Bianca didn’t sleep.
Not because she couldn’t.
Because every time she closed her eyes, she saw the map.
The same red marker.
The same city.
Her city.
The place she’d spent years trying not to think about.
The place her mother vanished from.
The place Horizon apparently considered important enough to track for decades.
Which was deeply concerning.
And annoying.
Mostly concerning.
Bianca rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling of her room.
Outside the window, snow drifted through the night.
The mountain facility remained quiet.
Most people were asleep.
Unfortunately, Bianca’s brain had chosen violence.
A soft knock came from her door.
Bianca sat up.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
Maya stepped inside.
Holding a blanket.
And a bag of snacks.
Bianca blinked.
“…is this a hostage situation?”
Maya sat down on the floor.
“No.”
“You brought snacks.”
“That’s how friends work.”
Bianca stared at her.
“You’re adapting to normal life way too fast.”
Maya looked pleased.
As she should.
A few months ago she barely knew what a movie was.
Now she was bringing emotional-support snacks.
Character development.
An hour later they were sitting on the floor surrounded by empty wrappers.
Bianca had learned something important.
Stress made her eat way too much.
Maya had learned something too.
Chocolate existed.
And she seemed personally offended nobody told her sooner.
“This should be illegal,” Maya declared.
Bianca nodded.
“Exactly.”
“It’s too good.”
“I know.”
Maya frowned thoughtfully.
“Why isn’t everyone eating this constantly?”
Bianca pointed dramatically.
“Now you’re asking the real questions.”
For a little while things felt normal.
Not Red Room normal.
Not cosmic-horror normal.
Actually normal.
Then Maya ruined it.
“You miss your mother.”
Bianca groaned.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The emotional attack.”
Maya looked confused.
“I’m just asking.”
“Exactly.”
Bianca leaned back against the bed.
The humor faded from her expression.
Because honestly?
She did.
She missed her.
Even after the arguments.
Even after all the lies.
Even after discovering her mother apparently worked for a secret organization.
She still missed her.
And that sucked.
After Maya left, Bianca eventually drifted into sleep.
For about three hours.
Then the nightmare started.
She was falling again.
Sky above.
Ground below.
Wind screaming in her ears.
The same fall.
The same death.
Except this time something changed.
The fractures appeared earlier.
Blue cracks spreading through reality.
Larger.
Closer.
And beyond them— something watched.
A massive eye opened inside endless darkness.
Bigger than cities.
Older than stars.
Its gaze settled directly on her.
Not humanity.
Not Earth.
Her.
Bianca tried to move.
Couldn’t.
The eye blinked.
And suddenly a voice echoed through the void.
> FOUND YOU.
Bianca woke up instantly.
Gasping.
Sweat covered her forehead.
Her pulse hammered inside her chest.
The room was dark.
Silent.
Empty.
Just a dream.
Just a nightmare.
Right?
The System appeared.
> [ Dream Intrusion Detected ]
Bianca froze.
Nope.
Didn’t like that.
Not one bit.
The next morning started badly.
Which honestly wasn’t surprising anymore.
Ward was waiting for them in the briefing room.
Coffee in hand.
Permanent exhaustion on his face.
“Good morning.”
Bianca sat down.
“You look terrible.”
“So do you.”
“Fair.”
Ward activated the large display.
A map appeared.
The same city.
Her hometown.
Maya sat beside her quietly.
Several Horizon researchers filled the room.
Including Dr. Reeves.
Nobody looked particularly happy.
Bianca was beginning to notice a pattern.
Ward zoomed in.
“We leave tomorrow.”
The room grew quiet.
Bianca stared at the screen.
Tomorrow.
Not next week.
Not later.
Tomorrow.
That made everything feel real.
“We’ll be operating under cover identities,” Ward continued.
“Horizon doesn’t officially exist there.”
Bianca frowned.
“Why?”
Dr. Reeves answered.
“Because if we’re right, someone else is already watching that city.”
The room became silent.
Bianca immediately hated that answer.
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
An old photograph.
Black and white.
Poor quality.
At first glance it looked ordinary.
A street.
Several buildings.
Some pedestrians.
Then Bianca noticed something.
A blue fracture.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
Hanging above a rooftop.
Her stomach tightened.
“When was this taken?”
Dr. Reeves looked at the file.
“Thirty-eight years ago.”
Silence.
Bianca stared.
Thirty-eight years.
Long before the Red Room.
Long before Horizon found her.
Which meant this story was bigger than she thought.
Much bigger.
And that realization was terrifying.
The briefing continued for another hour.
More photos.
More reports.
More mysteries.
Not enough answers.
Eventually everyone left.
Everyone except Ward.
The room fell quiet.
Bianca stood near the display.
Looking at the map.
Ward remained silent for a while.
Then spoke.
“You’re worried.”
Bianca laughed.
“Groundbreaking observation.”
Ward ignored the sarcasm.
Professional as always.
“You don’t have to go.”
That surprised her.
Bianca turned toward him.
“What?”
“We can handle the investigation.”
For a moment she considered it.
Staying here.
Remaining safe.
Letting someone else take the risk.
Then she remembered her mother.
The unanswered questions.
The years of lies.
The warning she’d left behind.
If they ever find you first…
run.
Bianca slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Ward nodded once.
Like he’d expected that answer.
“Yeah.”
“Was that some kind of test?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Because you’d have failed.”
Bianca pointed at him.
“See? That’s prison language again.”
Ward finally smiled.
Very slightly.
But it was there.
Progress.
That evening Bianca stood alone outside the facility.
The cold mountain air bit at her skin.
Snow crunched beneath her boots.
The sky above was clear.
Filled with stars.
For a while she simply looked upward.
Thinking.
Wondering.
Trying to convince herself she wasn’t terrified.
It didn’t work.
A notification suddenly appeared.
> [ Main Quest Updated ]
> Return To The Beginning
> Travel to Origin City
> Discover the First Fracture
> Reward: Unknown
> Failure: Unknown
Bianca narrowed her eyes.
“Why are your rewards always mysterious?”
The System didn’t answer.
Of course it didn’t.
Then another notification appeared.
One she’d never seen before.
> [ Warning ]
> Something Is Waiting
The humor vanished from Bianca’s face.
The message lingered for several seconds.
Then disappeared.
Leaving only silence.
And for the first time since learning they were going home—
Bianca felt certain of one thing.
Whatever happened in that city wasn’t waiting for Horizon.
It wasn’t waiting for humanity.
It was waiting for her.
Hello readers I just wanna ask, do you love this novel as I think it’s too much info dump so I’ll try to uncover it step by step.