The alarms came back sharper this time, piercing the chamber with a metallic shriek. Vector cursed under his breath, hauling Maya upright as the floor shook beneath them. The walls rippled with hostile glyphs—Architect code, invasive and deliberate.
"They're not breaching again," Rei said, eyes wide as he scanned the displays flickering overhead. "They're inside the system. They're counter-signaling the Archive, corrupting the link."
Maya winced as static crawled down her veins. The glow in her arms faltered, sputtering like a flame in wind. The rifle spasmed in her grip, its hum uneven. For the first time, it felt like it was fighting her.
Vector braced her with one arm, weapon drawn in the other. "Then shut them out!"
"I can't!" Rei snapped. "They're riding her signal. Every time she broadcast, she opened the Archive to them. They're weaving themselves into the code through her blood."
Maya's breath hitched. She could feel it—threads pulling at her spine, her heartbeat tugged in two directions. The Archive whispered one rhythm, cold and steady; the Architects bled in another, jagged, insistent, promising release if she surrendered.
The boarding frame twitched violently, sparks flaring as its body warped. Its armor reshaped under foreign command, lenses glowing red instead of blue. The drones above trembled, caught between her command and the invaders' override.
"Carrier unstable. Anchor contested," the ship's voice intoned, flat and merciless.
Vector fired into the frame, bolts searing against its armor, but it kept rising. Its voice was no longer fractured—it was unified, smooth, terrible.
"Anchor rejected. Transference initiated."
Maya's knees buckled, pain lancing through her chest as if something were tearing its way out. She saw flashes not her own—Architect strongholds, dark fleets waiting in hidden docks, eyes of commanders who had never died. They pressed against her skull, demanding entry.
Rei's hand shot to her shoulder, desperate. "Maya! If you give in, they'll own everything Echo left behind!"
Vector barked, voice ragged, "Then fight it, damn it! Fight like you always do!"
But the Archive whispered colder than either of them.
"This is the cost. One bloodline. One fire. One will. If you falter, you are nothing."
Maya's vision fractured, blue and red spiraling until she couldn't tell which side she was on. The drones split midair, half turning on the Architects, half swiveling toward her and Vector.
The chamber erupted into chaos.
Maya fell to her knees, the rifle blazing in her grip, torn between two masters. The ship screamed through her blood, her heart staggered—and for the first time, she thought she heard herself fading.
Hook for Chapter 30: The chamber collapses as the contested signal rips the Archive apart, dragging Maya into the heart of it—Arc III's breaking climax.