"Keep up...
We really need to pick up the pace."
Arthur motioned behind him, leading the way toward the door at the edge of the pitch-black chamber.
A harsh screech of grinding metal filled the air as the four of them stepped out into another corridor, just as dark as the last.
They glanced both ways, then checked the digital map. Within moments, they knew where to go. That was the advantage of the map—crisp clarity, no guesswork.
Their footsteps echoed as beams of light swept across the hallway. Jackie, bringing up the rear, kept his flashlight pointed at the ground. The floor was made of tight iron planks, bedrock beneath, but here and there black gaps yawned open like hidden pits.
Arthur never would've guessed Jackie feared the dark—if the man hadn't admitted it himself.
"When do we head back up?" Jackie forced calm into his voice, quickening his stride to stay closer to the others.
"We're here."
Arthur pushed open another door. The same grating screech met them, followed by a wave of damp air. Their lights pierced the gloom, stirring years of dust.
Inside stood rows of black iron crates, shaped like machines but long abandoned.
"These rusty hunks... any of them actually useful?" Arthur muttered, scanning the room. To him they were nothing but scrap.
"As long as there's a port."
The goal was close now, and Lucy couldn't hold back anymore. She rushed inside.
Dust caked everything, but under the sweep of light she quickly found her target—a micro-terminal, at least in form.
She grabbed it, ripped out every cable, clenched the flashlight between her teeth, and dug through the mess until she had what she needed.
"This one... let's hope it still works."
Everything else was tossed aside. Lucy snapped her data cable free from her wrist and jacked in.
Data streamed across her vision. Instantly she saw which parts of the factory were still alive.
The cyberspace mirrored the facility itself—dark, empty, suffocating.
Her consciousness froze. For a moment, it was as if she'd been dragged back into that shattered Net she had once barely escaped.
The darkness there had rolled like waves, void and menace woven together into an endless abyss. It was a world that devoured people whole, and she had walked through its jaws.
She remembered the others who had stood beside her—dying one after another. Each death was different, but their faces always bore the same expression: a mask of agony, as if their very muscles had been torn apart.
That was how she had lived—death at every step—until she finally broke free.
Now, that childhood terror surged back, unstoppable, seeping into her skin.
She stared at the darkness ahead, and for a moment she was that starved little girl again—the one drowning in the Net, gasping for air.
The darkness seemed to drag at her every step.
Darkness itself never harmed flesh. It didn't need to. It towered over humanity like some vast presence. You stood inside it, looking up, praying it didn't crush you by accident.
It preferred the mind. And sometimes, the mind was more fragile than life itself.
Lucy trembled and stepped forward.
Then hesitated, pulled back.
Collapses. Viruses. Daemons. Unknown defensive protocols. Worst of all—the destructive AIs that could lurk anywhere.
Every step risked walking straight into a monster's open jaws.
She turned once, glancing back at the faint white glow behind her—her connection point.
Ahead was only the churning black: the Old Net.
The Old Net was everything outside the Blackwall—everything NetWatch didn't control.
This factory had been built after the Collapse, once under NetWatch's watch. But years of abandonment had let the Old Net seep in and swallow it whole. Whether it was corrupted—or how badly—was anyone's guess.
Maybe monsters had made it a nest. Maybe vicious Daemons prowled inside. It was all unknown.
And the unknown was always the worst.
Lucy steadied herself and stepped forward again. The darkness felt cold. Darkness always did that.
Another step.
The white glow vanished behind her. She was gone.
Though it was only her mind in the Net, nausea welled in her gut. Every step was cautious, but weighed heavy, like walking under the crushing weight of the dark.
Her thoughts strained under the endless flood of data—here, there was no map, no guide.
...
"Think she's... really okay?"
Arthur's voice was low, watching Lucy's face twist between frowns and grimaces.
No one here really understood netrunning. Not enough to help.
"Who knows? But... probably fine. She's usually such a coward—if she jumped in this fast, it can't be that bad."
Rebecca muttered, chin raised, though her eyes kept flicking toward Lucy.
"Since we can't help her, we just wait."
Jackie tightened his grip on the flashlight, eyes flicking to the shadows like something could crawl out at any second.
But Lucy didn't come back quickly. Her body only trembled harder, like she was under attack.
Arthur caught her shoulders, stopping her from collapsing.
"Shit... this isn't really going bad, is it?"
Jackie swallowed, his voice rough with unease.
...
(70 Chapters Ahead)
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