Morning arrived slowly.
A thin veil of mist still hung over the city as their vehicles began to move.
The roads were empty.
The sky was pale.
As if the world itself—
hadn't fully awakened yet.
Inside the vehicle, Arga opened his lunchbox.
The eleven grains of rice glowed softly.
Calm.
Warm.
Then—
they pulsed.
Slowly.
Steadily.
Like a heartbeat.
Sinta glanced over.
"Can you still feel it?"
Arga nodded.
"...More than before."
A brief pause.
"...The closer we get, the clearer it becomes."
He didn't tell her everything.
Because what he felt wasn't just energy.
It was something else.
Something unsettling.
As if he was being called home.
The city gradually disappeared behind them.
Concrete gave way to trees.
Paved roads became dirt paths.
The air changed.
Cooler.
Cleaner.
More alive.
Bimo rolled down the window and took a deep breath.
"Now this is real air."
Dika smiled.
"No smell of engines."
A pause.
"...Not yet, anyway."
Lila stared at her tablet.
"The signal is getting stronger."
Farhan enlarged the graph.
Stable.
But incredibly high.
Too high.
"...This isn't normal," he muttered.
Rani looked over.
"How bad is it?"
Farhan remained silent for a moment.
Then answered.
"...Stronger than Dominion."
The vehicle fell quiet.
Kai stared at the mountains in the distance.
A faint golden glow flickered in his eyes.
"...I can feel it too."
Sinta turned to him.
"What does it feel like?"
Kai closed his eyes.
Several seconds passed.
Then he opened them again.
"It doesn't force you."
"It doesn't pull."
A pause.
"...It waits."
Arga tightened his grip on the lunchbox.
"...Like us."
Hours later, they finally arrived.
A small village sat at the foot of the mountains.
Wooden houses.
Wide rice fields.
A gentle breeze.
Too gentle.
There were no voices.
No signs of daily life.
Only silence.
Pak Rahmat turned off the engine.
"The location is up there."
He pointed toward a narrow dirt trail winding between rows of pine trees.
Bu Maya looked around quietly.
"This place feels peaceful."
Bimo smirked.
"Places that feel peaceful usually..."
He paused.
"...hide something."
Arga stepped out of the vehicle.
And immediately froze.
The lunchbox lit up.
Brighter.
Faster.
The eleven grains pulsed intensely.
No longer gentle.
"...It's here."
They began walking.
Their footsteps crunched softly against the dirt path.
The wind whispered through the pine trees.
But something felt wrong.
There were no birds.
No insects.
Only silence.
Perfect silence.
The kind that shouldn't exist.
Then they saw it.
At the top of the hill.
An old stone building.
Cracked walls.
Broken windows.
Motionless.
Yet somehow—
alive.
Waiting.
Lila checked her tablet.
"This is the place."
Farhan stared at the structure.
"The first nutritional research facility..."
Kai couldn't take his eyes off it.
"...The energy is coming from inside."
Not from the earth.
Not from the air.
From inside.
Something wasn't right.
They moved closer.
Their pace slowed.
Then—
"Wait."
Everyone stopped.
Bimo pointed at the ground.
Fresh tire tracks.
Recent.
Still sharp in the dirt.
Sinta immediately understood.
"...We're not alone."
Farhan checked his screen.
"Another signal detected."
Lila stiffened.
"...Dominion."
Rani clenched her fist.
"They got here first."
Kai stared at the building.
His eyes glowed faintly.
"...And they know."
Arga closed the lunchbox.
But the energy inside him continued to rise.
Stronger.
Clearer.
As if something within the building was answering his call.
Then Kai suddenly stopped.
His entire body went rigid.
Sinta noticed immediately.
"Kai?"
No answer.
His gaze remained locked on the building.
A strange expression crossed his face.
Confusion.
Recognition.
Fear.
"...I've seen this place before."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What?" Bimo asked.
Kai shook his head slowly.
"I've never been here."
A pause.
His voice became quieter.
"But I know it."
Silence settled over the group.
No one knew what to say.
Then the mountain wind suddenly grew colder.
Sharper.
The old wooden door at the front of the building trembled.
CREAAAK...
It opened slightly.
Not because of the wind.
As if it had sensed them.
As if it recognized them.
Or perhaps—
it had been waiting.
Deep within the darkness beyond that doorway—
something had awakened.
Not Dominion.
Not a machine.
Not even a human being.
But something that had existed long before the energy had a name.
Long before anyone understood what it truly was.