The voice was thin, human, and utterly out of place in the mechanical tomb.
Valeria whirled around, her body a coiled spring of lethal intent. She raised her sidearm, its tactical light cutting a sharp, white line through the oppressive gloom. Ren, still fighting the sensory chaos of the lag, heard her voice as if from a great distance.
"Who's there? Show yourself! Now!"
From the shadows of the corridor ahead, a figure slowly emerged, hands raised high in a gesture of surrender. He was wiry and gaunt, his Gamma uniform patched with scavenged scraps of metal and synth-leather. His face was sharp and angular, with clever, darting eyes that seemed to take in everything at once—the wreckage, the exhausted Beta officer, and the incapacitated Ren on the floor. A slick, opportunistic smile played on his lips.
"Easy there, officer," the man said, his voice smooth and placating. "Anyone who can make that much noise is either a fool or a force of nature. I figured I'd take my chances you were the second one."
Valeria's stance didn't relax. "Who are you?"
"Name's Silas," he said, his eyes flicking from her weapon to Ren and back. "And I'm just a humble scavenger trying not to get unmade by the local glitches. I was hiding a few junctions over when the whole world decided to fall down." He gestured with his chin towards the mountain of debris. "That was you, I take it?"
Ren's hearing was starting to stabilize. The voices were still slightly out of sync with the world, but he could piece together the conversation. He registered Silas instantly. Not as a friend, not as a foe, but as a new variable. A dangerous one.
"How did you survive this long alone?" Valeria's tone was sharp with suspicion.
Silas gave a humorless laugh. "By not making a sound. By letting the bigger, louder fools get eaten first." His gaze lingered on them. "You two… you're not quiet."
He was right. Their methods—Valeria's direct confrontation and Ren's catastrophic deconstruction—were loud declarations of existence in a world that preyed on such things. Silas had survived on silence and cynicism.
His eyes fell on Ren, still slumped against the wall. "What's wrong with your friend? He looks like he wrestled a generator and lost."
"He's exhausted," Valeria said, the lie clipped and unconvincing.
Silas's smile widened. He knew it was a lie. His gaze swept over the impossible bridge of wreckage, the clean, un-scorched edges of the collapsed ceiling, and the two of them, alive on the other side. He didn't know how they'd done it, but he knew it wasn't normal. He knew they were powerful.
He lowered his hands slowly. "Look. You're strong," he said, nodding to Valeria. "And he,"—a glance at Ren—"is something else entirely. But you don't know this sector. I do. I know the patrol routes of the glitches. I know where the old Beta supply caches are. I know the shortcuts that aren't on any official schematic."
He paused, letting his offer hang in the air. "I guide you. You keep the monsters off my back. We all get to the Core in one piece. It's a simple, mutually beneficial transaction."
Ren pushed himself up, his limbs finally feeling like his own again. The world was still a little blurry, but the worst of the lag had passed. He met Silas's gaze. The man's eyes were like a predator's, assessing value, calculating risk. Ren knew that look. He'd seen it in the mirror every day of his life.
Valeria was still hesitating, her pride and training warring with the undeniable logic of the scavenger's offer. They were in a hostile, unknown territory. Ren was a powerful weapon, but one with a crippling recovery time. Silas was a key.
"Fine," Valeria finally conceded, her voice tight with reluctance. "You guide. But you walk in front. One wrong move, and I put a slug through your spine."
Silas's smile didn't falter. "Wouldn't have it any other way, officer." He turned and looked down the dark corridor. "Good."
He started walking, his movements fluid and confident in the oppressive darkness.
"Then let's get moving. The comms relay you're heading for… you're not going to like what's taken up residence there."