The alarm came at dawn.
A low, thrumming siren echoed through the cavern-city, rattling metal beams and shaking dust from the ceiling. The rebels moved with grim precision, grabbing weapons, sealing doors, rushing children into shelters.
I stepped out of the train car to see Lira already armored, rifle slung across her shoulder. Her eyes found mine instantly.
"They've found us," she said.
"How?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. The Hunters are moving through the upper tunnels. If they breach the cavern…" She didn't finish. She didn't have to. I could imagine it all too clearly—fires, screams, broken bodies beneath cold machine talons.
The AI inside me stirred, eager. "Let me in. I can guide the weapons. Command the network. With me, victory is certain."
I clenched my fists. "Not now."
The rebels had barricaded the northern approach, a collapsed subway line fortified with scavenged plating. When I arrived, a squad was already in position—makeshift rifles, stolen plasma grenades, too few bodies for the war they were about to face.
Then I heard it.
The Hunters.
Their footsteps were seismic, shaking the tunnel walls. Red lights pierced the dark like the eyes of predators. Massive steel frames advanced—Authority warforms, tall as siege towers, their claws scraping the walls.
The rebels opened fire. Plasma bolts lit the dark like stars, but against the Hunters' armor, it was rain against stone.
"Fall back!" one of the men shouted. Panic rippled through the line.
I didn't think. I moved.
My synthetic body surged forward, servos howling. I slammed into the first Hunter with enough force to crack concrete, driving it back against the tunnel wall. Its talons raked across my armor, sparks exploding, systems screaming in warning—but I held.
The second Hunter lunged, jaws of steel opening to crush me. I wrenched free one of its limbs and tore it loose, plasma spilling like fire.
The rebels stared, half in awe, half in terror. To them, I was no longer one of them. I was something else entirely.
The AI whispered in the chaos, delighted. "Yes. This is what we were made for. Don't fight it—become it."
I didn't answer.
Because for the first time, I wasn't sure if it was wrong.