<b>Chapter 27: Through the Gate</b>
Zak took a slow, deliberate breath.
His mind buzzed with the weight of his decision.
<b>No turning back.</b>
The <b>QSE</b> hummed, harmonic frequencies pulsing in synchronized waves. The <b>Antiquus Porta</b> was alive, resonating with an energy Zak had never seen before.
This wasn’t just a <b>theory</b> anymore. It was happening.
Something <b>on the other side</b> was waiting.
And now, <b>he was going to meet it.</b>
<b>The Stand-Off</b>
The underground facility was <b>a battlefield of tension.</b>
Agent Connors'' <b>cold, unreadable gaze</b> never left Zak.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” he said flatly.
Zak’s jaw tightened. “Neither do you.”
Connors'' lips thinned. “We’re not asking anymore.”
Zak didn’t flinch. “Then shoot me.”
A tense silence.
Zak could feel his heartbeat pounding against his ribs.
He wasn’t bluffing.
And Connors <b>knew it.</b>
Finally, the agent sighed and motioned to his men. “Stand down.”
Zak exhaled slowly, his hands <b>clenching into fists.</b>
He had won <b>this round.</b>
But he knew Connors wasn’t done with him yet.
<b>The Countdown Begins</b>
“SDI,” Zak said, turning back to the AI. “Are we ready?”
SDI’s interface flickered. “The portal’s harmonic frequency is stabilizing. However—”
Zak <b>cut him off.</b>
“Don’t tell me to stop. Just tell me how to do this.”
SDI <b>paused.</b>
Then, its response came, <b>calm and precise.</b>
“Step onto the Quantum Interface Platform. Synchronization will begin automatically. Your molecular structure will temporarily align with the harmonic field.”
Zak’s stomach <b>twisted.</b>
He was about to <b>step into a machine that had never been tested.</b>
A machine that might <b>never bring him back.</b>
He took a breath.
Then, <b>he stepped forward.</b>
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The <b>platform beneath his feet</b> pulsed with a strange, warm energy.
The <b>harmonic frequencies surged.</b>
The <b>Antiquus Porta glowed.</b>
Zak heard <b>Raines whisper behind him.</b>
“God help us.”
And then, <b>everything went white.</b>
<b>Beyond the Gate</b>
Zak was <b>weightless.</b>
He couldn’t see. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
He was <b>everywhere and nowhere at the same time.</b>
The harmonic triad frequencies <b>danced through him,</b> vibrating his atoms, pulling at his very existence.
For a moment, he thought <b>he was dying.</b>
Then, suddenly—
<b>A voice.</b>
"You have come far."
Zak’s eyes snapped open.
He was <b>standing.</b>
The world around him was <b>impossible.</b>
The sky above was <b>not a sky at all</b>—just a swirling expanse of shifting light and darkness. The ground beneath him wasn’t solid, but it held him.
Shapes <b>floated in the distance</b>—monolithic structures, flickering between forms that his mind struggled to comprehend.
He wasn’t in space.
He wasn’t on a planet.
He was <b>somewhere else entirely.</b>
Zak turned slowly, his heart hammering.
Then, he saw them.
<b>The Ones Who Fled.</b>
<b>The Lost Architects</b>
They weren’t human.
Not even close.
They were <b>tall,</b> their forms wrapped in flowing material that shimmered like liquid metal. Their <b>faces</b> were unreadable, their features shifting between something <b>vaguely humanoid</b> and something else—something that <b>defied logic.</b>
One of them stepped forward.
Its voice didn’t come from its mouth. It came <b>from everywhere.</b>
"Zak Carter. You carry the key."
Zak’s throat went dry.
He forced himself to speak.
“Who… are you?”
The being tilted its head.
"We are what remains."
Zak swallowed. “Of what?”
The being’s <b>form wavered, darkening.</b>
"Of those who built your world."
Zak’s stomach dropped.
They weren’t <b>the Keepers.</b>
They weren’t the ones who <b>tried to stop the QSE.</b>
They were <b>the ones who made it.</b>
The <b>true Architects.</b>
The ones who had <b>been erased from history.</b>
Zak took a shaky step forward.
“What happened to you?”
The Architect’s <b>voice softened.</b>
"We were betrayed."
Zak felt a <b>cold dread</b> crawl down his spine.
“The Keepers?” he asked carefully.
The being shook its head.
"No. Not the Keepers. The ones who came after."
Zak’s mind <b>raced.</b>
The ones who came after?
Who—
Then, <b>realization struck him like a thunderbolt.</b>
"The Dominion," he whispered.
The Architect <b>nodded.</b>
"They have always been there. Waiting. Guiding. Keeping your kind from remembering."
Zak felt <b>his world tilt.</b>
The Dominion <b>wasn’t just a modern shadow organization.</b>
They had been there <b>since the beginning.</b>
They weren’t controlling <b>just governments.</b>
<b>They were controlling history.</b>
<b>The Truth About The Gate</b>
Zak’s breathing was <b>shaky.</b>
He forced himself to ask the question that had haunted him since the beginning.
“The Antiquus Porta… is it a machine?”
The Architect studied him.
"It is more than that."
Zak clenched his fists. “Then what is it?”
The being’s gaze was unreadable.
"A lock. And a door."
Zak felt his pulse <b>spike.</b>
“What’s on the other side?”
The Architect’s voice was <b>quiet.</b>
"A war that never ended."
Zak’s <b>breath hitched.</b>
He shook his head. “No, the war ended. The Keepers stopped you.”
The Architect’s form flickered, its voice <b>sadder now.</b>
"You misunderstand. The war did not end. It was merely… paused."
Zak’s heart <b>pounded.</b>
"You mean—"
"Yes, Zak Carter. The enemy never left. And now, they know you are here."
<b>The Return</b>
Zak felt the <b>ground beneath him shift.</b>
The world around him <b>blurred, twisted.</b>
Something was <b>pulling him back.</b>
The Architects <b>began to fade.</b>
"You must prepare, Zak Carter. What you build now will determine what comes next."
Zak tried to <b>hold on.</b>
“Wait! What do I do?”
The last thing he heard before the world <b>collapsed around him was one final message.</b>
"Finish the QSE. It is the only way."
Then—
<b>Darkness.</b>
<b>Back to Reality</b>
Zak’s eyes <b>snapped open.</b>
He was <b>on the platform again.</b>
The <b>QSE hummed softly</b> around him.
His hands were <b>shaking.</b>
The Dominion agents stood there, watching him.
Dr. Raines’ face was <b>pale.</b>
Agent Connors <b>spoke first.</b>
“What did you see?”
Zak slowly turned to face him.
And then, <b>for the first time, he understood the full scope of what he had done.</b>
The war <b>wasn’t over.</b>
It had only just <b>begun.</b>
And now, <b>he was right in the middle of it.</b>