The maintenance tunnels under Kuala Lumpur were a forgotten labyrinth.
Rust flaked from the walls, and stagnant water pooled in broken crevices.
Every few meters, ancient service lights flickered, casting sickly glows into the endless dark.
Irfan Shah adjusted the settings on his newly built Pulse Disruptor, clipped tight to the strap across his chest.
Beside him, Aina Farisha crouched low, her sidearm ready.
Reza moved slower, supported by her lightweight exo-rig, every step measured but determined.
They were deeper underground than they had ever been.
And above them, PHALANX scouts were closing the net.
"Testing now," Irfan whispered.
He pulled out the disruptor and thumbed the activation node.
A low hum vibrated through the air — almost imperceptible — as the device pulsed.
LUCIA's voice chimed softly in his mind:
"Pulse emission successful. Localized neural detection disabled within 10-meter radius. Duration: 28 seconds."
Irfan grinned tightly.
It worked.
At least, for now.
They moved quickly.
Hoverboard prototype tucked under Irfan's arm for now — too risky to use in tight tunnels.
Their goal: reach a decommissioned metro hub rumored to have exits to the city outskirts.
If they could escape the underground web, they could regroup.
Maybe even build something larger.
Something that could fight back.
Ahead, Aina halted suddenly, hand raised.
Voices.
Metallic footsteps.
Flashlight beams cutting across the tunnel junction ahead.
PHALANX patrol.
Three operatives in black armor, scanning the tunnels with neural trackers.
Reza tensed beside Irfan.
They couldn't fight.
Not directly.
Not in this state.
Irfan glanced down at the Hoverboard, then back at the disruptor still humming against his chest.
Risky.
But doable.
He whispered:
"Stealth move. Now."
He dropped the Hoverboard onto the cracked floor.
It floated a few inches off the ground, humming faintly.
With one hand clutching the disruptor, Irfan stepped onto the board carefully.
Aina gave him a skeptical glance but nodded.
Reza smirked despite herself.
"Try not to die stylishly."
Irfan shifted his weight forward.
The Hoverboard wobbled — then steadied.
He glided silently down the side corridor, using a broken wall segment to mask his silhouette from the patrol.
Aina and Reza followed on foot, crouching low, moving like shadows.
The disruptor pulsed in Irfan's hand, keeping the patrol's neural scanners blinded — but only for a few precious seconds.
One of the PHALANX operatives turned, sensing movement.
"Sector 5 anomaly. Visual confirmation required."
The patrol advanced, weapons raised.
Irfan swore under his breath, leaning harder into the hoverboard.
It accelerated silently, slipping around a blind corner just as a flashlight beam swept past the space he had occupied.
Aina and Reza dove into a service hatch, disappearing into the crumbling infrastructure.
Heart hammering, Irfan brought the board to a shaky stop behind a collapsed pipeline.
He powered down the disruptor — letting the signal fade before PHALANX could triangulate its source.
Silence.
Stillness.
The patrol moved past, scanning but finding nothing.
Minutes later, Irfan, Aina, and Reza regrouped deeper in the tunnels.
All three breathing hard.
All three still alive.
Aina clapped him on the shoulder, half-laughing, half-cursing.
"You're insane, Shah."
"Effective, though, right?" he grinned, panting.
Reza leaned heavily against the wall, smirking.
"Next time, build two hoverboards. My legs aren't a fan of your genius."
Above them, the faint hum of drones patrolling the upper levels never ceased.
Below, they moved like ghosts through the broken veins of a dying city.
For now, they had slipped through the cracks.
But Irfan knew it wouldn't last.
PHALANX was adapting.
The city itself was hunting them.
They needed to move faster.
Build faster.
Fight smarter.
Because the next encounter would not be with patrol grunts.
It would be with something far worse.