The descent into the maintenance well was a plunge into an industrial hell. The metal ladder vibrated to the rhythm of the deafening rumble that rose from the depths. The air, although filtered, was loaded with a smell of ozone and dry heat that stuck to the skin. The spaced blue lights drew circles of spectral clarity on the smooth walls of the duct, hinting at nests of thick cables like snakes and monumental valves.
Do was coming down first, Joon behind him. Each bar was cold and slightly oily under their gloves. In Do's mind, Kai was on high alert, analyzing every noise, every variation of vibration.
It's the cooling of the quantum heart, Kai thought, his inner voice muffled by the ambient noise. We're getting closer.
After an interminable descent, the ladder ended up on a metallic platform that overlooked an even deeper chasm, from which a pulsating white and blue glow erupted. On the other side of the platform, a narrow airlock, marked with the maintenance symbol, was embedded in the wall.
"The secondary access airlock to the Redundancy Core," Joon whispered, his voice barely audible in the hum. "According to plans, it leads to a service corridor that serves the peripheral modules, including the Theta."
Lyra, in their earbuds, confirmed. "The scanners at this level are focused on the hardware signatures of the robots. Your combinations are impregnated with the same polymers. Stay together, move slowly. Don't make sudden moves that could be interpreted as a threat."
Do inspired deeply. The idea of posing as a robot was absurd and terrifying. He headed for the airlock, Joon on his heels. A red laser beam swept them from head to toe.
"Identifier: DR-77N Maintenance Vehicle. Secondary biometric signature detected: Dr Elias Aris. Level 3 access allowed."
The airlock opened with a sigh of pressurized air. They entered a narrow corridor with white, luminescent walls. Here, the noise was more muted, muffled, but the vibration in the ground was more noticeable. Sealed doors, each marked with a code and a symbol, lined up on the sides. The atmosphere was clinical, deadly.
On the left, fifty meters. Gate T-7. The Theta Module, Kai thought, guided by the planes engraved in their shared memory.
They advanced, their hushed steps echoing strangely through the silent corridor. The tension was a thread stretched to break. Each door seemed to be watching them with its blind electronic eye.
Suddenly, a red light flashed from the ceiling, and a synthetic voice, different from that of the lower entrance, rang out.
"Anomaly detected in service corridor S-12. Two unregistered human biometric signatures for the current maintenance session."
They were discovered. The scan must have penetrated their combinations.
"Race!" cried Joon.
They rushed forward, going through the gates. Behind them, a high-pitched whistle heralded the arrival of something. Smooth, fast metallic spheres emerging from the walls began to pursue them, projecting beams of red light that swept the ground at their feet.
Neutralization drones, Kai thought, coldly. They're going to try to paralyze us.
Do glanced back. The spheres were winning. Their only chance was to reach the T-7 gate before being hit. He sprinted, Joon right behind him. The door was in sight, its control panel shining with a green glow.
"Joon, the code of Aris!"
Joon, while running, brandishes a small transmitting device, pressing a button. A falsified biometric signal was sent. The T-7 door flashed yellow, hesitated.
Signature partially recognized. Access awaiting manual confirmation from Dr. Aris."
It was a failure. The system required real-time authentication that they could not provide.
The drones were a few meters away. Do felt a peak of despair. They were trapped.
It was then that, in his mind, Kai made a dazzling decision. Give me control. Now!
There was no time to talk. Do let go. A strange sensation invaded him, as if his body was tense, recharging with a different energy. His movements became more thrifty, more precise. He turned to the drones, not to flee, but to face.
Instead of trying to avoid the red beams, he ran straight on the first drone, stooping down at the last moment to pass under his scanning field. His hand, guided by Kai's combative instinct, struck the side of the sphere at a specific location, where the shots indicated a fragile proximity sensor.
The drone, unbalanced, hit the wall and fell with a spark. The second drone adjusted its target. Kai (in Do's body) had no weapon. He caught the first damaged drone and, with a force that Do did not know, launched it like a projectile against the second.
The collision was brutal. The two drones crashed to the ground, their lights went out.
"The door!" yelled Joon, who had taken advantage of the chaos to attack the control panel with a pirate tool. Sparks burst out. "I'm forcing the interface!"
Meanwhile, silent alarms were to sound throughout the complex. Their seconds were numbered.
With a twisted metal squeak, the T-7 door gave way and opened. Joon and Do (Kai at the controls) slipped inside and pushed the door behind them, blocking it somehow with a crowbar that Joon had brought.
They were in the Theta Module.
The room was round, low ceiling, bathed in a soothing pale blue light, almost unreal after the violence of the corridor. Dozens, hundreds of vertical capsules, similar to futuristic glass coffins, were lined up in concentric circles. Inside each, bathed in amber fluid, floated a human silhouette, connected to a tangle of thin cables that plunged into the ground. Peaceful faces, asleep, frozen for eternity.
It was a library of consciences. A cemetery of souls.
"Yoona..." whispered Kang Seong in their earbuds, her voice broken by emotion. They had kept the link open.
"Seek," Lyra ordered, her voice outstretched. "We may have a minute before they blow the door down."
Do, recaptured by his own consciousness, looked, horrified. These people... some of them must have been there for years. Stolen from their lives, reduced to data in a storage bank.
Joon began to run along the circles, scanning the identification plates at the foot of each capsule. Kang, Yoona... Kang, Yoona..."
Do began to look on the other side, his heart beating. Kang Seong's guilt, the pain of all these prisoners, crushed him.
Then he saw her.
Capsule T-47. Inside, a young woman with short hair, fine features, an air of keen intelligence even in her forced sleep. The plaque read: Kang, Yoona. ID #7741. Status: Active archiving. Cognitive integrity: 97.4%.
"I found her!" he shouted.
"Well," said Lyra, and for the first time, "you could hear urgency in her monotone voice." There is a main control terminal in the center of the room."
In the center, indeed, was a podium topped by a screen and a holographic keyboard. Do approached. Aris's plans indicated the "sample retrieval" procedure, but it was designed to transfer consciousness to a removable medium for study, not to free it.
"I can do that," said Kang Seong's voice, suddenly calm and professional. "Transfer control of the terminal to me. I know the backup protocols. I'm going to create a copy of his cognitive matrix and inject it into a portable container."
It was risky. A copy? Would that really be Yoona? But that was the only option.
While Joon was watching the door that was beginning to vibrate under the blows, Do let Kang Seong, via a remote connection, take control of the terminal. Lines of code were speeding across the screen.
"Download in progress," whispered Kang Seong. "10 percent... 20%... "
A metal tear sound sounded at the door. The crowbar was bending.
"Quick!" blew Joon, pointing a tinkered paralyzing gun at the entrance.
" 70%... 80%... "
The door gave way. Two humanoid shapes, with fluid joints and smooth, metallic faces of maximum-level Hunters, stood in the embrasure. Their arms transformed, revealing energy cannons that emitted a sinister hum.
" 95%... 100% ! Full download!" shouted Kang Seong. "The storage unit is ejected!"
A small cylindrical module, shining with a green light, came out of a slot on the terminal.
Do rushed to grab him. At the same time, the Hunters opened fire. Rays of blue energy whistled through the room, hitting the capsules, bursting the glass and pouring the amber fluid onto the floor.
"DO!" yelled Joon, pushing him behind a capsule to cover him. A beam brushed past Do's shoulder, burning his suit and snatching a cry of pain from him.
They were trapped. The exit was blocked. And in her hand, Do held the module that perhaps contained Yoona's soul, the key to Kang Seong's loyalty, and the symbol of everything they were fighting against.
In the smoke and blue light of the shots, the Hunters advanced, relentless. The Theta Module, a silent library, had become a battlefield. And in the center, holding the digital copy of a stolen life, Do realized that they might never leave this place.