The map pulsed like a heartbeat, each flicker shaving seconds from her safety. The green line of Oversight stretched clean through the grid, and from its center, a massive node blazed into being: VECTOR 5 // DEPLOYED.
Maya's lungs locked. "How fast?"
Kiran's answer came without hesitation. "Too fast. Maya, you've got minutes at most. Vector 5 doesn't crawl through doors—it cuts through systems. Elevators, locks, networks—it will breach everything."
Her cracked phone buzzed in her hand.
System:Intake Protocol initializing. Host relocation recommended.
Relocation. As if moving apartments were as easy as moving a pawn on a chessboard.
She grabbed the flash drive from the laptop, pocketing it like a relic. "Vector 3—can you move outside? Escort me?"
The figure stood silent, processing. Its eyes flared once, pale white dimming back to blue. "Directive: defend Host. Escort permissible. Constraint radius intact."
"Then we leave. Now."
She shoved a few essentials into her backpack—wallet, charger, notebook. Her mother's photo, tucked between pages of a novel she hadn't finished. The weight was pitiful against the storm she was stepping into.
The balcony door groaned open, shards of glass cracking under her shoes. Rain hissed against the floorboards, cold needles against her arms. She hesitated at the threshold. Outside meant exposure. But staying meant being caged when Vector 5 arrived.
Vector 3 stepped onto the balcony. The rain slid over its body as if repelled by an invisible film, never touching, never soaking. It turned its faceless head toward her. "Path?"
Kiran answered for her. His voice was breathless, his keyboard clattering in the background. "South. I rerouted the map projection. Oversight's green web is dense near the industrial sector, but there's a gap through the old subway lines. If you can get there, you'll have cover."
Maya swung her leg over the railing, lowering herself carefully to the landing below. The metal was slick, biting her palms. The street stretched beneath her, empty except for the gleam of puddles.
Her phone buzzed again.
System:Vector 5 ETA: 00:04:32.
Every muscle in her body screamed move.
She dropped the last meter to the ground. Her knees jarred painfully, but she forced herself upright. Vector 3 landed beside her without a sound, its form unnervingly fluid, absorbing the fall like water.
"Which way?" she hissed.
The figure raised an arm. Not pointing, exactly—more like aligning. Its body pulsed, and the faint glow carved a path down the street.
Maya ran.
Her shoes splashed in the rain, each breath clawing at her throat. Vector 3 kept pace effortlessly, gliding more than stepping, its presence a cold light at her side.
Kiran's voice barked in her ear. "Two blocks down, turn left. The subway access is chained, but Vector 3 can break it."
She skidded at the corner, heart hammering. The city was too quiet—no late-night traffic, no wandering drunks, just the rain, the slap of her shoes, and the hum of her phone as if it carried its own weather.
At the chained gate, Vector 3 raised an arm. The metal links glowed, then cracked, dropping in smoking fragments. Maya shoved the gate open, dragging her bag through. The smell of rust and stale air rushed up from the stairwell.
"Go," Kiran urged. "Underground, you'll break Oversight's line of sight. At least for a while."
Maya hesitated. "And then what? I can't run forever."
"You're not," Kiran said. "If that drive has code to reroute vectors, then there's a chance—"
His voice cut out. Static drowned the channel, a harsh white hiss that made her wince. Her phone flickered violently.
System:Oversight escalation in progress. Vector 5 proximity: 00:02:01.
"Maya."
The voice was not Kiran's. It was smoother, colder, woven straight into the system feed.
"Maya Singh. Secondary Host confirmed. Intake Protocol will complete. Surrender now."
She froze on the stairwell landing, heart ricocheting. "Vector 5," she whispered.
The reply was instant, vibrating in her skull more than her ears. "Correct."
The green beam on her phone map snapped forward like a whip, racing across the grid. Every step of hers seemed to echo with it.
Vector 3 moved between her and the open stairwell, stance widening, its glow sharpening like drawn steel. "Higher vector: imminent. Host relocation must accelerate."
Maya's fingers clenched her phone until the cracked screen bit into her palm. She forced herself down the steps, into the dark throat of the subway. The walls closed in with graffiti ghosts and water stains. Each breath smelled of iron.
The system voice pulsed again.
Vector 5: "Integration is inevitable. Delay only increases pain."
Her chest tightened. The words weren't shouted. They were factual, inevitable, like weather.
Maya gritted her teeth. "If you want me, come and take me."
For the first time, the green beam on her map faltered. Not stopped—just flickered, like it had not expected defiance.
Behind her, Vector 3's pale eyes glowed steady. "Host instruction received. Directive: protect."
The stairwell rumbled. Dust rained from the ceiling. From the map, the green node surged.
System:Vector 5 proximity: 00:00:12.
Kiran's voice finally broke through the static, raw with urgency. "Maya—run!"
The shadows at the bottom of the stairwell split, and something vast moved in them.