The sphere hovered in perfect stillness. Its needle still pointed—unwavering, insistent—through walls and distance, through the crust of the Earth itself. Ren stood before it, hands at his sides, breathing slow. Everything he thought he knew about the artifact had shifted. Again.

  “ So this is it,” he said.??“ The direction. A destination.”

  Sky nodded, arms folded as she watched the readout on the screen behind them.

  “ Coordinates are trianguting,” she confirmed.??“ Give it a minute.” ??“ Where?” he asked. ??“ Somewhere in the mid-Atntic.” She turned to him, her expression unreadable. ??“ Roughly where Pto pced Atntis.”

  Ren almost ughed—but it came out as breath.

  “ Of course it is.” ??“ Not so funny, now,” she said quietly.

  He looked back at the glowing sphere. It still didn’t seem real. That something this ancient—this alien—could know where to point.

  “ You said your team found the sphere. Was it... like this?” ??“ Dormant,” she said.??“ Until now. We tried everything. Radiation, magnetic fields, sonics. Nothing. But when I saw the photo of your cube... I had a theory. Turns out I was right.” She stepped closer to him. ??“ They were made to be together. Two halves of a lock. Now we just need to find the door.”

  Ren felt a chill creep through him. It wasn’t fear. Not quite. It was the weight of knowing that every story told to children—every myth and whispered secret—might have been pointing to this.

  “ Atntis was never the goal,” he murmured. ??“ No,” said Sky.??“ It was the curtain. The theater set. But behind it…” She gestured toward the glowing line. ??“ There’s something else.”

  A low tone chimed from the nearest console. Coordinates locked. The readout glowed blue: LAT: 31.7°N — LONG: 25.2°W Depth: 4000 meters Status: Unknown

  Ren stared at the numbers. The Atntic. Remote. Deep. No isnd there. No ndmass.

  “ There’s nothing on the surface,” he said. ??“ Exactly,” Sky replied.??“ Whatever it’s pointing to—it’s underneath.”

  Ren exhaled. ??“ This is insane.” ??“ It’s history,” she said.

  Silence fell between them. In the quiet, he could almost hear the ocean in his ears. The crushing pressure. The weight of time. And still… the compass pointed.

  Sky moved to the side console and opened a drawer. Inside were several sealed cases. She opened one. Inside y a set of satellite maps. Another case held a collection of small vials—samples, sealed and coded. Another still held a chip—bio-encrypted. Prepared. Everything about her screamed preparedness.

  “ You’ve been pnning this,” Ren said, narrowing his eyes. ??“ I’ve been waiting for this,” she corrected. ??“ Why me?” ??“ Because you’re the only one who didn’t walk away. You brought your cube into the fire, even when they ughed.” She tilted her head. ??“ And because you’ve seen something. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve already crossed the threshold.”

  He didn’t answer. His mind raced—not with fear, but with memory. The tomb. The cold stone. The glyphs. The voice of his mother reading to him from old texts, warning him to tread lightly around buried truths.

  “ You really believe we’ll find something down there?” ??“ I know we will.”

  She opened a digital folder on the main console—images flicked across the screen: strange structures on the seabed, anomalies, magnetic readings, lost signals. Some had timestamps decades apart.

  “ These are all from the same region. Something’s down there. Something the world has chosen to ignore.” ??“ Or cover up,” Ren added.

  She gave him a look—half a smile, half a challenge.

  “ Does it matter?” ??“ It does if it fights back.”

  That silenced them both. Finally, Sky turned from the screen.

  “ I want you with me, Compass.” Her voice softened. She rarely used names. ??“ I want you to help navigate this. To be part of something real.”

  He looked at her—and something flickered. Respect? Trust? Or something else.

  “ What aren’t you telling me?” She didn’t flinch. ??“ Enough to keep you alive.” ??“ Comforting.”

  She smiled faintly, then turned to the hovering sphere.

  “ Look at it. Really look.”

  He did. And saw not a device. Not a weapon. Not even a mystery. He saw a summons. Something ancient had reached across eons, sent out signals in pieces. And now those pieces were together again. It was calling them home. Or into the mouth of something older than home.

  “ Alright,” he said quietly.??“ I’m in.”

  Sky didn’t respond right away. Just nodded, once.

  “ We leave in 48 hours. My team’s assembling now. You’ll have time to prepare. To bring your people.”

  He hesitated.

  “ My team…” ??“ The professor. The medic. The mechanic. The observer. I know who they are.”

  He gave her a long look.

  “ Been watching me long?” ??“ Long enough to know you’ll need them.”

  She turned to leave, pausing at the top of the steps.

  “ One more thing.”

  He looked up.

  “ Once we go down there… there’s no turning back.”

  And she was gone. The echo of her boots faded up the stairwell. Ren stood in silence, bathed in the blue glow of the sphere. Its needle still pointed, unmoving. Unchanging. Straight toward the unknown.

  He thought of Rivet’s ughter. Of Sphinx’s warnings. Of Echo’s quiet eyes. Of Doc’s steady hands. I’ll need them all. The weight settled. Not of the past. Of what comes next.

  He picked up the cube, held it close, then turned off the b light. Darkness fell. But the compass still glowed.