Ashley's motorcycle was unlike anything Felix had ever experienced, even in his own time. It didn't just move, it glided through the ruined streets like it was skating on ice, responding to her thoughts as much as her physical control. Cyber had fabricated her own transport, a sleek hovering platform that kept pace effortlessly beside them.
Felix sat behind Ashley, holding onto the bike's rear handles since there wasn't exactly room for a passenger seat. The wind whipped past them as they weaved between wrecked vehicles and collapsed structures, and he had to raise his voice to be heard over the engine.
"So how does your ability work exactly?" he shouted.
Ashley glanced back at him, her ponytail streaming in the wind. "It's all about visualization and Mana control."
"I can create anything I can imagine, as long as I have enough energy to sustain it."
"Weapons are easiest because they're simple shapes with clear purposes. Vehicles are harder because they have moving parts and need constant power."
She gestured at the motorcycle beneath them. "This beauty takes about thirty percent of my total Mana output just to keep running."
"That's why most Fabricators stick to weapons and tools. Creating something this complex and keeping it stable requires years of practice."
"And the blades you used against the Titan?" Felix asked, genuinely curious. "How sharp can you make them?"
"Sharp enough to cut through corrupted Mana-infused metal," Ashley replied with a hint of pride in her voice. "The trick is layering the energy density."
"The edge of the blade has Mana compressed so tightly it can slice through almost anything, while the core is more flexible to absorb impact. It took me three years to figure out that balance."
A corrupted machine skittered across their path, something that looked like it used to be a delivery drone. Ashley didn't even slow down. She simply raised one hand, and a spike of blue energy materialized in the air and shot forward like a javelin, punching through the machine's core and dropping it instantly.
"Show off," Cyber commented from her hovering platform, though there was amusement in her tone.
"Says the AI who built herself a flying surfboard," Ashley shot back with a grin.
Felix watched the interaction with interest. There was an easy camaraderie between them despite having just met. Maybe that was just how things worked in this new world, where everyone who survived had to rely on each other.
They rounded a corner into what had once been a major highway, now a twisted canyon of rusted vehicles and cracked asphalt. The purple mist was thicker here, swirling in patterns that made Felix's enhanced eyes track movement that wasn't really there.
"How far is Haven from here?" he asked.
"About six more kilometers if we keep this pace," Ashley answered. "We should be there in about fifteen minutes, assuming we don't run into anything too nasty."
As if her words had summoned trouble, the mist ahead of them suddenly erupted with movement. Three corrupted machines burst out from behind an overturned truck, these ones clearly designed for pursuit.
They looked like motorcycles themselves, or what motorcycles had become after Mana twisted them into predators. Bladed wheels, elongated frames crackling with purple energy, and sensor clusters that locked onto Ashley's bike immediately.
"Hunters," Cyber warned. "They'll try to disable the vehicles first."
"Not today they won't," Ashley muttered.
She cranked the throttle and the bike surged forward, accelerating so fast that Felix had to grip the handles tighter to avoid being thrown off. The Hunters gave chase, their wheels screaming against the pavement as they closed the distance.
One of them pulled alongside, its bladed wheel sparking as it tried to slash at Ashley's tires. She waited until the last possible second, then swerved hard. The Hunter overshot and crashed into a concrete barrier, exploding in a shower of corrupted metal and purple energy.
The other two adapted, spreading out to flank them from both sides. Felix raised his rifle one-handed, trying to get a clear shot despite the speed and turbulence. His Mana Integration System kicked in automatically, stabilizing his aim and feeding power into the weapon.
He fired twice. The first shot went wide, but the second caught one of the Hunters in its power core. The machine spun out of control and tumbled across the highway in a shower of sparks.
"Nice shot," Ashley called back. "But hold on, because this is about to get interesting."
She was right. The road ahead opened up into what had been an interchange, multiple levels of highway stacked on top of each other.
Most of it had collapsed, creating a maze of concrete ramps and twisted metal supports. And moving through that maze were more corrupted machines, dozens of them, alerted by the noise of their pursuit.
"We need altitude," Cyber said, her platform rising smoothly into the air. "Ground level is about to become a kill zone."
Ashley grinned, and Felix felt the bike tilt upward. "Good thing I planned for this."
The motorcycle's wheels began to glow brighter, and suddenly they were climbing. Not following a ramp, but actually ascending at a forty-five degree angle, the bike's Mana propulsion defying gravity itself. Felix's stomach lurched as they shot upward, leaving the remaining Hunter behind.
They crested the top of a partially standing highway section just as Felix heard new sounds approaching. Not the mechanical screech of corrupted machines, but something else. Human voices, whooping and laughing like they were having the time of their lives.
Two figures came racing up alongside them, both riding vehicles that shouldn't have been possible. The first was on a hoverboard, a sleek piece of tech that looked like it had been cobbled together from salvaged parts but worked flawlessly. The rider was a young man with bright orange hair and a jacket covered in glowing patches that might have been armor or might have been decoration.
"Ashley! You found some strays!" he called out, performing a casual loop in midair that would have made Felix's stomach turn if he'd tried it.
The second figure was wearing a jetpack, flames of blue Mana jetting from its thrusters as she kept pace with them. She was older than the first rider, maybe in her thirties, with short blonde hair and a scarred face that spoke of hard experience. A massive rifle was strapped to her back, and her eyes scanned the ruins below with the practiced awareness of a soldier.
"Less talking, more shooting, Marco," she barked at the hoverboard rider.
"We've got a swarm forming below."
Felix looked down and saw what she meant. The corrupted machines weren't chasing them anymore.
They were gathering, clustering together in a formation that looked disturbingly organized. Purple energy crackled between them like they were communicating, coordinating.
"They're calling for backup," Cyber said, her sensors painting the tactical situation in real time.
"That Titan we killed must have sent out a distress signal before it died. The local network is treating us as a priority threat."
"Then we need to move faster," the woman with the jetpack said.
She pulled her rifle free and started firing down into the swarm, each shot precisely placed to disable or destroy. "Ashley, how far out are we from Haven's defensive perimeter?"
"Three kilometers," Ashley replied, pushing her bike even faster. "We can make it if we don't slow down."
Marco on his hoverboard swept in close to Felix's side, looking him over with open curiosity. "So you're the old world guy, huh?"
"The one who's been sleeping since before everything went to hell? Man, you picked a great time to wake up."
"Doesn't feel that great from where I'm sitting," Felix shouted back, firing down at a machine that was trying to climb the highway supports toward them.
"Marco, stop being weird and watch our six," Ashley ordered. "I need you to slow them down, not interview the new guy."
The young man laughed and spun his board around, now riding backward while facing the pursuing swarm. He raised both hands, and Felix watched as Mana gathered around his palms. Not forming weapons like Ashley's fabrications, but pure energy that crackled and sparked like electricity.
"You want slow? I'll give you slow," Marco said, and then he released that gathered power in a massive wave.
The energy washed over the pursuing machines like a tsunami, shorting out circuits and disrupting the corrupted Mana that powered them. At least a dozen machines simply stopped functioning and crashed to the ground. The rest were slowed, their movements jerky and uncoordinated.
"Electromagnetic pulse specialist," Cyber explained to Felix.
"Rare ability, very effective against corrupted technology."
The woman with the jetpack swooped lower, her rifle barking as she picked off the machines that were still functional. Her shooting was impressive, every bullet finding its mark with mechanical precision. She flew in a pattern that kept her moving constantly, never staying in one place long enough to be targeted.
"That's Lieutenant Sarah Chen," Ashley called back to Felix.
"Former military, one of Haven's best defenders. If she's out here with Marco, it means they were running a patrol sweep."
"And found way more trouble than we bargained for," Sarah added, rising back to their level.
"Command is going to want a full report on that Titan. They're supposed to stay in the deep ruins, not wander this close to Haven."
The buildings around them were changing now, becoming less ruined and more fortified. Felix could see signs of human habitation, walls built from salvaged materials, watchtowers equipped with what looked like functioning technology. They were entering Haven's territory.
"Home stretch," Ashley said, and Felix could hear the relief in her voice. "Just another kilometer and we're under the barrier."
That's when Felix saw it. Rising above the settlements and fortifications ahead was a dome of shimmering blue energy, easily covering several square kilometers. It pulsed with the same kind of Mana that flowed through his own augmentations, but on a scale that was almost incomprehensible.
"That's Haven's Mana Barrier," Marco said, noticing Felix's stare.
"Biggest working defensive structure in this entire region. Nothing corrupted can pass through it. As long as you're inside, you're safe."
They raced toward it, the pursuing swarm falling farther behind as more of Haven's defenders appeared to harass them. Felix watched as the barrier grew closer, this miraculous shield that somehow kept humanity alive in a world that had turned against them.
Ashley's bike passed through the barrier first, and Felix felt a strange tingling sensation wash over him as they crossed the threshold. His Mana Integration System hummed, resonating with the barrier's frequency, and for just a moment everything felt right. Like coming home after a long journey.
They finally slowed down as they entered Haven proper, and Felix got his first real look at what humanity had built in the ruins of his world. And despite everything, despite the guilt and the horror and the overwhelming weight of what he'd learned, he felt something unexpected.
Hope.
"Welcome to Haven," Ashley said, pulling her bike to a stop.
"Your new home, whether you like it or not."