Echoes Beyond

The lab lights began to flicker. Daniel tried to unplug the monitor, but the power wouldn’t cut off. On the screen, a progress bar slowly filled:
UNLOCKING... 73%

Daniel: “Lucy, we have to stop this now.”
Lucy: “I… don’t think we can.”

She felt a strange pressure in her skull, as if someone was pushing from inside her head. The blue hallway appeared again, but this time the door at the end was slowly opening. From behind it poured a black light—not total darkness, but a living darkness.

From within that void, a shape began to emerge. Tall, elongated, and a face impossible to tell if it was real or made of millions of points of light.

Entity: “Hello, Lucy.”
Lucy: “Who… are you?”
Entity: “Someone who has waited a long time to be free.”

Lucy stepped back.
Lucy: “Why me?”
The entity smiled—or at least, something like a smile flickered across its face.
Entity: “Because the key has always been in your mind.”

At that moment, Daniel’s distant voice shouted, “Lucy! Come back! Open your eyes!”
But it was too late. The entity had crossed the door.