As we moved further through the vault, the unsettling noises growing louder, the air thicker with tension. Every corner we turned seemed to reveal more of the vault’s morbid secrets.

I couldn’t hold back my thoughts any longer. The weight of everything we’d seen was too much to carry alone. Freya, you’re not reacting to any of this, I said, with frustration and disbelief. Did you know this was happening?

Freya slowed her pace, her eyes fixed straight ahead, her expression unreadable. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if she was going to answer. Then, with a heavy sigh, she nodded. Yes, she said quietly, like a confession. I knew... I didn’t know all of it, but I felt it—like a shadow creeping beneath my feet. When I was at Neurogenesis, there were always secrets, layers of hidden agendas. But even with all my access, there was something... being developed right under our noses. We all felt it, but by the time I understood, it was too late.

Freya’s gaze turned distant, as if she were staring through the walls, seeing memories only she could recall. Jatari was always brilliant, a visionary, but she was obsessed with the idea of saving humanity—no matter the cost. She believed that the world as it was could never recover, that humanity was spiraling toward extinction. And she was determined to stop that, even if it meant sacrificing everything.

I frowned, struggling to comprehend what she was saying. How could she save humanity by doing... this?

Jatari thought that by preserving the consciousnesses of those who died in Neotokyo, she could merge their minds with her own. She wanted to become something more than human, a being of infinite intelligence that could guide humanity down a better path. She believed that with all those minds inside her, she could play god, erase the mistakes of the past.

The idea was horrifying, and I felt a cold sweat forming on my skin. That’s... insane. How could she possibly know that everyone in Neotokyo would die?

My question lingered as we approached a grand door, leading to the main chamber of the vault.