It was an invitation. And he had just RSVP'd.

The original team had gone mad within a week. They’d started carving the same symbol into their palms: a spiral with no end. The file concluded: "All personnel terminated. Recommend re-sealing borehole with 40m of lead-infused concrete. Do not listen to audio log."

A cold sweat broke on his neck. He flipped to the final page, a spectral analysis of the sound. The lab tech had circled a frequency and written: "This is not a voice. It's a key. A request to open."

"It's not saying 'ge.' It's spelling. G... E... It's asking for something."