Mara did not sleep.
She tried.
At eleven, she made tea.
At midnight, she checked the greenhouse.
At one, she checked the mirror.
At two, she checked the greenhouse again.
At three, she sat at the kitchen table and stared at the countdown.
19:43:12
19:43:11
19:43:10
She rubbed her eyes.
“This is ridiculous.”
From the mirror, Elias said, “Agreed.”
Mara looked up.
“You’ve been awake too?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the machine under my station is making sounds it didn’t make yesterday.”
“That’s a terrible answer.”
“I have several worse ones.”
She sighed.
“Wonderful.”
The connection between them had stabilized again after the Meridian system activated.
That should have been comforting.
It wasn’t.
The mirror now showed Blackridge Station clearly, but faint geometric lines occasionally moved across the glass.
Like veins.
Or circuitry.
Mara looked at the countdown.
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re an engineer.”
“Structural engineer.”
“That’s still engineering.”
“I build bridges, Mara.
I don’t operate ancient dimensional machines.”
“Fair.”
He paused.
“Did you eat?”
Mara stared at him.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“You woke me up at three in the morning to ask whether I ate?”
“It’s four now.”
She checked the clock.
“That isn’t better.”
“Did you?”
Mara hesitated.
“No.”
“Then eat.”
She smiled despite herself.
“You first.”
“I had dinner.”
“That was six hours ago.”
Silence.
“You didn’t eat either.”
“I had coffee.”
“Coffee isn’t food.”
“You’re becoming annoying.”
“I learned from you.”
Mara laughed quietly.
Then the laughter faded.
Because beneath the house, something began humming.
Both of them heard it.
Mara stood.
“That’s new.”
“Yes.”
The sound grew louder.
Not threatening.
Mechanical.
Almost purposeful.
Mara walked toward the hallway.
“Elias.”
“I’m here.”
The floor vibrated beneath her boots.
She stopped.
“Should I go downstairs?”
“No.”
“You’re getting predictable.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“Mara, we don’t know what the system is doing.”
“And we have nineteen hours before it finishes doing whatever it’s doing.”
“Which means we have nineteen hours to learn.”
Mara looked at the closed door leading to the underground chamber.
Then at the mirror.
“All right.”
She grabbed her notebook.
“Let’s learn.”
By sunrise, they had a plan.
It was not a very good plan.
But it was a plan.
Mara called Evelyn.
The older woman answered on the fifth ring.
“If you’re calling before six in the morning, someone better be dead.”
“No one’s dead.”
“Then someone better be dying.”
“No.”
“Then this had better be important.”
Mara looked toward the basement door.
“It is.”
A pause.
“Do I want to know?”
“Probably not.”
“Good.
I’m coming over.”
Mara blinked.
“You don’t even know what it is.”
“I know you.”
The call ended.
Mara stared at the phone.
Elias smiled from the mirror.
“She seems useful.”
“She’s terrifying.”
“Those aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Twenty minutes later, Evelyn arrived carrying a thermos.
She stepped inside.
Looked at Mara.
Looked at the mirror.
Looked back at Mara.
“Coffee?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Evelyn poured herself a cup.
“Now explain why the antique mirror in your house is showing a man I’ve never met.”
Mara opened her mouth.
Closed it.
“That’s complicated.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I assumed so.”
Mara glanced at Elias.
“This is Elias.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Elias.”
“Mrs.
Carter.”
“Evelyn.”
“Evelyn.” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“Good.”
She took another sip.
“Now, why is there a man in the mirror?”
Elias looked at Mara.
Mara sighed.
“He’s in another world.”
Evelyn took a drink.
She swallowed.
“Of course he is.”
Mara stared.
“That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know.
Something.”
Evelyn shrugged.
“You’re the strangest twenty-five-year-old I’ve ever met.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Elias looked amused.
Mara pointed at him.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I was.”
The three of them stood in the basement.
Evelyn stared at the terminal.
Then the symbols.
Then the metal plate bearing Thomas Whitmore’s name.
Her expression changed.
“You said your grandfather knew?”
Mara nodded.
“He was the original custodian.”
Evelyn ran her fingers over the plate.
“Thomas never talked about this.”
“You knew him?”
“Everyone knew Thomas.”
She looked at Mara.
“He used to say the Whitmore land had secrets.”
“What kind?”
“He never said.”
Evelyn’s gaze returned to the terminal.
“Your grandmother hated this room.”
Mara frowned.
“How do you know?”
“She told me once.”
“When?”
“About thirty years ago.”
Evelyn looked uncomfortable.
“She asked me to help her move something.”
“What?”
“A wooden box.”
Mara stepped closer.
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t look?”
“I was twenty years old.”
Evelyn gave her a pointed look.
“I had manners.”
Mara folded her arms.
“You definitely wouldn’t have looked?”
“I looked.”
Mara smiled.
“I knew it.”
“Nothing important.”
“What was inside?”
“Old photographs.
Papers.
A key.”
Mara’s smile disappeared.
“A key?”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Evelyn stared at the terminal.
“I don’t know.”
The machine beeped.
All three turned.
A new message appeared.
CUSTODIAN MEMORY REQUIRED.
Mara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
The screen changed.
OBJECTIVE: LOCATE ORIGINAL ACCESS KEY.
Evelyn went pale.
“Oh.”
Mara looked at her.
“You know where it is.”
Evelyn sighed.
“I might.”
They returned upstairs.
Evelyn walked directly to the kitchen.
Then to the old pantry.
She opened the bottom cabinet.
Inside was a stack of dusty jars.
She moved them aside.
Behind them was a narrow wooden compartment.
Mara stared.
“You knew about this?”
“No.”
“You just remembered it?”
“Your grandmother showed it to me once.”
Evelyn reached inside.
Her fingers found something.
She pulled out a small iron key.
It was black.
Not rusted.
Not corroded.
The same geometric symbol found on the mirror was carved into its head.
Mara’s heart beat faster.
“Evelyn.”
“I know.”
She handed it over.
Mara barely touched it before the mirror changed.
The glass brightened.
Lines spread across the surface.
The countdown disappeared.
A map appeared.
Not of Veyra.
Not of Aurelia.
Something between them.
Four points glowed.
One beneath Whitmore.
One at Blackridge.
One beneath an ocean.
One in the far north.
Then a fifth point appeared.
Mara’s breath caught.
The fifth point was moving.
Elias stepped closer.
“That’s not an anchor.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know.”
The point moved again.
Closer.
Evelyn stared.
“Is that bad?”
Mara looked at Elias.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Finally:
“It depends where it’s going.” This story is hosted at g.com.
The terminal beeped.
A new line appeared.
DIRECTION REQUIRED.
Then four arrows appeared.
AURELIA
VEYRA
MERIDIAN
UNKNOWN
Mara stared.
“Those are choices?”
“Maybe.”
“Which one do we choose?”
Elias shook his head.
“I don’t think the machine is asking what we want.”
“Then what is it asking?”
He looked at the four arrows.
“It may be asking where the connection should stabilize.”
Mara’s stomach tightened.
“If we choose Aurelia?”
“The network could anchor itself here.”
“And Veyra?”
“Here.”
“Meridian?”
“The original network.”
Mara pointed to the last option.
“And unknown?”
Elias looked at the moving fifth point.
“I don’t think we want that one.”
Evelyn slowly stepped backward.
“Can I ask a stupid question?”
Mara looked at her.
“Please.”
“Why do we have to choose anything?”
Nobody answered.
The machine did.
CHOICE MANDATORY.
Evelyn stared at the screen.
“I officially hate ancient technology.”
Mara almost laughed.
Then the terminal displayed another message.
TIME REMAINING: 17:02:41
The countdown had restarted.
Mara looked at Elias.
“We need information.”
“Agreed.”
“How?”
Elias thought for a moment.
“The Meridian facility.”
“The abandoned capital?”
“Yes.”
“You want to go back?”
“We need to find out what happened to the other anchors.”
Mara looked at the map.
“And the fifth.”
“Especially the fifth.”
Evelyn crossed her arms.
“How long will you be gone?”
Elias answered.
“Maybe two days.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“No?”
“We don’t have two days.”
The countdown continued.
17:01:58
Mara pointed at the mirror.
“We have seventeen hours.”
Elias nodded.
“Then we leave now.”
Two hours later, Blackridge was ready.
Rowan packed ammunition.
Selene packed medical supplies.
Elias checked the vehicle.
Mara watched through the mirror.
“You’re taking the truck?”
“Yes.”
“How much fuel?”
“Enough.”
“Water?”
“Enough.”
“Food?”
“Enough.”
“Radio?”
“Yes.”
“Backup radio?”
“Yes.”
Mara narrowed her eyes.
“Emergency route?”
“Three.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
Rowan’s voice came through.
“Are you two always like this?”
Mara and Elias answered simultaneously.
“Yes.”
Rowan sighed.
“This is going to be a long trip.”
Selene looked at the mirror.
“What’s the plan?”
Mara answered.
“Find the Meridian facility.”
Elias continued.
“Determine what the direction choice does.”
Selene frowned.
“And if we can’t?”
Mara looked at the countdown.
“Then we make the best choice we can.”
The mirror flickered.
For a moment, Mara saw the abandoned capital.
The ruined towers.
The dead streets.
The machine that had awakened.
And someone standing beside it.
A woman.
White coat.
Dark hair.
Mara’s breath caught.
“Elena.”
Elias turned.
“What?”
“I saw her.”
The image disappeared.
“Where?”
“At the Meridian facility.”
Elias’s expression hardened.
“Then she’s alive.”
Mara looked at the clock.
“Let’s go find her.”
The mirror went dark.
Then, just before it vanished completely, one final message appeared.
ANCHOR FIVE — MOVING TOWARD MERIDIAN.
Mara stared at the words.
Elias did too.
Neither of them spoke.
Because whatever Anchor Five was— it was going to the same place they were.
END OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN