ISLE CALIGO – ABANDONED OBSERVATORY, EDGE OF FOREST [4:13 PM]
(The wind cut sharper now. The trio trudged through brittle underbrush. Trees groaned above them—too quiet for comfort. They reached a rusted fence, nearly overtaken by moss. Behind it, an old observatory dome loomed, half-collapsed.)
GOIGI – (shivering) Okay. This place is giving me full-on alien bunker vibes.
LAYLA – (cautious) Why would your grandfather have anything to do with an observatory?
LUCAS – (checking his map) It wasn't for watching stars. He tracked signal anomalies—acoustic, electromagnetic... stuff way beyond civilian science.
GOIGI – (mocking) So, grandpa was the island's official weird old guy. Got it.
(Lucas reached into his bag and pulled out a metallic key. It shimmered slightly—almost pulsing.)
LAYLA – (noticing) It's reacting again.
LUCAS – (quietly) It knows we're close.
INSIDE THE OBSERVATORY
(The trio entered the dome. Dust floated like ash. An ancient machine sat at the centre—part telescope, part satellite dish, part... something else. An array of wires pulsed with a strange, faint glow.)
LAYLA – (whispering) It's still powered?
GOIGI – (kneeling near a console) No way. No solar... no batteries... nothing. This shouldn't even be alive.
(The terminal beside them sparked once. Then the screen blinked on. A single line of text glowed.)
WELCOME BACK, DR. MIDNITE.
LUCAS – (stunned) That's... that's my great-grandfather's name.
(A deep humming rose through the walls, like the building was breathing.)
VAULT ACTIVATION: 40%SIGNAL CONFIRMED. PREPARE FOR ARRIVAL.
LAYLA – (panicked) What does that mean? Arrival of what?
GOIGI – (reading the screen) Something's coming. Fast.
ISLE CALIGO – VILLAGE OUTSKIRTS [4:40 PM]
(Miles away, a fisherman stood outside his small home. He lit a cigarette—then stopped. His microwave inside had turned itself on.)
FISHERMAN – (frowning) What the hell?
(He stepped inside. The microwave was sparking, vibrating. The glass door bulged outward like it was being pushed from within. He took one step back—)
BOOM.
(The microwave exploded in a pulse of force. The fisherman was thrown into the wall, unmoving. On the splintered tiles, the fragments formed a shape—burned into the floor.)
GOIGI (V.O.) – (echoed) Lucas… look at this pattern.
ISLE CALIGO – OBSERVATORY [4:45 PM]
(The three huddled over the machine's interface. A rotating diagram of coordinates and glyphs shimmered on screen.)
GOIGI – (zooming in) This symbol—it matches the one from the microwave explosion. And... it looks like a circuit. No—like a brain.
LAYLA – (horrified) Are you saying the AI is alive?
LUCAS – (tense) Not alive. Just awake.
ISLE CALIGO – ELSEWHERE, UNKNOWN LOCATION [5:00 PM]
(A grainy surveillance feed flickered to life. A humanoid figure stood silhouetted in a steel chamber. Its limbs were jagged. Its face masked. Lights glowed from beneath its skin—an artificial pattern.)
INCOMING REQUEST: COORDINATES RECEIVED.RETURN TO POINT ZERO.
(The figure turned toward the camera. It didn't blink. Just... moved.)
ISLE CALIGO – FOREST TRAIL NEAR THE OBSERVATORY [5:20 PM]
(The trio had exited the observatory. The air felt wrong—pressurized, static-laced. They moved quickly.)
GOIGI – (urgently) Lucas, if this vault is really buried under Mount Velis, what's inside it?
LUCAS – (serious) Records. The last test. And maybe… the thing they tried to shut down.
LAYLA – (pausing) Tried?
LUCAS – (grimly) They failed.
(A rumble echoed across the valley. Then silence.)
LAYLA – (glancing around) Tell me you heard that.
GOIGI – (clutching his toolkit) That was underground. Something just woke up.
TO BE CONTINUED...