This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/StrangeAccounts on 2025-01-06 00:20:36+00:00.

Part 1

“We need to leave,” I said, my voice firmer than I felt. “We’ve seen enough.”

Eliza didn’t respond immediately. Her eyes were locked on the crystalline casing, her expression unreadable. “We can’t leave,” she said finally.

“Enough of this,” Price barked, stepping forward. His hand shot out, gripping Eliza’s arm. “We are leaving. Now.”

Eliza didn’t resist. She allowed him to pull her back, but her gaze remained fixed on the crystal. The faint glow emanating from its surface reflected in her wide, unblinking eyes. “You don’t understand,” she whispered. “This is the key to everything. We can’t just—”

“We can,” Price cut her off sharply. “And we will. This isn’t a discussion.”

No one argued with him. The hum that had filled the chamber was still resonating in my chest, making it hard to think clearly. My mind felt fractured, as though pieces of it had been pulled in different directions and left shattered. 

Price guided Eliza out of the chamber, practically dragging her away. She twisted her neck to look back at the structure, her face caught between awe and frustration. Victor, Tessa, Malcolm and I trailed behind.

It didn't take long for me to notice that Victor had begun limping, his hand was pressed against his knee. Every few steps, I heard a faint, disconcerting crack.

“You alright?” I asked.

He nodded, though his face was tired and drawn. “My joints are just starting to feel… loose. Like they’re not centered right.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It doesn't hurt though. I'm good for right now.”

I nodded as I flexed my fingers absently, the gloves on my hands feeling tighter than they should. Without thinking, I pulled one off as we walked. The cool air bit into my skin, but the sensation was fleeting. The cold air wasn't the reason I had stopped in my tracks—it was my hand. 

The skin was uneven, rippling faintly as if something just beneath the surface was shifting. My pores were larger than they should have been, their edges rounded like tiny, yawning spirals. I turned my hand under my flashlight’s beam. The skin moved unnaturally, almost imperceptibly.

“What is it?” Victor asked, stopping beside me.

“Nothing,” I lied, quickly pulling the glove back on. “Just needed a moment.”

“Guys,” Tessa interrupted, “Something’s not right. We’ve passed this corridor before.”

She was right. The path ahead was disturbingly familiar—the same ribbed walls and branching arches we’d already walked through. The patterns in the fossilized surfaces were identical, down to the smallest detail.

Price halted abruptly. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“We’re going in circles,” Tessa said, her voice firm. She held up the tablet, its screen displaying a jumble of readings. “These match exactly with what I logged twenty minutes ago.”

“That’s impossible,” Malcolm groaned. “We’ve been following the same path. There’s no way—”

“Enough,” Price barked, his frustration cutting through the rising tension. He slammed the butt of his flashlight against a wall, the sharp sound echoing down the passageway. “We’ll double back. Find another route. Keep moving.”

But every turn led us deeper into the labyrinth. The corridors twisted in subtle, almost imperceptible ways, their layout warping into something that defied reason. A left turn looped back into the same hallway. A straight path led us to a staircase that hadn’t existed moments before.

“This isn’t real,” Malcolm muttered, his voice cracking. “It’s a trick. A hallucination.”

“It’s the city,” Eliza said softly. There was a strange reverence in her voice. “It’s shifting for us.”

Price’s grip tightened on his flashlight. “Stop,” he said through gritted teeth. “Just keep moving.”

The path ahead was indistinguishable from the one behind, but we pushed forward anyway, desperation driving us. That seemingly familiar path decided to take us somewhere different than usual. It took us to a doorway.

It was massive, framed by fossilized ridges that spiraled inward like the iris of a towering, petrified eye. The edges shimmered faintly under our flashlights.

“This wasn’t here before,” Victor said.

“No,” Eliza agreed. “It wasn’t.”

“Do we go in?” Tessa asked.

“We don’t have a choice,” Price said.

The chamber stretched into the darkness, its dimensions impossible to measure in the dim light. High above, the ceiling arched like the vault of an ancient cathedral, supported by immense rib-like structures that curved inward. At the center of the chamber was the fossil.

Its body was massive, easily twice the size of a normal mans, and its form was frozen in a grotesque contortion. The ribcage flared outward, angular and expansive, while the head was crowned with protrusions that appeared almost decorative. Yet there was nothing ornamental about it. 

The fossilized remains exuded purpose, every jagged line and sharp edge a testament to a design we couldn’t even begin to understand. What made it worse was that the remains were encased in more of that translucent, faintly glowing, crystalline substance. 

We approached cautiously, our movements slow and deliberate. 

“What the hell…” Victor murmured, his voice trailing off.

Eliza broke away from Price’s side, her movements deliberate but unsteady. She moved closer to the fossil, her flashlight beam dancing over its surface. “It’s the same as the others,” she whispered, “But… more.”

“More what?” I asked.

“More advanced,” she said, crouching beside the crystalline casing. “More deliberate. Look at the structure of the bones—the density, the patterns. This wasn’t just a being. It was…” She trailed off, searching for a word that seemed just out of reach.

“Perfect,” Tessa said softly.

Eliza leaned in closer, her breath fogging the crystalline surface. The faint glow reflected in her eyes as if it were drawing her in. “This is what they really looked like,” she said softly, her voice filled with an almost childlike wonder. “This is who built the city.”

Price’s knuckles whitened around his weapon. “It doesn't matter. We need to leave.” he said, his voice clipped.

Eliza turned to face him, her eyes resolute. “We can’t,” she said simply, “Don’t you get it? This is what the city was protecting. This is what it was leading us to.”

“It’s leading us into a trap,” Price replied coldly. His weapon shifted slightly in her direction, though his finger remained off the trigger. “Whatever this is, it’s not meant for us.”

“No,” Eliza said, shaking her head. “It’s showing us exactly what we were meant to see. This is the key to everything—the origin, the purpose. This isn’t just a fossil. It’s… a time capsule.”

“For what?” Victor asked, his voice mumbled.

“For survival,” Eliza said.

Eliza’s words hung in the air, filling the chamber. “For survival,” she repeated, her voice filled with silent awe. Her hand hovered inches from the crystalline casing as if she expected it to respond, to acknowledge her. The rest of us stood motionless, frozen by a combination of fear, unease, and something else—a pull. 

The fossil felt alive, not in a biological sense but in something even greater, its gravity. That much was undeniable.

Price stepped forward, his boots crunching against the ground. His jaw tightened as he took in the scene before him. “That's nice, but we’re done here,” he said, his tone brooking no argument. “We’re not touching that thing, we’re not learning its secrets, and we’re sure as hell not sticking around to find out what happens next. So, Eliza, step back.”

Eliza didn’t move. Her eyes remained locked on the fossil, the faint glow illuminating her face in a way that made her features seem sharper, more angular. “You don’t understand,” she said softly. “We’re connected to it. Can’t you feel it?”

“Eliza,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “Price is right. We need to go. Whatever this is—whatever it wants—it’s not safe.”

“Safe?” she repeated, her lips curving into a faint, unsettling smile. “This isn’t about our safety. It’s about our purpose. This is what we’ve been looking for—what we’ve been missing. It’s… us.”

Her words chilled me more than the fossil itself. There was no doubt in her voice, no hesitation. She wasn’t speaking to convince us; she was stating a fact.

“Eliza,” Price said, his voice sharp and commanding. “Back away. Now.”

But she didn’t move. Instead, she raised her hand again, her fingertips brushing against the crystalline casing. The hum returned. It started faintly, barely audible, but it grew quickly, reverberating through the chamber like a low, resonant tide. 

The crystalline casing began to glow more brightly, the light spreading outward through the branching filaments that extended from its base. My hands felt clammy again, the skin under my gloves prickling with a sensation that was both familiar and foreign.

“What the hell is it doing?” Victor asked.

The fossil itself began to shift within the clear rock—slow, subtle movements that shouldn’t have been possible.

“Jesus Christ,” Victor whispered, stumbling back.

The ribcage of the fossil expanded slightly, as if inhaling, and the thorned protrusions on its skull pulsed faintly. The crystalline casing surrounding it cracked, hairline fractures spidering outward with a sound like splintering ice.

“Move!” I shouted, but no one did. We couldn't.

The broken crevices widened, and th...

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