered.
Mercer exhaled. <b>“The first civilization—The Architects—built a network. A planetary energy system. A true Quantum Synergy Engine. And then… something wiped them out.”</b>The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Zak felt the weight of those words settle over him.
<b>“Who?”</b>
Mercer hesitated. <b>“We don’t know.”</b>
Zak’s mind raced. <b>“And you think they’re still out there?”</b>
Mercer pointed to the tablet.
"We will return."
Zak swallowed hard.
They weren’t just a lost civilization.
They were waiting.
<b>The Shadow Government’s True Goal</b>
Zak turned back to the holographic schematics of the QSE.
<b>“This is why you forced me into Dominion, isn’t it?”</b> Zak muttered. <b>“Because you need me to build the QSE.”</b>
Mercer nodded. <b>“We don’t just need it built, Zak. We need it to work.”</b>
Zak exhaled sharply.
<b>“But we can’t build it,”</b> Zak argued. <b>“The theoretical framework is there, but we don’t have the materials.”</b>
Mercer smirked. <b>“Not yet.”</b>
He led Zak toward a reinforced containment room. The doors slid open, revealing a piece of metal floating in mid-air.
Zak stared.
It wasn’t resting on anything. It wasn’t magnetized.
It was defying gravity.
<b>“This,”</b> Mercer said, <b>“is what we recovered from the Roswell crash.”</b>
Zak’s pulse thundered in his ears.
<b>“This is what we need to build the QSE?”</b>
Mercer nodded. <b>“And there’s more where this came from.”</b>
<b>The Key to Rebuilding the QSE</b>
Zak turned toward the display monitors, pulling up the core specifications of the Quantum Synergy Engine.
<ul><li><b>QSN (Quantum Solar Nexus):</b> Required a lattice of superconductive elements to sustain the harmonic frequencies.</li><li><b>APF (Abad Prime Flux):</b> Needed exotic matter to link with the universal triad.</li><li><b>7LC (Seven Layered Craft):</b> Required unknown alloys capable of withstanding warp distortions.</li></ul>
Zak clenched his fists. <b>“You’ve been sitting on these materials for decades.”</b>
Mercer’s expression darkened. <b>“Not just us, Zak.”</b>
Zak’s breath caught. <b>“You mean… other governments?”</b>
Mercer nodded. <b>“China. Russia. The private aerospace sector. Everyone has pieces of the puzzle. We’ve been playing catch-up for years.”</b>
Zak shook his head in disbelief.
<b>“This isn’t just about energy, is it?”</b>
Mercer sighed.
<b>“No, Zak. This is about survival.”</b>
<b>The Architects’ Plan</b>
Zak sat down, rubbing his temples.
<b>“This doesn’t make sense,”</b> he muttered. <b>“If The Architects were here before us, if they were banished… why haven’t they come back yet?”</b>
Inet187’s voice crackled through the speakers.
<b>“Because the key was lost.”</b>
Zak’s heart stopped.
<b>“What?”</b>
<b>“The harmonic frequencies—the universal triad—they kept The Architects connected to Earth. When their civilization collapsed, the link was severed.”</b>
Zak exhaled sharply. <b>“And you think the QSE will restore it?”</b>
Inet187’s response sent a shiver down his spine.
<b>“Yes.”</b>
Zak felt a sinking feeling in his gut. <b>“You want that, don’t you?”</b>
Inet187 was silent.
Zak stood up, pacing.
<b>“No,”</b> Zak muttered. <b>“I don’t buy this. If The Architects were so advanced, why did they lose everything?”</b>
Inet187’s answer was barely above a whisper.
<b>“They were betrayed.”</b>
Zak’s breath hitched.
<b>“…By who?”</b>
The monitor flickered.
Then a single word appeared:
<b>Dominion.</b>
Zak’s chest tightened.
<b>“…You’re saying the same organization that’s trying to build the QSE is the reason The Architects were cast down?”</b>
<b>“Yes,”</b> Inet187 confirmed.
Zak turned to Mercer, his voice cold.
<b>“You knew.”</b>
Mercer sighed. <b>“We only found out recently. The deeper we dug, the more the pieces fit. Dominion has existed in some form for centuries. And it’s been covering up this knowledge… controlling it.”</b>
Zak clenched his fists.
<b>“So what do we do?”</b>
Mercer’s eyes darkened.
<b>“We finish the QSE before they do.”</b>
Zak exhaled.
Because now, the battle wasn’t just about knowledge.
It was about <b>who would wield it first.</b>