Burning Beneath

The descent was disorienting—not like a normal landing. The air around them seemed heavier, as if something unseen was pressing against reality itself. Sam felt it in her chest, a sensation that wasn’t quite turbulence but something deeper, something wrong.

Mia gripped the armrest, her voice low. “Tell me you feel that.”

Sam nodded. She didn’t need to say it—she felt everything.

When the plane touched down, the world outside was an enigma.

Through the windows, they saw nothing but darkness. No city lights. No landmarks. No clue where they had landed.The exterior was pure blackness, as if the jet had landed in a place removed from geography itself.

Then, the doors opened.

They stepped out onto a platform leading toward a colossal metallic dome, stretching high into the sky. It had no windows, no clear entrance—just a vast, seamless surface that looked like it had been forged, not built.

The air smelled clean. Too clean. No nature. No pollution. No life.

Sam’s pulse quickened. “This isn’t just a facility. This is something else.”

Mia stared at the structure. “This looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.”

They weren’t given time to hesitate. A woman in a tailored suit emerged from the entrance as it silently slid open, her movements precise, almost calculated. She carried no tablet, no notes—she didn’t need them.

Her gaze swept across the new arrivals with an eerie knowingness.

“You were chosen because your minds disrupt convention. Inside these walls, innovation is not a concept—it is an unstoppable force.”

“You have 72 hours to solve a problem that no one else has solved before. The winning solution will be implemented immediately. The world outside does not know we exist, but they will feel the ripples of what is created here.”

Mia swallowed hard. “And if we fail?”

The woman’s lips twitched in something that wasn’t quite a smile.

“Then you were never here.”

Sam’s heart pounded.

This wasn’t just a challenge.

This was a game changer.

The real question wasn’t whether they could win.

It was whether they dared to play at all.