Chapter 15 — The Gate That Knew His Name
Six hours before the expedition, Victor was given a weapon.
He stared at it.
Then at Ward.
Then back at the weapon.
"You're giving me a rifle?"
Ward nodded.
Victor held it awkwardly.
"I've never used one."
Ward raised an eyebrow.
"You don't remember using one."
Victor looked down at it.
"Fair point."
They were standing inside the equipment room beneath the Directorate facility.
Rows of weapons and protective equipment lined the walls.
Victor had expected something more sophisticated.
Instead, most of what they had prepared looked surprisingly ordinary.
Ballistic armor.
Helmets.
Medical packs.
Radios.
Rifles.
Knives.
Rope.
Emergency flares.
Portable sensors.
Ward noticed Victor looking around.
"Don't expect science fiction."
"I wasn't."
"Good."
Ward handed him a compact radio.
"Communication."
Victor clipped it to his vest.
"How far will it work?"
"Inside the Gate, we don't know."
"That's reassuring."
"It wasn't supposed to be."
Ward opened another case.
Inside were several small devices.
"These are dimensional beacons."
Victor picked one up.
"What do they do?"
"Tell us where we've been."
Victor frowned.
"GPS?"
"Not exactly."
Ward pointed to a small screen.
"GPS depends on satellites. Those may not exist on the other side."
"So these work independently?"
"Yes. They create a localized reference grid."
Victor nodded.
"Useful."
"They're also expensive."
Victor put it back carefully.
"Then I'll try not to lose it."
Ward closed the case.
"Good."
Victor looked toward him.
"How many people have entered Gates?"
Ward was silent for a moment.
"Officially?"
Victor sighed.
"Of course."
"Officially, one hundred and forty-three."
"And unofficially?"
"Nobody knows."
Victor frowned.
"People disappear."
"Yes."
"How many?"
Ward's expression hardened.
"Enough."
Victor looked away.
That answer stayed with him.
The expedition began shortly after sunset.
Six vehicles left the facility.
The Gate site was nearly two hours away.
Victor sat in the second vehicle beside Lyra.
She was wearing light tactical armor.
Her injured arm had been immobilized.
Victor looked at it.
"You shouldn't be coming."
Lyra looked at him.
"You already said that."
"I'm repeating myself."
"I noticed."
"You could make the mission harder."
Lyra smiled.
"You're worried about me."
"No."
"You're a terrible liar."
Victor looked out the window.
"I barely know you."
"Exactly."
She leaned back.
"Which makes your concern interesting."
Victor didn't answer.
Lyra smiled to herself.
The vehicle continued through the darkness.
After several minutes, she spoke again.
"Do you remember anything from before the grave?"
Victor thought.
"Fragments."
"Like what?"
"Rain."
"That's oddly specific."
"Seraphina."
Lyra's expression changed slightly.
"You remembered her."
"A little."
"Who was she?"
Victor looked at her.
"A vampire."
Lyra stared.
"You've remembered that much?"
"The Directorate told me."
"That's not what I meant."
Victor didn't respond.
Lyra looked forward.
"You really don't remember anything about her?"
"No."
She nodded slowly.
"Must be strange."
"What?"
"Knowing someone loved you before you lost everything."
Victor looked down.
"It is."
Lyra was quiet.
Then:
"Do you want to remember?"
Victor considered the question.
"Yes."
"Why?"
He looked at her.
"Because whatever happened to me..."
His voice became quieter.
"...I want to know whether the person I was deserves to be remembered."
Lyra didn't reply.
The convoy arrived at 21:43.
The Gate stood in the center of an abandoned industrial complex.
It was enormous.
Approximately twelve meters tall.
Its surface appeared black from a distance.
Up close, Victor could see faint movement beneath it.
Like smoke trapped beneath glass.
The team established a perimeter.
Floodlights illuminated the area.
Sensors were deployed.
Ward approached Victor.
"Stay close."
Victor nodded.
A technician approached.
"Director."
Ward turned.
"The readings are strange."
"How?"
"The Gate is stable."
Ward waited.
"And?"
The technician looked toward Victor.
"There's a second dimensional signature."
Ward's expression hardened.
"From inside?"
"No."
The technician swallowed.
"From around Victor."
Victor looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
The technician shook his head.
"We don't know."
Ward turned toward Victor.
"Stay with me."
Victor nodded.
The Gate began to vibrate.
Everyone stopped.
The black surface rippled.
A low sound filled the industrial yard.
Victor's chest tightened.
The System appeared.
[GATE DETECTED.]
[DIMENSIONAL SIGNATURE: UNKNOWN]
[PERSONAL CONNECTION: CONFIRMED]
Victor stared.
Then another message appeared.
[GATE CONDITION: ALTERED.]
He whispered:
"Something changed."
Ward looked at him.
"What?"
Victor pointed toward the Gate.
"It wasn't supposed to look like this."
Ward's expression tightened.
"How do you know?"
"I don't know."
That was the truth.
He didn't know.
He simply felt it.
Like recognizing a place from a dream.
The Gate suddenly opened.
The black surface collapsed inward.
A massive circular opening appeared.
Beyond it—
a forest.
Trees covered the horizon.
But they weren't ordinary trees.
They were enormous.
Their trunks were white.
Their branches twisted together hundreds of meters above the ground.
A blue moon hung in the sky.
Victor stared.
The air coming through the Gate smelled different.
Wet soil.
Flowers.
And something metallic.
Blood.
Ward raised his hand.
"Team One."
Three soldiers stepped forward.
"Enter."
They crossed the threshold.
Nothing happened.
Ward waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
The soldiers raised their weapons.
"Clear."
Ward nodded.
"Team Two."
Victor followed.
The moment his foot crossed the Gate—
the world changed.
The air became colder.
The sounds of Earth disappeared.
No engines.
No radios.
No distant traffic.
Nothing.
Victor turned.
The Gate remained behind them.
Through it, he could still see the industrial complex.
Earth was still there.
He could return.
That realization calmed him.
A little.
Ward stepped beside him.
"Everyone accounted for?"
"Yes."
Victor looked around.
The forest was enormous.
Moonlight filtered through the white branches.
Strange insects flew between the trees.
Some glowed faintly blue.
Lyra stared upward.
"Beautiful."
Victor nodded.
Then he noticed something.
"Wait."
Everyone stopped.
Victor pointed toward the ground.
Footprints.
Human.
Several sets.
Fresh.
Ward crouched.
"How fresh?"
The tracker examined them.
"Less than an hour."
Ward's expression changed.
"Impossible."
Victor looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because our last scan showed no humanoid activity within fifteen kilometers."
Victor looked deeper into the forest.
"Maybe the scan was wrong."
Ward stood.
"Maybe."
Then they heard it.
A sound.
A woman crying.
Softly.
Somewhere among the trees.
Lyra raised her weapon.
"Did everyone hear that?"
Everyone nodded.
Ward signaled the team.
"Formation."
Victor's heart began beating faster.
The crying continued.
A woman's voice.
Weak.
Terrified.
"Help me..."
Victor looked toward the trees.
The System appeared.
[WARNING.]
[LIFE SIGN DETECTED.]
Victor waited.
Another line appeared.
[SPECIES: HUMAN]
Victor frowned.
"Human?"
Ward looked at him.
"What?"
Victor shook his head.
"Nothing."
The crying continued.
"Please..."
A soldier whispered:
"Should we help her?"
Ward stared into the forest.
Then raised his hand.
"Nobody moves."
The crying stopped.
Silence.
Then—
laughter.
Not human laughter.
Something deeper.
Something hungry.
The System flashed.
[LIFE SIGN RECLASSIFIED.]
[SPECIES: UNKNOWN]
Victor's stomach tightened.
The darkness between the trees shifted.
Two red eyes appeared.
Then four.
Then six.
Ward shouted:
"CONTACT!"
Gunfire tore through the forest.
The creatures screamed.
Something enormous charged through the trees.
Victor saw claws.
Fangs.
Dark fur.
A soldier fired.
The creature slammed into him.
Another emerged from the darkness.
Then another.
Victor raised his rifle.
His hands remembered before his mind did.
He aimed.
Fired.
The first bullet struck a creature in the shoulder.
It staggered.
Victor fired again.
The creature fell.
Victor stared.
He hadn't consciously known how to shoot.
But his body had.
The System appeared.
[COMBAT MEMORY FRAGMENT DETECTED.]
[PARTIAL SYNCHRONIZATION: 0.2%]
Victor felt something awaken inside his muscles.
His movements became smoother.
Faster.
Not superhuman.
Just familiar.
As if his body was slowly remembering itself.
Another creature lunged at him.
Victor dodged.
It passed inches from his chest.
He swung the rifle.
The stock struck its jaw.
The creature recoiled.
Victor fired.
It fell.
Victor breathed heavily.
Then—
everything stopped.
The creatures suddenly backed away.
Every single one.
Victor looked around.
"Why are they retreating?"
Ward didn't answer.
The creatures were staring at something behind Victor.
Victor slowly turned.
A woman stood between the trees.
She was tall.
Pale.
Her long black hair moved gently in the wind.
She wore a dark dress that looked completely out of place in the forest.
Her eyes were red.
Victor froze.
He knew those eyes.
Not from memory.
From somewhere deeper.
The woman looked at him.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she smiled.
Not Seraphina's smile.
This smile was different.
Older.
Possessive.
Almost affectionate.
Victor raised his rifle.
The woman didn't react.
Instead, she whispered:
"Victor."
The sound of his name from her lips sent a strange sensation through his entire body.
The System appeared.
[WARNING.]
[HIGH-LEVEL ENTITY DETECTED.]
[HOSTILE INTENT: NONE.]
Victor stared at the woman.
"Who are you?"
She smiled.
"You really don't remember."
Victor's grip tightened.
"Who are you?"
The woman stepped closer.
The creatures moved aside for her.
She stopped several meters away.
"I could tell you."
Her eyes softened.
"But then you'd remember too quickly."
Victor frowned.
"How do you know me?"
The woman looked at him for a long moment.
Then her smile disappeared.
"Because I watched you die."
Victor's heart stopped.
The woman looked almost sad.
"Then I watched you disappear."
She took another step.
"And now..."
Her red eyes fixed on his.
"...I'm watching you come back."
Victor felt the System react.
[MEMORY RESONANCE: 31.4%]
His vision blurred.
A woman's voice.
Not Seraphina.
Another voice.
"I chose you."
Victor staggered.
The woman immediately stopped.
Her expression changed.
Concern.
Real concern.
"Don't."
Victor looked at her.
"What?"
"Don't force it."
"Why?"
"Because your mind isn't ready."
Victor stared.
"You know what happened to me."
She smiled sadly.
"Better than anyone."
Victor raised his rifle again.
"Then tell me."
The woman looked at the weapon.
Then at him.
"You still point weapons at people you love."
Victor froze.
The words struck him harder than the creature had.
"People I love?"
She smiled.
"Not yet."
Then she turned toward the forest.
"Come."
Victor didn't move.
The woman glanced back.
"You want your memories."
Victor stared at her.
"I do."
"Then follow me."
She began walking away.
Ward immediately stepped forward.
"Victor, don't."
The woman stopped.
Without turning around, she said:
"You brought soldiers."
Ward raised his weapon.
"You know who I am?"
The woman smiled.
"I know exactly who you are."
Then she looked back at Victor.
"And I know what happens if you refuse."
Victor's expression hardened.
"What?"
Her smile returned.
"Nothing."
She disappeared into the darkness.
Victor stared after her.
Ward stepped beside him.
"Nobody follows."
Victor looked at the trees.
The woman was gone.
But the System remained.
[QUEST UPDATED]
[FOLLOW THE UNKNOWN ENTITY.]
[REWARD: MEMORY FRAGMENT]
Victor stared at the panel.
Then at Ward.
For the first time, he had a choice.
Follow the woman who knew his past—
or remain with the people who had been lying to him about it.
Victor lowered his rifle.
"I think..."
He looked into the darkness.
"...I'm going to follow her."
Ward's face hardened.
"Victor."
Victor looked back.
"I need answers."
Ward stared at him.
Then slowly raised his radio.
"Team, prepare to move."
Victor frowned.
"You said nobody follows."
Ward looked at him.
"I changed my mind."
"Why?"
Ward's eyes remained fixed on the darkness.
"Because I recognized her."
Victor's heart stopped.
"You know her?"
Ward nodded.
"Not personally."
"Then how?"
Ward's voice became quiet.
"Because I've seen her in the Eclipse files."
Victor stared at him.
Ward looked toward the forest.
"Her name was never recorded."
He paused.
"But the researchers gave her a designation."
Victor waited.
Ward swallowed.
"The Queen."
Somewhere deep in the forest—
a woman smiled.
She had heard every word.
And she whispered to herself:
"Not yet."
Her fingers touched her lips.
"Not until he remembers who gave him his heart."
The forest swallowed her voice.
And Victor followed.