Avery and Xander descend the hidden stairs into a well-lit metal tunnel system. When the passage splits three ways, Xander points straight ahead because a gargoyle at the bottom of the stairs, matching the Great Room gargoyles, has one finger extended in that direction.

As Avery follows the implied command to “come find me,” Avery wonders whether Tobias Hawthorne has somehow manipulated every step of the game, even after death. The thought unsettles Avery enough to question whether anyone actually saw Tobias’s body.

The straight tunnel ends at a blank wall, forcing Avery to search backward for something missed. Avery finds a metal grate in the floor marked by the surviving letters “M” and “E,” lifts it with Xander’s help, and discovers another drop below.

Xander descends first, and Avery follows into a small underground room. A concrete wall bears Avery’s initials, A.K.G.; when Avery approaches, facial-recognition technology scans Avery’s face and opens the wall to reveal a door.

The next barrier changes the stakes. The door has four touch pads, each marked with one Hawthorne brother’s initials: Jameson, Grayson, Nash, and Xander. Xander’s hand unlocks only one deadbolt, making it clear that Avery was necessary to reach the door, but all four brothers are required to open it.