The tunnel walls shook as the drone closed in, its rotors screeching like knives against stone. The red sensor light carved their faces into masks of desperation. Vector's finger hovered on the trigger, jaw tight.
"Shoot it!" Maya shouted.
But Vector hesitated. One bullet meant noise. Noise meant more drones, more soldiers.
Maya didn't wait. She raised her own weapon, fired. The shot cracked like thunder in the narrow tunnel. Sparks erupted as the drone spun out of control, crashing into the wall in a shower of fractured light. The tunnel reeked of ozone and burnt circuits.
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then came the response—distant shouts, the rumble of boots.
"They know exactly where we are now," Vector muttered bitterly.
Maya turned back to Rei, fury in her eyes. "Talk. Now. Before they get here."
Rei looked broken under her stare. His chest heaved. Finally, words tumbled out.
"I'm not your enemy," he said. "I was embedded in Echo long before you ever joined. They sent me to shadow you—to keep you from being killed."
Maya's blood chilled. "They? Who the hell are you talking about?"
Rei's gaze flicked to the tunnel ceiling as if he could see beyond the rock, to the world above. His voice dropped, a whisper almost swallowed by the dark.
"The Division."
Vector froze. His face went pale. "That's impossible. The Division doesn't exist. It's a ghost story."
"No," Rei whispered fiercely. "It's more real than you want to believe. And they're watching everything—even now."
The shouts grew louder, closer. The hunters were flooding the tunnels.
Maya grabbed Rei's collar, shoving him against the wet wall. "If you're really here to protect us, prove it. Get us out of this alive."
Rei's lips pressed into a thin line. He seemed to battle with himself, then finally tore something from his jacket pocket—a small, silver disc etched with lines of code. He pressed it into Maya's palm.
"This is an override key," he said. "Use it on any Division drone or terminal. It'll buy us time. But once you activate it, there's no going back. They'll know I've betrayed them."
Vector grabbed Maya's wrist. "Don't trust him. He's spinning us a story while his friends close in."
Maya looked between them—her oldest ally and the man whose lies had nearly gotten them killed.
The rumble of boots thundered nearer. More drones buzzed from deeper tunnels.
"Choose," Rei said, his voice cracking. "Trust me—or die here."
Maya stared at the disc in her hand. Cold metal. Heavy with meaning.
The tunnel shook as an explosion tore somewhere close by, dust raining from the ceiling. Time had run out.
She clenched the disc tight, breath burning her lungs.
For the first time since this nightmare began, Maya realized the truth: survival wasn't about running anymore. It was about deciding who to believe.