Silence fell. Not the quiet silence of the cavern, but the silence of the horrifying truth that had settled in my soul. "You didn't ask." Two simple words that shattered everything I thought I knew about this being, about this journey.

  I was still at the edge of the lake, the cold water touching my fingertips. But I no longer felt any peace. I looked at the dense shadows between the rock pillars and the dilapidated buildings, then at the dancing reflections on the dark water's surface. Every shadow now held a potential threat, and every ripple in the water concealed a lurking monster.

  I looked at 404. He stood behind me, as silent as a mountain. Nothing about his appearance had changed, but in my eyes, he had transformed completely. He was no longer a guardian, but a black box, filled with secrets and dangers that he would only reveal if I found the right key.

  He's standing right there, I thought, a cold paranoia beginning to creep into my veins. What does he see now? What does he hear? He saw that other thing on the cliff and said nothing. Is there something else now? A meter away? Behind that rock? He won't tell me. He'll watch me die and then analyze the cause of my death.

  I realized my survival no longer depended on his strength, but on my intelligence. On my ability to ask the right questions.

  I turned to face him. There was no anger in my voice this time, only a cold resolve born from despair.

  "Alright, 404. I have a new command."

  He waited, his head tilted slightly, as if receiving a new protocol.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  "Describe to me everything you have sensed—visually, audibly, vibrationally—from the moment we entered this cavern until this exact second. In detail. Do not omit any information, no matter how trivial it may seem to you."

  404 began to answer immediately, his calm, monotone voice unleashing a flood of precise and tedious data into the cavern's silence.

  "Air temperature at cavern entrance: 14 degrees Celsius. Current temperature: 12 degrees Celsius. Humidity: 87%. 1,472 species of moss detected on surrounding rocks. Internal wind speed: 3 kilometers per hour. A minor earth tremor was registered at 17:55 hours, source: rockfall 1.7 kilometers away. At 18:04 hours, a metallic scraping sound was detected, source located 400 meters northwest... At 19:11 hours, a similar metallic energy signature was detected, moving parallel to our path at a roughly constant distance... Rock composition: 92% granite..."

  At first, my mind nearly drowned in this deluge of useless information. But I forced myself to focus, to listen to every word. And then I heard it.

  "...similar metallic signature, moving parallel to our path..."

  The blood in my veins froze. "Wait..." I interrupted him, my voice hoarse. "What did you say? A metallic signature? Moving parallel to us?"

  404 fell silent, his command completed. Then he said, "Yes."

  "It's been stalking us?!" I screamed, my voice trembling with the realization.

  "The entity did not display any direct hostile intent. It maintained a constant distance. It was not classified as an immediate threat."

  I slowly raised my head, terror freezing in my veins. I looked at the darkness that surrounded us from all sides and asked him the question I dreaded hearing the answer to.

  "Where... where is it now?"

  Before 404 could respond, a sharp, loud sound pierced the cavern's silence.

  SHREEEEEEEK!

  It wasn't the sound of an animal. It was the sound of metal scraping against rock, but it was close, terrifyingly close.

  And just a few meters away from us, from between the shadows of the buildings, a massive metallic claw, taller than I was, emerged and slammed down hard on the ground, sinking its sharp blades into the rock and sending a shower of blue sparks into the darkness.