"This is an important job. The tech is said to be next-level—perfect for keeping us camouflaged from the Chancellor and his Conceal. Hopefully it upgrades your 2000-grade gear while holding onto that misplaced sense of tradition," came a female voice through his earpiece, as he stood perched atop a tall building.
He wore a black, loose-fitting shirt that concealed his athletic frame, paired with tactical pants that hugged his legs yet flexed with movement. A black cloak wrapped around the right side of his body, catching the wind as the left half flew like a flag on a pole. His hood veiled his identity from above and below, paired with a mask covering the lower half of his face. Athletic shoes muted his steps, while a belt and gauntlet rounded out his gear.
The buildings around him stood tall against the sky, lighting it as brightly as the sun. Some were so massive it could take an hour to reach the top—even by elevator, though those had sped up dramatically since the time of the early years of twenty-forty and late thirty-thousands. Metal clangs and subtle vibrations echoed like distant drums, tremors rippling through the air. The sounds shifted depending on the rotation of these mountain-like structures, even more so from the few that levitated from the ground, yet moving as slow as snails.
His thoughts drifted to the rain. He closed his eyes. The billions of droplets struck the city like crashing cymbals, merging with the drumbeat of urban life. A small smile formed, steam rising from his lips. He found the rhythm in the noise, playing a familiar song in his mind. His fingers tapped out the beat. The memory opened.
The motion played on repeat. Flashes of a woman. A child. A man. Walking. A yard. A break-in. Static?
A sudden sound exploded in his ears, shattering the music and memory like glass. He yelped, nearly falling from the ledge.
"Do I have your attention now?" she asked, clearly annoyed.
"You could've blown out my eardrums, idiot."
"Then maybe don't space out. How many times have I told you how important this mission is?" she snapped. Two male voices laughed through the earpiece, deepening his irritation.
"Alright," he sighed, leaping off the ledge. He shot out a repulsive cable, swinging between buildings and showing off his fluid movements.
"The building is three miles out. Your entry point is the rooftop. Once you're there, I'll start disabling their security. But you'll need to reach the main motherboard and plant the bug. Do you still have it?"
"Yeah… I thought we hit this place already?" he asked, just as the repulsive cable launched him through the air.
"It wasn't built for longevity. They updated the system—I have to disable the connection, or they'll detect tampering." He could hear her typing furiously. He wondered if the re-bugging annoyed her, or if his question did. "Are you almost to the facility?"
Nyx flew from the last swing as the wire cord retracted, catching onto the ledge of the roof top having seen drones patrolling while still in the air. Peeking over to see if the coast was clear, Nyx jumped over the ledge and crouched low, scanning the perimeter again as drones buzzed overhead. He timed his run carefully—slipping between patrol patterns with surgical precision, his cloak hugging tight against the wind and rain. "On the roof" he answered.
The access hatch sat embedded beneath a flickering holographic panel near the ventilation node. Flair's voice chimed in just as Nyx slid the panel aside manually.
"Security's partially down. Your window's short."
The hatch opened with a reluctant hiss, and Nyx dropped into the shaft seconds before it surged with electricity, the hatch sealing behind him and defense lasers reactivating. He was inside.
The ventilation system narrowed into angular descent paths—tight, metal-ribbed, and hot enough to evaporate the dripping water from his clothing. Light from beneath flickered like distant fireflies from the ventilation vents. He didn't rush. Movement here was about rhythm: a stillness between pulses. Nyx took deep silent breaths, his mind a mix of surprised, confused, and thankfulness that the air system is clean instead of full of dust and bugs.
Following Flairs instructions, he continued to the exit point where the vent that close to the server room was located. "He really has no sense of direction, does he?" asked a male voice.
"Nope, just instincts" replied Flair as laughter could be heard from there end. Nyx simply rolled his eyes annoyed, soon arriving at the hatch. Below, the room glowed a soft-blue, casting shadows that bent around him, quietly removing the hatch he dropped down into the room.
Flare buzzed in his ear, voice brisk. "Server room is two corridors down. When you reach the main room where the motherboard is, slot the chip into the outer access port—left side, blue-rimmed. Wait three seconds for the loopback to initiate, and then press the lower node. Don't touch the core directly—this thing fries' fingers."
"Right" Nyx answered.
Security cameras swiveled lazily across tight corridors—motion-sensitive and infrared-equipped. He kept low, pressing into blind spots with practiced timing as he moved down the hall towards the right where the server room is located. When he entered the room, footsteps could be heard immediately as they echoed in an uneven rhythm: heavy, metallic, unhuman. Like those of a killer robot in a sci-fi horror movie.
A patrol unit.
Tall, metallic, humanoid. Joints wired with actuator pistons and a hardened ceramic frame. Its gait clanked softly, scanning the room with brutal efficiency at all times forcing Nyx to rely on the sound of its metallic footsteps as he snuck over to the other side of the server room towards the main room where the motherboard was located. Keeping low while the patrol unit scanned the room he hid in, it moved on when it hadn't detected anything and moved on.
Quickly, Nyx moved over to the motherboard and inserted the chip. The motherboard blinked to life like the nucleus of a machine-god, wires twisted in bundled coils became warm in the cold air of the room as it helped send and process information to the entire building. Cooling units hissed to keep the circuit boards cool, while Nyx could hear the fierce typing of flair on the other side of his ear piece. "And just like that, were in" Flaire announced, her voice sounding please as another male voice sounded in encouragement.
Looking out from his hiding spot, Nyx watches as the patrol unit goes back to its charging port, shutting down.
"Alright, next is some information from the CEOs computer. Hop back into that vent from before and head that way, I'll have the route to it open" she clarified as Nyx without a word heading towards the destination.
After returning to the ventilation system, after silently crawling for a while Nyx noticed something through the vent. It was a room with two different scientists working on from what he could overhear to be a next generation of military grade nanite. Nyx smiled-his inner thief plotting how to stealing such valuable pieces of technology. As he starts working on detaching the hatch from the vent Flair's voice comes over the ear piece, asking 'what are you doing' 'your goanna get caught' before Nyx simply mutes her and continues on, landing on the ground as quietly as a ballerina is able to land without disrupting a pound of water. Unlike the patrol units, humans have a sense of sound and can be jumpy when not being able to recognize something from the conner of their eyes even if something wasn't there to begin with. Even more so when one asks his colleague if he saw something, to which she answered no, seeing as she was facing another direction entirely. To Nyx it was obvious to anyone that the two didn't get along, with the woman having sarcasm in her voice, while the man seemed angry that she was bringing their personal problems to work. Apparently, the guy saw that cheating was cheating, robot or not.
Nyx silently sided with the guy when the apparent wife hadn't told him about it, however, he quickly threw it away from his mind when he saw his prize. A sphere full of nanotechnology otherwise known as nanites, it was appalling that it was simply just sitting there on a desk, but understanding since they were studying some of the nanites under microscope. When the male had finished his retort about wishing that his wife had told him about it, he wouldn't have been upset about it, or if they were having trouble with there sex life that he could work on his stamina. Nyx moved quickly while the wife had her back towards her husband, covering his mouth driving the hidden blade from his gauntlet into the man's throat, instantly killing him as he quietly laid the body on the ground.
"Just because I didn't tell you doesn't mean I'm going with every robot in the city; it was just a few times and I…enjoy other parts of you. But it would be nice if you came to the gym with me, maybe build up your stamina more" she replied, turning around to look at her husband to see nothing but a black blur. Her mind unable to process the reaction to scream before being placed on the floor gently, as her neck bleed out from a deep cut of Nyx's blade.
"I'll give you two the gift of going together" Nyx murmured—though whether it was kindness, cruelty, he couldn't say, just a feeling of envy was all he could feel.
Nyx took a moment to look at the two before turning towards the nanites that the two were studying and some of the papers they have on the desk that wrote out their design. Taking the papers, the nanites they were working on as well as those within the sphere, the symbiote took most of the nanites within itself while the rest spread around Nyx, upgrading his outdated gauntlet while spreading across his body. It was slow but it didn't bother him in the least for now, since according to the research papers they could only ready build what the host thought of, similar to his symbiote in a way that it was almost a mechanical version on it, though in comparison the nanites were still second rate. The symbiote was instinctual and fluid, the nanites were bound by programming and design, limited to the wielders mind.
Seeing nothing else of value, Nyx quickly went back into the vent.
Nyx unmuted the earpiece. Silence met him first—unnerving and complete. Even calling Flair multiple times brought no answer. His skin prickled as goosebumps crawled up his arms and across his back like a rash, a frost spreading through muscle, causing them to feel stiff.
"Flair?" he whispered, calling out to her a few times as his pulse rose. "Talk to me."
The line sparked awake.
"Oh. Finished your little tech heist? Took a burrito break. Figured you'd appreciate me enjoying a little side snack."
He clenched his jaw while his brows frowned in annoyance. "Hope it tasted amazing."
"Extra spice. Worth every stolen second." A pause, her voice sobering up back into her professional business-like tone. "You're over the CEO's office now. This zone's loaded: lasers, pressure plates, blood and facial recognition, motion grids, cameras. Its corporate paranoia dialed to eleven."
"Blood recognition?"
"I'll handle it," she said. "Bug in the motherboard spoofed access keys. But listen—if I disable more than two systems, it trips protocol and sends synthetics on a sweep. Entire building scans itself for any intruders and sends the coordinates to the synthetic guard units. The vents will do a full body disintegration if you're in the wrong place."
Nyx glanced down through thermal lenses. Lasers bloomed like hostile red vines—dense, twitch-sensitive, slicing across the room in staccato pulses.
"How many more can you deactivate?"
"Two max. I've already looped the cameras. Blood recognition is queued next. That's it."
A quiet exhale. Then Nyx whispered: "Can you shut off the lasers instead?"
She hesitated. "Nyx… if I don't spoof blood recognition, the door won't open. You'll hit a bio-lock and bounce."
"I'll find another way through."
"That's not a plan. That's a hope with consequences."
Another voice filtered in—casual, low, deep. "Let him choose," Axel said. "He's on the ground. Lasers kill. Locks frustrate."
"You'd be amazed how many people die from frustration," GM muttered, half-laughing as he exhaled smoke. "Or from ignoring Flair's prep notes. Her blood-spoof patch was airtight. You sure you wanna ditch that?"
Nyx remained calm. "The ventilation scan's a coffin with that disintegration scan for the vents. If I miss the rhythm, I burn. By lasers or disintegration scan"
Flair makes a frustrated sigh. "Lasers off, blood recognition stays active then" Flair confirmed, voice tense. "That's your two. Good luck. I can't stall this system long—synthetics respond within thirty seconds after glitch detection."
"Copy."
"You get caught," GM added, "we're naming the next burrito after you. Spicy, moody, full of regrets."
"You get him out," Axel said gently, "we name it Redemption."
Nyx stared down, flexed his hands, and began unlatching the vent—every movement practiced, slow, deliberate. The room below shimmered from the lights that may have been left on, white walls, floor, ceiling, desk, chair. It would have been easier to name the few things that weren't white. It remained Nyx of old TV shows; the mentally insane prisons were the prisoners wearing straight jackets…a padded cell or seclusion room it was called.
Calculated eyes scanned the room seeing the floors even regardless of the weight from different furniture, meaning that the pressure plates were harder to push down then those without, and even if it wasn't possible with the walls, it was better not to leave any cracks in them from his grabble. The nanites began building a solution, sparked by his observation, yet there was precious little time, it bleed not just from the bodies he left but also from the ventilation systems clock to scan.
Against his better judgement, Nyx slowly allowed the tendrils of the symbiote to extend from his back and beneath his clothing, holding on to the inner and outer edges of the vent to bring Nyx halfway outside of the vent. Holding out his hand, another tendril emerges from his wrist half way to the computer before the nanites emerge from the flesh of the symbiote, hocking into the computer as it begins to download not only into the device that connected to Flairs computer but also into Nyx through the nervous system the symbiote connected to within his body. He could feel it—cold logic dripping into thought, like memories stitched from borrowed code, he could process the information as if he was reading it from the screen, these military grade nanites are impressive indeed to work the computer as if it had confirmed both its owners' blood and face.
Flair chucked the food from her mouth when the information began showing up on her computer, an air of amusement was noticed but left to hang out as Flair began typing away at break neck speed. The software in her brain though hundreds of years old, has consistently been upgraded by the members of her family who first invented the program, unlocking eighty percent of her brain that would normally be locked back in the 2000s.
"How are you downloading all of this, the blood recognition wouldn't even let you log in"
"The nanites, there highly intelligent military grade" he explained, feeling proud of himself for stealing the nanites while trying to keep his symbiote a secret.
The alarm erupted like a shriek, loud enough to shake the building's bones startling the two. Before realization could hit him, the symbiote had taken him out of the vent and turned him around, suspending him in the air as it clung to the outer vent as a high-frequency pulse swept through the vents like it was the angel of death, leaving evidence of burning scars from its passing under the open ventilation, not stopping for a moment to let another person in. "Get out of there!"
"Wha-"
"Get out of the room and turn right, blast the wall in front of you when you enter the hallway, watch out for the synthetic guard at the second hallway on the right"
Nyx didn't move, there was still at least 96% left, he was fast he could make it. "What set the alarm off?" Nyx questioned, biting the fabric of his mask.
Flare's voice cracked through the comms. "Don't worry about that now Nyx, abort extraction!"
Nyx rotated midair, limbs tensing. The air felt sharpened, acidic. He landed low, weight redistributed, already scanning his exit. 98% left. "What triggered it?" he demanded.
Flare coughed. "Not you. Another team's breaking in—east wing. Idiots tripped a firewall meant for ghosts."
GM broke in, chewing the chaos with casual scorn. "They fried themselves trying to copy our playbook, real cute."
"Not cute enough," Rock added, steering hard through city lanes. "Building spun into combat mode. Synthetic units in full deployment—Nyx, I'm thirty seconds out."
Flare's fingers danced across her interface, brain ware overheating as the screen showing that the extraction was still in the process. "Nyx just because you're not the main target doesn't mean shit, abort or you'll miss the extraction" she yelled furiously.
Nyx blinked. "Then I'm walking through the front door."
"No, you're not," GM snapped. "They rerouted guards to intercept anything leaving the archive corridor. You show up on a thermal cam, you're tagged for termination."
100%.
Nyx steadied his breath, forcing his racing thoughts to slow. His senses felt misaligned—fogged by adrenaline. It had been a long time since an alarm had gone off mid-heist.
The symbiote's tendrils moved like extensions of thought, guiding him silently toward the door, then all retracted fluidly into his body just as the nanites began shaping weapons across his forearm—a compact repulsion beam and a light-manipulating laser, both forming with precision.
Flare's sharp voice snapped him out of his daze.
"Nyx—now! Go!"
He shot through the doorway into the corridor, moving faster than any normal human. His arm cannon aimed right as he hit the first corner, catching a synthetic guard mid-step before it could fully emerge. The repulsion blast tore through it, scattering fragments across the hallway.
Without slowing, Nyx spun and fired downrange—aiming toward the far wall opposite the hallway's bend. The kinetic beam pulverized the structure, collapsing most of the surface... except for a sleek, semi-transparent barrier embedded between the break and the building's exterior shell.
He fired again. Multiple rounds.
The outer material began to destabilize, molecular edges fraying, but the thin-layered barrier beneath it held firm—like a liquid shield resisting disruption.
Nyx shifted instantly, activating the light-manipulating laser.
The beam struck true, refracting the field into rippling fluid. The barrier lost its tension.
He ran straight toward it—jumping through the hole just as the hover car screamed across the open sky.
He missed it.
Barely.
Wind pulled at him, the fall sudden and pure. His once grappling hook shot from his wrist, attaching itself to the bumper of the hover car using the nanites by way of Molecular Adhesion.
The line snapped tight.
Pain lanced through his shoulder, but the symbiote braced the joint, redistributing pressure through the bone matrix it had colonized. Nyx gritted his teeth and reeled himself slowly toward the car, each meter clawed from open sky and adrenaline.
"Nice exit," Rock muttered through the ear piece, watching the rear cams. "You're lucky I didn't speed up. Thought you wanted a shortcut to orbit."
At the base Flare scrolled through the intercepted data feed. Her screen displayed the rival team's mangled signatures, security flags, and their identities—one vaguely familiar.
"They weren't just amateurs," she said softly. "They had backup plans. Someone paid real money for that distraction." Informed Flair.
As he neared the bumper a laser shot was fired, breaking the part of the bumper his nanites had gripped on to. A curse speared through tight lips and grint teeth, as Nyx fell through the air in slow motion until he shot out a second cable, narrowly catching the bumper of the hover car again. The force nearly breaking the metal cable of the grappling device attached to his other wrist. AI security bots, about as big as a small one-story house, a few of them at first glance. Normally used for killers, it didn't make sense for a thief, until he remember that he did actually assassinate two people, but they shouldn't know about that yet Nyx reasoned as they continued to follow him. This wasn't a favorable setting, the ground was a long way down with few hover cars, buildings were around but it hardly mattered with only one working grappling device.
"Unidentified organic colored organism, you are in violation of several laws including murder. Surrender immediately or force will be necessary" came the voice of the AI, a robotic way of speaking that could have come from the 90s.
He looked at the robot with disgusted hate, it could disguise its actions as a warning shot all it wants, it was still a shot that could have caused him death and a shot that was aimed to not merely grab his attention but to take out the line he was using to keep himself in the air. Another shot and the hover car moved to help him dodge it. "Organism, you will identify yourself, you will stop controlling the vehicle, you will give up the data you stole, you will turn yourself over to us or we will open fire"
Just a little more were his only thoughts, just a little more and maybe Rock could get them out of this, though in reality there were few ideas in which he could think of to get out of it himself, let alone Rock being able to lose them with such few hover cars in the area. The ear piece depicted sounds that were rarely heard from Flaire, and it sounded like something was jamming their coms since he couldn't hardly hear anything from anyone.
Shots were fired again, the vehicle swerved as best it could, keeping close to buildings. It was unclear what rock was trying to accomplish; and neither could hear if Flair had shared anything with them either. A contact shot with the vehicle disconnected him and the cars bumper which nearly sliced off his head as he fell.
The AI machines watched him fall, not moving to save but coordinate the exact position he could be for the synthetic police to clean him up. Flair's voice started coming through the further away he fell from the AI security bots, trying to get him to use his symbiote, arguing how his life would be more important than its discovery. He questioned to himself; did he really believe that? Not a second after that thought occurred did a beep sound that informed him that the nanites had completed the upgrade a voice sounding in his ear piece that didn't come from anyone of his teammates.
"Upgrade initiating, beginning adjustments for combat mode" said the voice, as the nanites began to rapidly cover his body in lightweighted armor. The plasma cord shoots from his wrist again, catching onto one of the AI bots faster than the eye could blink.
The plasma cord snapped taut, then reeled—pulling Nyx hard and fast before the AI security bot could fire, landing gracefully on top of the robot when the voice spoke again abandoning the ear piece to speak through the speaker within his mask. "Activating 'Ghost touch'"
Nyx looked confused before quickly jumping off the robot, just dodging a bullet that flew past the front of his face, shooting out another plasma cord onto its back, swinging past it other security bots from below before shooting the next one out. "Ghost touch is when your able to touch the metal of a robot, infecting it with a small amount of nanites to take control over it and have it fight for you for 30seconds. After the time limit the robot will then self-destruct along with the nanites." Answered the voice that didn't really seem to have its own tone or emotion like those in comics.
"Veil pulse shield enabled"
Looking back at the security bots Nyx could see them raining bullets like a machine gun at him, the few that had hit there marked bounced off like a barrier that formed a few inches away from his person. While a second one shot out a laser only for it to get reflected towards the one shooting bullets, slicing it in two like a hot knife through butter. Nyx looked for the third and fourth one seeing them locked in combat for the infected one destroyed one but then itself getting destroyed not even a few seconds later. Using the symbiote and strength from the nanites, Nyx pulled here and there on the tense plasma cord, allowing him to dodge whenever the last security bot cracked his barrier. Going on the offences, Nyx shot out a plasma cord to the security bot, reeling himself towards it when he suddenly felt a hard hit at right side of his body, sending him flying on to the ground of one of the floating island mountains.
The screams of a crowd of people rang in his ears, louder than the pain mixed in with his heart and shock, the suit had thankfully kept him from any serious damage while the symbiote worked its regeneration powers, healing him perfectly before the suit could complete its second scan to figure out what is damaged or problems within his body. As he slowly got up and came back to his senses. Nyx realized what had hit him was a different robot that was no less menacing. Standing just six feet while having a humanoid appearance, almost like that of a lightly armored knight. The area was less ideal than fighting in the sky, a lower-level casino with tons of people both inside and out of the building that had an appearance of an egg. Humans to androids ran from the coming battle, while few combat androids stayed to observe. Three shots were fired close enough to cut into his skin before the AI robot asked "Identify yourself, you have no chip implants in order bring up Identification. You are here illegally, all infants born in 2667 are required to have a chip, you do not" it states readying its gun before demanding him to identify himself again.
"I am…revenge"
A shot was fired to his head, dodging it was effortless as the cord he shot out retracted, sending him off to the side and away from the rapid gun fire. Aiming for the robot's chest the cord bounced off a barrier before retracting, several more shots were fired and while a few hits landed on the security bot for the casino, none were able to hit Nyx who moved faster than the bullets. A scream followed by a crash sounded behind him, looking back to see a woman and her child trapped inside a vehicle that had another on top of it that was turned over. She was holding on to her child covering him with something to protect him from the growing flames and broken glass. It became as empty as the abandoned slumps, an area without the knowledge of sound, the enhancements of the symbiote moved him instantaneously the androids having no more of a chance at catching him then a bullet piercing a barrier.
Saving the mother and child he told them to run just as an android jumped on his back, putting him in a chock hold as two of its other brethren took the mother and child away from him and the area. He grunted before using the blade in his gauntlet, slicing the arm and abdomen before stabbing it through its core.
The political news will surely paint him in their liking, rouge attacks mother and son who are saved by casino security. Looking at the other vehicle, it had a man and several bottles of alcohol the man reaching out to him asking for help, Nyx however turned, leaving the man and facing the robotic knight, who was engaged with GM, having disrupted its barrier.
Moving towards the fight regardless of what Flair said about GM being able to handle it, a beep sounded to let him know that a new upgrade has been completed. Unsheathing his sword, he parries a blow it would have made to knock GM to the ground. "Stay out of this, he's mine" ordered Nyx, GM giving him a 'are you serious right now bro?' kind of look before stepping away with his arms out is dramatic fashion. "Fine, all yours. But I could beat it easily you know" GM commented, though completely ignored by Nyx.
He couldn't help but smile behind his mask, it had been years since he had an actual opponent instead of a simulation. The robotic knight's sword was heavy; yet its movements didn't lose and ounce of speed. His strength was also a factor, forcing him to change his style of swordplay. Focusing more on his agility, the times he breaths, his stance, blocking felt like it should be a last resort from his earlier parry. When the robot noticed the amount of damage it was taking it changed strategies as well, opting to use the shield on its back, but found it useless against the high frequency blade that sliced it right in half.
"I ain't dealing with that dame shield, we're doing this old school style" said Nyx, pointing his sword at the robotic knight. Who looked at his shield before tossing it away, getting into its own stance that knights used in medieval times. The AI calculated the limits of human physicalology, how fast, strong, flexible, average reaction time. Then moved at superhuman speed, aiming to pierce it blade though Nyx's chest, who sidestepped the blow in a way that seemed incalculable, not 'humanly' possible, being able to react that fast, even at 0.1 of a second, the average human could only react at 0.3 seconds and considering the factor of the light armor he was currently wearing, it should be 0.4 with the mask also a factor that would be obstructing his vision.
"New calculation; 0.004 seconds of reaction time, impossible for even perfectly trained military humans. Threat level risen to A+"
"That sounded insulting" remarked Nyx, rushing forward to slice the AI knight's head who blocked with his own sword, Nyx looked surprised when his blade didn't cut, realizing that it must be shielded. It made sense since knight weapons are usually blunt weapons when hitting against equally hard armor in a normal type of sense. The Ai knight pushed Nyx away, moving with its incredible speed once again, standing at the side while Nyx was still in midair, swinging its sword horizontally to cut Nyx in half to tried parrying with his sword, using the two imposing forces to angle his body of the way from the path of the Ai knight's sword. However, it was only swinging one handed, using its other hand as a fallow up to smack Nyx out of the air. Shotting a plasma cord to the ground, Nyx pulls himself out of harm's way.
Hitting the ground, he quickly got up on his feet as the Ai knight moved his hand back to give Nyx a back hand slap. Turning his body in the opposite direction to build momentum, Nyx sliced off the Ai knight's hand. It felt no pain, and there was no hesitation in its follow up attack, Nyx doing little more then trying to block the attack with his own sword, getting knocked back like a doll thrown in anger.
Shooting out a plasma cord to stop himself from flying further, his face saw the tip of the sword coming within inches of his face, the Ai's fear inducing mind knowing exactly where his head would be even as Nyx spun out of control from the knock back. Nyx pulled the cord yet his masked received a deep scar that nearly sliced a hole, the Ai turned back towards him, six different lids opening up from its chest, three light manipulating lasers that that are far bigger in order to cover a wider area disrupted his barrier with a lock on function, and three lasers shooting out that also followed him, these smaller and more precise. Nyx dodged across the battlefield, his acrobatics serving him well as he watched his opponent stand as still as a statue, learning that it wasn't able to move the top half of its body when using these long-range attacks.
Determined to close the gap, Nyx ran straight towards the knight, deflecting the lasers that would do him harm. A feat that was once again incalculable to the Ai knight who tried out different tactics in order to trip up Nyx's advance. Nyx continued, relying on instinct as he watched the lasers move, predicting how they would be shot out in order to dodge and deflect. Nyx then jumped out of range when he got close enough, aiming for the robot's head when it suddenly moved. "It faked its weakness!?" Nyx thought in panic, blocking the strike from the sword that sent him flying through the air.
Several lids blew open from the knights' arms and shoulders, launching multiple missiles up towards Nyx who just started falling back towards the ground. Using body movement like a sky diver, Nyx maneuvered out of the way as the missiles turned to head back towards him. Nyx noticed this and moved so his own body was in a similar position as a missile, causing him to fall faster towards the ground, though it did little in terms of being able to out 'run' it. "Activating sword ability, 'shock wave' Nyx didn't need a description this time, turning around and swinging his sword to cause two missiles to explode. 'Notice; can only use sword ability 'shock wave' once every 5mins' Nyx cursed at that, yet it bought him enough time. Diving towards the knight, Nyx is able to slice it in half and jump away before the missiles reach, destroying the robot to fold.
"Satisfied with your get back now?" Questions GM, not allowing Nyx a break.
"A little" answered Nyx.
GM stepped over the smoldering wreckage, boot kicking a twisted fragment aside. "A little satisfaction huh," he said, "but that thing was just the warm-up."
Nyx watched the smoke rise, his breath slowing. "Yeah. I figured as much."
A low hum vibrated through the air—far off, but rising. They turned in unison.
The security bot that had remained untouched, had retreated after the fight. Now its core pulsed for speed, quickly getting away like a kid going to tell an adult. "It had its eyes on us," GM muttered, narrowing his gaze. "Gathering intel."
Nyx tensed, his hand on the hilt again. "I was more of a genie pig to them than an actual threat. Won't be long now until more come for me"
"Then we move," GM replied. "We won't win in open air. Not yet."
The bot had reached towards the distant clouds now; it signals no longer registering on Nyx's visor. He turned to GM. "You have a route?"
"I have a chaos gate," GM said with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Not exactly scenic, but we'll land dirty and untraceable."
Nyx nodded once. "Then let's vanish."
They stepped into motion. Leaving behind the battlefield cracked with heat from the final missile's implosion.