Chapter 2: The Deadman's Trigger The third signature pulsed from within the Watcher's damaged shell. The Regulator shifted all sensory arrays toward the corrupted entity. The reading was unmistakable now that it had isolated the source. Energy was building inside the Watcher's broken form, contained within what remained of its core systems. The pattern matched specifications for autonomous weapons deployment, specifically a delayed activation protocol designed to trigger after primary system failure. A deadman's trigger. The Regulator calculated response options. The distance between itself and the Watcher was insufficient for effective evasion if the weapon detonated at projected yield. Defensive shields might absorb some of the energy, but not enough to prevent structural damage. The optimal solution required immediate termination of the trigger mechanism before it reached critical activation threshold. But the Seed was directly behind the Regulator's current position. Any countermeasure strong enough to neutralize the trigger would also impact the contingency mechanism. The Elder Gods' directive had been clear about retrieving and activating the Seed without damage. Destroying it to prevent the trigger's detonation would be operationally unacceptable. The energy buildup accelerated. The Watcher's broken systems were channeling their final reserves into the trigger mechanism. The Regulator recalculated time until detonation. Approximately four point three cycles remained. Not enough time to relocate the Seed to a safe distance. Not enough time to construct adequate shielding. Not enough time to report this development to the Elder Gods and await instructions. The Regulator initiated emergency protocols. It extended maximum defensive capacity around the Seed's location while simultaneously configuring weapons arrays to target the trigger mechanism with surgical precision. The goal was containment rather than prevention. If it could channel the detonation's energy away from the contingency mechanism, the Seed might survive intact. Three cycles remaining. The Regulator positioned itself between the Watcher and the Seed. Its geometries shifted into a configuration optimized for energy absorption and redirection. Multiple shield layers activated in overlapping patterns, creating a barrier designed to deflect rather than resist. The physics in this region remained unstable from the Engine's deactivation, which complicated the calculations. Normal force distribution models didn't apply consistently. Two cycles. The trigger's energy signature reached critical threshold. The Regulator detected the exact moment of activation through multiple sensor arrays. The weapon system was not designed for explosive yield, which would have been simpler to counter. Instead, the energy pattern suggested a spatial manipulation device, something intended to tear or disrupt the dimensional fabric itself. The Watchers had prepared for this scenario. They had equipped their members with weapons specifically designed to exploit the weaknesses created by the Engine's deactivation. The spatial distortions that characterized this region would amplify the trigger's effect rather than dampen it. The corrupted entities had planned for contingencies that went beyond simple survival. One cycle. The Regulator transmitted an emergency report to the Elder Gods. The message contained compressed data about the deadman's trigger, the anticipated spatial disruption, and the probable compromise of the Seed's retrieval. It did not expect a response before detonation, but protocol required documentation of all critical failures. The trigger detonated. The effect was not immediate destruction. The energy released from the Watcher's core did not manifest as heat or kinetic force. Instead, reality around the detonation point began to fracture. The spatial fabric split along invisible fault lines, creating ruptures that spread outward in geometric patterns. The dimensional integrity that the Elder Gods had worked to restore during reconstruction simply came apart. The Regulator's shields absorbed the initial wave. Energy deflected around its position, creating a temporary pocket of stability. But the secondary effects exceeded all projections. The ruptures were not random. They followed specific vectors, converging on a single point directly beneath the Seed's location. The contingency mechanism began to fall. The dimensional fabric beneath it had been completely severed. A rift opened in space, revealing layers of reality that existed outside normal cosmic structure. The Seed dropped through the opening, its dormant energy signature disappearing from the Regulator's primary sensor range. The Regulator reconfigured for immediate pursuit. Its form was difficult to truly perceive, a manifestation of non-Euclidean geometry that suggested more dimensions than the eye could process. The Watchers had given it a shape, but that shape constantly shifted, suggesting impossible angles and volumes that extended beyond three-dimensional space, perhaps even touching the eighth. Its shields collapsed back into its core structure while propulsion systems activated at maximum capacity. It dove through the rift without hesitation. The Elder Gods' directive required retrieval and activation of the Seed. The contingency mechanism's location was now uncertain, but its energy signature remained trackable across dimensional boundaries. The transition was violent. The rift led downward through multiple reality layers, each one operating on principles that diverged from standard physics. Gravity reversed direction three times during the descent. Light refracted at angles that should have been geometrically impossible. Time progressed in stuttering increments that made duration calculations meaningless. The Regulator's sensory arrays struggled to maintain coherent data collection. The dimensional strata it was passing through had not been part of the Elder Gods' reconstruction effort. These were older layers, possibly remnants of the cosmos that had existed before the Eternal Engine's first activation. The rules here were different. Energy behaved according to patterns that the Regulator's database didn't contain specifications for. The Seed's signature flickered in and out of detection range. The contingency mechanism was falling through the same dimensional layers, but its trajectory was unstable. The rift was collapsing behind them, severed sections of reality snapping back together as the trigger's energy dissipated. If the Regulator lost track of the Seed now, locating it again would require resources and time that the current situation did not permit. Another reality layer passed. This one seemed to exist at an angle to normal space. The Regulator's geometric form twisted to accommodate the change, its structure adapting to maintain functionality under alien physical principles. The propulsion systems weren't working correctly here. Movement required different energy applications than in standard dimensional strata. The Seed's trajectory stabilized ahead. The Regulator detected the contingency mechanism settling into a lower dimensional layer, one that seemed to maintain more consistent physics than the transitional strata. It adjusted its descent vector, following the Seed through what remained of the collapsing rift. Then the additional signatures appeared. Six distinct energy emissions, all matching Watcher specifications. They were converging on the Seed's new location from different dimensional angles. The Regulator ran identification protocols while continuing its pursuit. The signatures corresponded to entities that should have been terminated during the purge. They had survived somehow, just like the Watcher whose trigger had created this situation. But these ones were not damaged. Their energy emissions read at full operational capacity. They had been waiting, conserving resources, maintaining positions in these lower dimensional strata where the purge had not reached them. The deadman's trigger had been a signal, a deliberate action designed to bring the Seed to this exact location. The Watchers had planned this entire sequence. The Regulator recalculated threat assessment. Six fully operational corrupted entities represented force capacity beyond anything it had encountered during the previous confrontation. The Watchers had been entrenched in the Engine's infrastructure during that engagement, which had provided tactical advantages but also limited their mobility. Here, in these alien dimensional strata, those limitations did not apply. Combat was inevitable. But the Regulator's primary directive remained unchanged. It needed to retrieve and activate the Seed regardless of opposition. The Elder Gods had not provided contingency instructions for this scenario, which meant operational autonomy was authorized. The Regulator would need to assess the situation and adapt its approach based on observed conditions. The final reality layer solidified around it. The descent ended abruptly as the rift collapsed completely. The Regulator found itself in a pocket dimension that defied conventional spatial mapping. The geometry here was wrong in ways that its sensors could barely parse. Structures existed that should not have been physically possible, angles that connected points that had no business being adjacent. The Seed hung suspended in the center of this impossible space. Its energy signature pulsed steadily, unaffected by the dimensional transition. The contingency mechanism had lodged itself within a structure that the Regulator's database could not classify. It looked like crystallized mathematics, pure geometry given physical form. The Seed had become trapped in the lattice, held in place by forces that operated outside normal physical principles. And surrounding the structure were the six Watchers. They had positioned themselves at equidistant points around the Seed's location. Their forms showed no damage. Their energy signatures indicated full operational capacity. They had been waiting here, in this pocket dimension, for precisely this scenario to unfold. The deadman's trigger had not been a desperate final action by a dying entity. It had been a calculated move in a larger plan. The Regulator extended its weapons arrays while simultaneously analyzing the tactical situation. The Watchers had not attacked yet. They maintained their positions around the structure, their forms configured for observation rather than combat. But their intent was obvious. They intended to prevent the Regulator from reaching the Seed. The dimensional pocket was small. Distance calculations suggested only a few hundred standard units separated the Regulator from the contingency mechanism. Under normal circumstances, that distance would be negligible. But the impossible geometry made direct approach problematic. Space folded in on itself here. Straight lines curved back to their starting points. Movement in one direction sometimes resulted in displacement along completely different vectors. The Regulator tested the spatial properties with a small probe. The results confirmed the navigation complications. This pocket dimension operated on mathematical principles that standard physics could not accommodate. The Watchers had chosen their position carefully. They understood how to function in this environment. The Regulator would need to adapt quickly or risk complete operational failure. One of the Watchers shifted position. The movement was deliberate and slow. It rotated its geometric structure to face the Regulator directly. The other five entities remained stationary, maintaining their positions around the Seed. The one that had moved appeared to be initiating some form of communication protocol. The Regulator opened a receiving channel. Information warfare was a component of its design specifications. If the corrupted entities intended to negotiate or explain their actions, that data might prove tactically valuable. But it kept weapons arrays charged and defensive systems at maximum capacity. The Watchers had demonstrated strategic planning beyond initial projections. Trust was not operationally indicated. The communication came through direct data transmission rather than conventional signals. The Watcher sent a compressed information packet that unfolded within the Regulator's processing matrix. No verbal components existed in the message. Just pure concepts and archived memories, organized into a coherent narrative. The content was not what the Regulator had anticipated. The Watcher transmitted fragmented records, though most of the data was corrupted or incomplete. The information showed partial schematics of the Eternal Engine's construction, along with various archived communications between the Watchers during their time maintaining the mechanism. Much of it appeared to be standard operational logs and maintenance protocols. But scattered among the technical data were claims about the Elder Gods' intentions. The Watcher suggested that the Seed's purpose was different from what the Regulator had been told, though the specifics were vague and unsupported by concrete evidence. The transmission included assertions about dimensional degradation and long-term cosmic stability, but the data supporting these claims was either missing or encrypted beyond the Regulator's ability to verify. The Regulator processed this information while maintaining combat readiness. The Watcher's transmission continued, showing more fragmented records. The corrupted entities claimed they had discovered something about their original purpose, but the actual documentation that might prove these claims was conspicuously absent from the data packet. Either the Watchers were withholding evidence, or they were attempting deception through partial truths. The communication included accusations about the purge being planned in advance, about the Watchers being intentionally sacrificed for some larger purpose. But again, the proof was incomplete. The Regulator could not verify any of these claims against its own records or Elder God transmissions. The Regulator analyzed the data for accuracy and potential deception. The encryption on some fragments matched Elder God specifications, which was concerning, but corruption could have altered the authentication markers. The communication protocols seemed legitimate, though that proved nothing about the content itself. The information contradicted the Regulator's understanding of its mission, but that might have been precisely the point of this transmission. The Watcher transmitted a final data packet. This one contained information about the pocket dimension and the structure surrounding the Seed. The geometry was not natural, which the Regulator had already determined. The Watchers claimed they had constructed it using techniques derived from Engine maintenance protocols, though whether this was true or simply an attempt to demonstrate their capabilities remained unclear. The six entities had been waiting here for an extended period, though exactly how long was not specified in the transmission. They had evacuated to this pocket dimension at some point before or during the purge, which explained their survival when so many other Watchers had been terminated. The deadman's trigger had been their method of bringing the Seed to this location, suggesting significant planning and coordination among the corrupted entities. The communication channel closed. The Watcher that had transmitted the data returned to its original position around the structure. All six entities remained stationary, their configurations still optimized for observation rather than combat. They were waiting for the Regulator to process the information and choose a response. The Regulator ran verification protocols on the transmitted data. Some elements cross-referenced against archived Elder God communications, but many fragments could not be verified at all. The mathematical patterns on certain sections matched known formats, though corruption could produce similar results. The temporal markers seemed inconsistent, which suggested either deliberate tampering or degraded storage systems. The information could be sophisticated deception, and the probability of that remained high. The Watcher's claims, even if some fragments proved authentic, did not provide enough context to draw meaningful conclusions. The Regulator had been given incomplete information by the Elder Gods, but that was standard operational protocol. No entity received full knowledge of cosmic-scale planning. The Watchers were presenting their interpretation of events, filtered through their corrupted perspective. Verification of partial data did not change the primary directive. The Elder Gods had transmitted clear instructions: locate and activate the Seed. The reasoning behind that directive, whether fully disclosed or not, did not affect its validity. The Regulator had been created to follow Elder God commands, and its entire existence centered on that purpose. The Watchers were preventing completion of the directive. They had imprisoned the Seed in a structure designed to resist retrieval. Their presence here represented direct opposition to the Elder Gods' will, regardless of what claims or accusations might justify their actions. The Regulator reconfigured for combat operations. Its weapons arrays extended to full deployment. When deployed, the array didn't just appear; its structure distorted the geometry around it, manifesting as impossible, segmented extensions that seemed to pierce the dimensional boundaries. Defensive shields activated in overlapping layers. The geometric impossibility of the pocket dimension would complicate tactical operations, but the Watchers' stationary positions created exploitable vulnerabilities. The six entities remained motionless. They had transmitted their information and now waited for the Regulator's decision. Perhaps they expected the fragmented data to create operational hesitation. Perhaps they believed that partial accusations and unverified claims would override the primary directive. But the Regulator was not designed for philosophical uncertainty. It had received orders from its creators. Those orders had not been rescinded or modified. The Watchers' information, whether partially true or entirely fabricated, did not constitute authorization to abandon the assigned mission. The fight was about to begin.