Ch. 3: The Hidden Observatory

The mysterious man slowly walked toward Aryan and Meera.

Instinctively, they stepped behind a broken concrete pillar, holding their breath.

The stranger paused for a moment, shining his flashlight around the hallway.

For a few seconds, everything was silent.

Then his phone rang.

“Yes,” he whispered. “The receiver has been activated. Someone is inside the observatory.”

Aryan's heart pounded.

The man walked away, disappearing into another corridor.

“We have to know what he's hiding,” Meera whispered.

They quietly followed him through the abandoned building until they reached a massive steel door marked:

“RESTRICTED ACCESS – PROJECT ECHO.”

The door looked permanently sealed.

Beside it was an old keypad.

Most of the buttons were damaged except four numbers:

1… 9… 8… 6…

Aryan looked at the keypad.

“Maybe it's a year,” he said.

He entered 1986.

A loud click echoed through the hallway.

The heavy steel door slowly opened.

Behind it was a hidden underground laboratory.

Old computers, blinking control panels, and strange machines filled the room. Thick cables stretched across the floor toward a giant antenna fixed to the ceiling.

Dust covered almost everything.

It looked as though no one had entered the laboratory for decades.

In the center of the room stood a computer that was still powered on.

Its monitor suddenly came to life.

A message appeared on the screen.

“WELCOME, NEW RECEIVER.”

Before Aryan could react, another message flashed.

“WARNING: ECLIPSE HAS DETECTED YOUR LOCATION. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.”

The lights instantly turned red.

Emergency alarms echoed throughout the laboratory.

Meera grabbed Aryan's arm.

“We need to leave!”

At that exact moment, heavy footsteps echoed from the staircase.

Someone was coming down.

A deep voice shouted,

“Seal every exit! Don't let them escape!”

Aryan looked around desperately.

There was only one way out.

A narrow tunnel leading into complete darkness.

Without wasting another second, Aryan and Meera ran into the tunnel as the voices behind them grew louder.

The chase had begun.