The sun had already set when Brando dragged himself out of the infirmary. He'd spent the last few hours studying Bianca's holographic disc, trying to figure out how it worked. It was only when he scanned it with his KryoWatch that the coordinates appeared: a set of precise instructions that guided him through the Academy's maze to an area tucked away in Vesuvius's northern face.

  The puppy trotted along behind him, and Brando realized only now how much it had changed during his four days of unconsciousness. It was no longer the trembling ball of fluff he had rescued. It had grown, not by much, but enough to notice the difference. Its fur was shinier, almost metallic in places, with white patches emerging like snow on a dark field. Its muscle structure had slightly defined, giving it a more robust appearance. And most importantly, it no longer needed the backpack—it followed Brando like a faithful shadow, its third eye glowing in the twilight.

  They stopped in front of what appeared to be an old service entrance, hidden among the twisted roots of an ancient tree. The coordinates didn't lie: the Daedalus was here.

  "Fuck," Brando muttered.

  The entrance had been carved directly into the volcanic rock, a perfectly circular tunnel that burrowed into Vesuvius's bowels. The walls had been polished until they were smooth as glass, and from inside came a constant hum, like the breath of a sleeping beast.

  A sign, almost invisible in the dim light, read: "RESTRICTED AREA - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY." Below, in smaller print: "DELTA+ ACCESS." The metal was so old that the paint had almost completely flaked off, but the message was clear as ice: this place wasn't for people like him.

  "Must be here," Brando whispered, feeling the weight of the past hours on his shoulders. The puppy made a low sound, as if confirming his words.

  They approached the actual entrance: a blast door that seemed designed to withstand a nuclear explosion. Next to it, a small scanner waited patiently. Brando pulled the holographic disc from his pocket, feeling it strangely warm to the touch. He passed it in front of the reader.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then a screen lit up in the wall, projecting words of blue light into the darkness:

  ACCESS GRANTED

  ALL AREAS ACCESSIBLE

  WARNING: TIMER INITIATED - 6:00:00

  UPON EXPIRATION OF ALLOWED TIME, SECURITY SYSTEM WILL ACTIVATE AUTOMATIC EXPULSION - NO EXCEPTIONS

  "Security system?" Brando murmured, feeling a shiver run down his spine. He didn't even want to imagine what "automatic expulsion" meant in a place like this.

  The puppy pressed against his leg, emitting a low whimper. Its three eyes were fixed on the door that, with a hydraulic hiss, slowly began to open.

  The door closed behind them with a dull thud that echoed in the silence. Brando found himself in a metal corridor that descended gently into darkness, illuminated only by strips of bluish light that pulsed along the walls like artificial veins.

  "Is this it?" he murmured, but his voice sounded strange in the dense air. The puppy stayed close to his feet, its third eye glowing in response to the corridor lights.

  They advanced through the tunnel for what seemed like an eternity, until the corridor suddenly opened into something that made Brando hold his breath.

  He stood in an artificial cavern so vast that the walls were lost in darkness. The entire space was dominated by four titanic elevators, each so large it could transport a hundred people at once. The doors, made of a black metal that seemed to absorb light, were numbered I to IV in luminous characters.

  "Holy shit..." Brando whispered.

  A holographic panel materialized before him, projecting information into the air:

  LEVEL I - DELTA ACCESS

  LEVEL II - GAMMA/BETA ACCESS

  LEVEL III - ALPHA ACCESS

  LEVEL IV - OMEGA/ULTIMA ACCESS

  "It's almost like an underground city," Brando murmured. The Daedalus was divided into four floors, one for each rank. Deltas could only access the first level, and so on down to the deepest floors, reserved for the highest ranks. The only way for a lower rank to go deeper was to receive a special invitation from someone of superior rank—or to have a stolen pass.

  As if it had read his thoughts, elevator number IV silently opened before him. The other doors remained sealed, like sentinels watching an intruder violate their domain.

  The elevator's interior was lined with the same metal as the doors. The floor was transparent, revealing the shaft that plunged into the volcano's depths.

  "Jason's Chamber," Brando murmured, stepping forward. "Let's see what you can do."

  The puppy followed him inside, but its behavior had changed. It no longer seemed frightened as before. There was something different in the way it moved, as if responding to a call only it could hear.

  The doors closed with a metallic sigh.

  "Floor negative four," an artificial voice announced. "Estimated depth: one thousand meters. Descent time: three minutes."

  The elevator began to descend, emitting that typical mechanical hum that at that moment sounded like a funeral dirge. Through the transparent floor, Brando could see layer upon layer of volcanic rock scroll by as they sank deeper into the mountain's entrails.

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  He wondered what existed on the other floors. What did the higher ranks do in those depths? What secrets did the Daedalus hide? But most importantly, what awaited him at the bottom of that shaft that seemed to swallow light itself?

  The display already showed -700 meters, and it kept dropping.

  The elevator stopped with a hydraulic hiss that echoed in the silence. The doors opened revealing a corridor that extended in both directions, illuminated by the same bluish light that seemed to permeate the entire Daedalus.

  On the wall facing them, a series of directions had been etched on white plaques to stand out in the silver-lit tunnel:

  EAST ZONE: CORRIDORS 1-7

  WEST ZONE: CORRIDORS 8-14

  JASON'S CHAMBER - CORRIDOR 12

  "Corridor twelve," Brando murmured. The puppy moved at his side, its fur almost seeming to glow under the artificial lights.

  They headed west. Each step resonated on the metal floor with an unsettling echo, as if the Daedalus itself were listening to their intrusion. The ceiling was low, almost oppressive, and the walls seemed to whisper with the passage of air conditioning.

  Corridor eight was identical to the others, but there was something different in the air. A palpable tension, like static electricity that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. The puppy clearly sensed it: all three of its eyes were wide open and vigilant.

  After what seemed like an infinite time, they saw it.

  Jason's Chamber.

  The door was a monolith of black metal, different from anything they had seen so far in the Daedalus. No handle, no visible control panel. Just a green LED on the lintel that pulsed slowly, indicating the chamber was available.

  And then there were the words. Engraved in the metal with surgical precision, they glowed faintly in the half-light:

  JASON'S CHAMBER

  Like the golden fleece he sought, so is the power you desire.

  Like the price he paid, so will be your tribute. Jason risked everything—life, soul, humanity.

  He obtained what he sought, but the cost exceeded all imagination.

  What you will find here is alive.

  It will evolve you, change you, or kill you.

  Once inside, only the Chamber will decide when you are finished.

  Brando swallowed. The puppy emitted a low sound, almost a growl, but not of fear. It seemed more like anticipation.

  "If I don't go in," Brando murmured, "I'll never know if I can make it."

  He tried to keep the puppy outside, but the creature categorically refused to leave him alone. It planted itself on its paws with all three eyes fixed on him with a determination that brooked no argument.

  The green LED turned red and the door opened.

  "Okay," Brando whispered. "Let's see what awaits us."

  Together, human and Pseudo-Glacial, they entered Jason's Chamber, and the door closed behind them with a final thud. There was no going back.

  Jason's Chamber revealed itself as a perfect cube, ten meters on each side. The walls were a blinding white that almost hurt the eyes, interrupted only by ventilation vents positioned at the corners that emitted a constant hiss.

  "Welcome, Bearer."

  The voice filled the space like water filling a glass. It was feminine, calm but authoritative. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

  "Identification: Brando Casadei," the voice continued. "You have been authorized to enter Jason's Chamber. Current risk level: critical."

  "Who are you?" Brando asked, turning around looking for the source of the voice.

  "I am AGATHA. Artificial Guide and Analytical Tactical Helper for Adaptation. I am the artificial intelligence integrated into this chamber."

  The puppy moved cautiously through the space, sniffing the air with curiosity. Its three eyes scrutinized the walls as if it could see something Brando couldn't perceive.

  "Sit cross-legged," AGATHA ordered.

  "First tell me what I'll find in here."

  "Nanospores," AGATHA replied. "A synthetic version of those released by the Alien Artifact. In a concentration ten times higher than that present during the Cooling Down."

  "What a beautiful mess," Brando declared, feeling a shiver run down his spine.

  "The chamber produces them constantly," AGATHA continued, ignoring his comment. "It has been demonstrated that this concentration optimizes the Cold cultivation process. In your case, the risk is significantly higher than normal."

  "Why?"

  "Zeta Rank. Never tested before under these conditions. Survival probabilities are limited."

  Brando sat slowly at the center of the room, crossing his legs as he'd been ordered. The floor was cold beneath him, but not normal cold. It was like sitting on living ice.

  "How does it work?"

  "The nanospores will react to your body. More specifically, to your Cold Veins. The process is intense."

  "How intense?"

  "Sufficiently intense to kill 57% of tested subjects of ranks higher than yours."

  Brando clenched his fists. The chamber was telling him that more than half of the people who entered here died? And he, on top of all this, was also a Zeta Rank, the shit of shit. Strong anxiety began to rise within him, but deep down he knew he would fight until the end. The puppy had sat beside him, strangely calm despite the situation.

  "Let's begin," said AGATHA. "Nanospore concentration at critical level in 3... 2... 1..."

  The ventilation vents emitted a stronger hiss, and Brando's world was about to change forever.

  The nanospores welcomed him like an electric blue embrace. A sea of microscopic particles filled the air, dancing in the light like soot. It wasn't the blue of the sky or the ocean. It was the blue of the abyss, the blue of dying stars, the blue of things that shouldn't exist in the universe.

  The wave hit him, penetrating through his clothes, through his skin, to the marrow. The Cold Veins under his skin reacted immediately, pulsing as if recognizing something familiar yet alien.

  "Breathe," he told himself. "Don't fight them yet."

  The space around him began to distort. The white walls seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting like giant lungs. The puppy moved around the room with cautious steps, its paws sinking slightly into the surface as if walking on fluorescent blue sand.

  Then the puppy made a sound Brando had never heard it make before. It wasn't a whimper or a growl, but almost a buzz, as if it were responding to something. It was at that moment that the tingling exploded in his Cold Veins.

  "FUCK!"

  It was as if every vein in his body had been filled with alien electricity. The Cold Veins that he normally felt flowing under his skin like rivulets of ice had transformed into white-hot wires of pure energy.

  "The nanospores are alive," AGATHA's voice cut through the chaos of his senses. "They're evaluating you. This version is more aggressive than the originals. They're mapping your system."

  "For what?" Brando gasped, feeling every nerve in his body scream.

  "To decide how to change you."

  It felt like microscopic snakes were crawling beneath his skin, searching for something, digging deeper and deeper. His vision blurred for a moment, and when it came back into focus, the world had changed.

  He could see something like vortices suspended in the air. Streams of energy flowing through space like rivers of blue light, intertwining with each other.

  "You see them, don't you?" AGATHA asked. "The currents?"

  "Yes," Brando whispered, hypnotized by the dance of light and energy that filled the air.

  "You must find a way to use them. To bend them to your will."

  Brando extended his hands in front of him, focusing on his fingertips as he'd been taught. But instead of responding to his command, the nanospores almost seemed to mock him, dancing between his fingers in mocking spirals.

  "It doesn't work like that," AGATHA said. "The nanospores aren't the cold you know. They're alive."

  "And how do you control something that's alive?" Brando growled through clenched teeth.

  "You don't control it," AGATHA replied. "You guide it."

  The walls pulsed faster and faster, and in the air, the nanospores formed increasingly complex spirals. The puppy emitted a strange, almost metallic sound, while its three eyes followed dances of light that only it seemed to truly understand.