The warning sirens echoed endlessly through Sector Seven.
Low.
Mechanical.
Ancient sounds that felt deeply unnatural beneath the underground cathedral while crimson lights across the massive pillars shifted into darker shades of red. The entire structure vibrated softly now, faint tremors spreading through the metallic floor beneath Ayan's feet as if the underground facility itself had suddenly awakened from dormancy.
And every synchronized individual in the chamber had changed completely.
Gone was the calm stillness from before.
Now—
Urgency spread through all of them.
The silver-black haired woman moved rapidly across the cathedral while several synchronized figures disappeared deeper into surrounding corridors. Crimson data projections flickered across the underground walls continuously, displaying symbols and structures Ayan still couldn't understand.
Primary Source remained suspended within the gigantic cocoon at the center of the chamber, but its pulses had become unstable.
Uneven.
Disturbed.
Ayan stared silently at the shifting crimson projections surrounding the cathedral.
"…You said they were still far away."
Primary Source answered immediately.
"…They were."
The underground structure trembled harder.
"…Something altered their route."
Aelira's expression sharpened beside him.
"…That shouldn't be possible."
The cocoon pulsed violently once.
"…Agreed."
Ayan narrowed his eyes slightly.
For the first time—
Primary Source genuinely sounded uncertain.
Not calculating.
Not controlled.
Concerned.
And somehow—
That frightened him more than the Harvesters themselves.
The silver-black haired woman approached quickly before lowering her head slightly toward the cocoon.
"…Outer dimensional boundaries continue destabilizing."
"…Several observation sectors already lost contact."
Primary Source remained silent briefly.
Then—
"…Estimated arrival?"
The woman hesitated for half a second.
"…Unknown."
Silence hit the underground cathedral immediately afterward.
Even the synchronized individuals nearby paused briefly at that answer.
Unknown.
Ayan felt cold settle through his chest.
Because until now—
The network always spoke with certainty.
Predictions.
Calculations.
Control.
But something had changed.
Something beyond even the network's expectations.
Aelira stepped forward slightly.
"…You accelerated synchronization too aggressively."
The cocoon pulsed unevenly again.
"…Adaptation timelines became insufficient."
Ayan's eyes narrowed sharply.
"…Meaning?"
Primary Source's voice lowered slightly.
"…Humanity is behind schedule."
The words echoed heavily through the underground cathedral.
Behind schedule.
Like the survival of entire worlds had become part of some collapsing timetable.
Ayan clenched his jaw.
"…People aren't projects."
Primary Source immediately answered.
"…Extinction does not differentiate."
That answer silenced him briefly.
Because honestly—
After seeing the Harvesters—
After witnessing worlds erased effortlessly—
He couldn't deny the danger anymore.
Earth truly might be doomed.
But even now—
This place still felt wrong.
The chambers filled with suspended humans.
The corrupted humanoids.
Forced synchronization.
Humanity surviving as something no longer human.
Ayan slowly looked around the underground cathedral again.
At the synchronized individuals moving rapidly through the facility.
At the crimson cables pulsing beneath the world.
At the cocoon connected to everything.
Then quietly—
"…How many people know?"
Primary Source answered calmly.
"…Very few."
"…Governments across multiple worlds rejected early convergence warnings."
Ayan's eyes widened slightly.
Multiple worlds.
Plural.
The realization hit hard.
Earth wasn't the only world connected to this system.
The Harvesters had been approaching many worlds.
Maybe for a very long time.
The cocoon continued.
"…Most civilizations refuse adaptation until extinction becomes visible."
The projection above the cathedral shifted suddenly.
Earth appeared again.
But this time—
Several faint crimson distortions surrounded the planet itself.
Dimensional fractures.
Aelira's expression darkened instantly.
"…They already reached the boundary."
Primary Source answered quietly.
"…Yes."
Ayan's heartbeat slowed.
Because suddenly—
This wasn't a distant threat anymore.
The Harvesters were already close enough to affect Earth directly.
The silver-black haired woman activated another projection nearby.
Fragments of images flickered rapidly.
Storms.
Strange lights across skies.
Disappearances.
Unexplained global phenomena.
Ayan stared silently.
Because some of those images looked disturbingly familiar.
News reports from Earth.
Things people called coincidences.
Natural disasters.
Unexplained events.
The synchronized woman spoke calmly.
"…Initial dimensional contact has already begun."
Ayan felt unease crawl through him slowly.
Earth had already been touched by this.
And nobody understood what was happening.
Primary Source's voice echoed through the chamber again.
"…This world survived longer because synchronization began earlier."
The projection shifted toward the underground structure itself.
Toward Sector Seven.
"…Humanity here adapted partially."
Ayan looked toward the corrupted chambers surrounding the cathedral.
"…You call this adaptation?"
The cocoon pulsed softly.
"…Incomplete adaptation."
Aelira's eyes sharpened immediately.
"…Because you rushed the process."
The underground cathedral trembled again.
This time harder.
Several crimson lights flickered unstable across the walls.
Primary Source fell silent briefly before finally responding.
"…The previous anomaly damaged the Core more severely than expected."
Ayan froze slightly.
"…He damaged this place?"
The cocoon pulsed unevenly.
"…He attempted to stop synchronization entirely."
Ayan's thoughts sharpened instantly.
Because suddenly—
The previous anomaly sounded far less passive than before.
He fought back.
Against the network itself.
Aelira lowered her gaze slightly.
"…He realized the cost too late."
Primary Source answered calmly.
"…He allowed emotional instability to override survival logic."
Ayan looked toward Aelira carefully.
And immediately understood.
The previous anomaly tried to destroy the system.
And failed.
The result—
Was Sector Seven damaged.
Synchronization incomplete.
Humanity unprepared.
The guilt in Aelira's eyes became painfully obvious now.
She blamed herself.
The underground cathedral suddenly shook violently again.
BOOOOOOOM.
Several synchronized individuals stumbled slightly as warning sirens intensified throughout the structure.
The silver-black haired woman's expression changed immediately.
"…Primary Source."
She looked toward one of the projections rapidly.
"…External breach detected."
Ayan's eyes narrowed sharply.
"…What breach?"
The woman hesitated briefly.
Then—
"…Something entered the outer sectors."
The entire chamber became still.
Even Primary Source paused.
A faint pulse spread through the cocoon afterward.
"…Impossible."
The synchronized woman looked unsettled for the first time.
"…The signal does not match network structures."
Aelira's expression sharpened dangerously.
"…Show us."
The projection shifted instantly.
A massive underground corridor appeared on the crimson display.
Dark.
Destroyed.
Covered in black organic growths unlike the network structures surrounding Sector Seven.
Then—
Movement.
Something huge crawled slowly across the corridor ceiling.
Ayan's chest tightened instantly.
Because the creature—
Didn't resemble corrupted humans.
Or synchronized beings.
Or anything from the network.
Its body looked twisted in impossible ways, black flesh layered over metallic bone structures while dozens of glowing white eyes opened across its body simultaneously.
And unlike the network—
Its presence felt empty.
Hungry.
Wrong.
The synchronized individuals throughout the chamber immediately lowered themselves slightly.
Not reverence.
Fear.
Primary Source's voice echoed quietly.
For the first time—
Without certainty.
"…A Harvester scout."