The tunnels roared with the sound of boots and drones. The hunters were no longer shadows on the edge of hearing—they were here, flooding in from every corridor. Red sensors flickered like bloodshot eyes in the dark.
Maya's heart hammered. The override key pulsed in her fist. Vector's gun pressed against Rei's chest. The moment fractured into shards of impossible choices.
Then the first drone rounded the bend.
"Down!" Maya shouted.
She slammed the disc into the wall panel beside them. For an instant nothing happened. Then the tunnel lit with a surge of white sparks, a pulse of digital lightning racing through the stone.
The drone froze mid-flight, rotors whining. Its red eye flickered—then dimmed to blue. One by one, the others staggered, sensors glitching, lights sputtering out.
"Override accepted," a metallic voice droned.
Vector's jaw dropped. Rei exhaled sharply, relief and fear mixing in his expression.
But it wasn't over.
The ground shook as a blast tore through the far end of the tunnel. Soldiers in black armor stormed through the smoke, visors glowing. Unlike the drones, their steps didn't falter.
"Move!" Vector roared.
The three sprinted. Blue-lit drones hovered uncertainly around them, no longer enemies—at least not yet. Bullets ricocheted off stone, sparks flashing in the dark.
Maya ducked behind a pillar, breath ragged. She peeked out—five soldiers, rifles raised, advancing with mechanical precision.
"We're cornered," Vector growled. "Even with your toy, Rei, we won't hold them off."
Rei yanked another device from his coat—a small cylinder with blinking lights. He twisted it. "Smoke charge. Last one."
"Do it!" Maya barked.
The tunnel exploded into a choking haze. Gunfire erupted blindly. Maya dragged Vector forward, Rei stumbling behind. Their lungs burned, ears ringing.
Suddenly—a shaft of moonlight above. A grate. Freedom, or another trap.
"Up!" Maya coughed, shoving Vector toward it.
He braced his hands, boosted her. She gripped the grate, pushed—locked.
Bullets tore past, sparks stinging her arms.
Rei shoved the override key into the grate's control panel. Sparks flew—then with a groan, the metal slid open.
"Go!"
Maya pulled herself through, Vector right behind. She turned, reaching for Rei. He hesitated, looking back into the haze where the soldiers closed in.
"Rei!" she screamed.
His eyes locked with hers, full of something raw—fear, loyalty, and a secret too heavy for words. Then he leapt, catching her hand just as a soldier's rifle barked.
The bullet missed by inches.
Maya and Vector dragged him up, slamming the grate shut as shouts echoed below.
They collapsed in the cold night air, lungs heaving, stars stretching endless above them. For the first time in days, there was open sky.
But the override key still pulsed in Maya's palm. Blue light flickering.
And in the silence between their ragged breaths, a voice whispered from the device, soft and mechanical:
"Override activated. Division tracking protocol engaged."
Maya froze. They hadn't escaped. They had just been marked.