The augmented woman cracked her knuckles again. The sound wasn't human. It echoed through the cold storage container like metal being fed slowly into a grinder.
Selene positioned herself against the wall beside me. Her eyes were wide in the way only teenagers who have seen just enough of the world to know it hates them can manage.
The woman lunged.
There was no warm-up. No dramatic monologue. No slow circling. Just multiple kilos of plating welded to bone, launched with enough force to rearrange a building.
I jumped sideways as her fist slammed into the crate behind me. The entire box disintegrated into splinters.
Selene yelped.
"Okay," I said. "She is very committed."
The woman pulled her arm back. Her metal fingers flexed. Servos clicked like teeth. She swung again, a heavy arc aimed straight at my head. I ducked and her knuckles tore a long scar across the wall.
Cadence murmured, "Her strike velocity is significantly greater than basic augmented levels."
"Good to know," I said, rolling under a follow-up kick. "I will file that under concerning issues."
She pivoted with frightening precision for someone so heavy, her boot slicing the air. It would have taken my leg off if I had been standing a few centimetres to the left.
Selene whispered urgently, "Iris she used to be Hub personnel. You can see it in the stance. They train you to the point you could kill someone with a clipboard."
"I am feeling under-equipped for this," I said.
The woman lunged again, faster this time. I stepped back, but she caught my coat and yanked me forward like I weighed nothing at all. My boots skidded along the concrete.
She leaned close.
"You are not a threat," she said. "You fight like a novice."
"We all start somewhere," I said.
She slammed her forehead into mine.
My vision exploded.
I staggered back, barely avoiding her next punch, which dented the floor where my head had been a split second earlier.
Battery: 91%.
Cadence said, "Your skull integrity is stable. Surprisingly strong."
"Thick skulled," I groaned.
The woman came at me again. This time I blocked, my forearm meeting her metal one. Pain jolted through me, bone vibrating hard enough to protest loudly.
She twisted, driving her knee toward my stomach. I dropped and rolled away, scraping across the cement. She stomped the ground where I had been and cracked a small crater.
Selene winced. "She is going to turn you into a mosaic."
"Not into art," I muttered.
The woman stalked toward me, pacing slowly now, measuring me. Every step calculated. Every breath steady. She fought like someone who had trained until she no longer needed to think about killing. It was instinct. Habit. Programming.
Cadence said, "Her augment set is old but stable. Early Hub cadet series. They were replaced due to becoming obsolete with newer tech."
"Doesn't feel obsolete, although she does appear to be mentally unstable." I said, dodging another punch.
"Yes," Cadence said. "The greater power drawn by the augments the more its user begins to treat violence as a default state."
"So she is basically a walking temper tantrum," I said.
"Essentially," Cadence agreed.
The woman threw a hook that would have shattered my jaw. I ducked but her metal fingers grazed my cheek.
Blood warm. Stinging.
She grinned.
"That look suits you" she said. "You look more breakable now."
"My skincare routine is extremely offended," I said.
Selene whispered, "Iris she is toying with you."
Cadence added, "Technically she is evaluating your weaknesses before committing to full force."
"That is worse," I said.
The woman lunged low, aiming for my knees. I jumped back. She grabbed a piece of broken crate and flung it. I barely dodged as it shattered against the far wall.
She was enjoying herself.
Her eyes sharpened as she closed in again.
"Novice or not," she said, "your chassis is worth something. The Thorns will pay extra for that...
Cadence hissed in my ear. "She intends to capture you intact. Avoid being captured."
"Where would I be without you," I said sarcastically and ducked again.
Her hand grabbed the back of my neck.
She squeezed.
Pain shot down my spine. My legs buckled.
Selene yelped, "Iris!"
I twisted, using my weight to break the hold, but she was too strong. Her grip tightened.
Battery: 89%.
My breath hitched. Her augmented fingers dug in.
She leaned close. "Stop struggling. Someone like you doesn't deserve ..."
I slammed my elbow into her sternum with everything I had.
She staggered back half a step.
Half.
That was all.
"That was cute," she said.
She rushed me. I dodged under her arm and tried sweeping her legs. Her augment braced like a steel beam. No movement.
She grabbed my wrist.
She squeezed.
Agony blazed up my arm.
Cadence snapped, "Iris your radius is going to crack. You must escalate."
"I am trying to escalate," I hissed through clenched teeth.
"Not sufficiently."
The woman yanked me close.
"You do not belong here," she said. "Tollhaven chews up newbies."
"I am beginning to see why," I said.
She swung me sideways, slamming me into a storage rack. Metal rattled and I dropped to one knee.
Battery: 87%.
The woman rolled her shoulder as if warming up for the real attack.
"This is where you stop fighting," she said. "When I stop pretending you have a chance."
Selene grabbed a broken pipe off the floor and swung it at the woman's back.
The pipe bent in half.
The woman turned around slowly.
Selene froze.
The woman smiled. "Cute."
She raised her hand.
Selene stepped behind me, shaking.
"Iris," she whispered. "Do something."
The woman advanced, metal fingers curling.
"Iris," Cadence said softly. "You cannot win cleanly. Your only option is to use ...."
"I know."
"You must decide."
The woman rushed forward, arm pulled back for the finishing strike.
Her shadow fell over us.
Selene whimpered.
My hand twitched.
Heat surged beneath my ribs.
Nerves lit up like someone had plugged me directly into a reactor.
OVERDRIVE ACTIVATED !