Henry led the way, stepping lightly from the narrow air duct onto the first floor.
The faint scent of damp soil and chlorophyll hit him before his eyes could adjust. A large indoor garden sprawled before them.
An artificial oasis within the sterile metal of the arcology.
Trees with pale leaves, small flowering plants and creeping vines were arranged along geometric paths, bathed in dim ambient light from overhead panels mimicking the sun.
Arcee dropped down behind him, smoothing her cloth. She tilted her head, remembering the environment. "Well," she said, her voice low, "this is a fancy hiding spot for a corporate zoo."
Blyke had his gun ready but relaxed. His eyes darted toward exits and corners instinctively. He stopped in the middle of the walkway, raising a hand.
"What time is it." he muttered. From his wrist, the watch beeped—4:00 pm. "We have got roughly an hour before shift overlap."
Cagaro stumbled lightly on the step down, eyes wide, scanning the greenery with awe and disbelief. "It's… so different from Mid Strato outside. It's… peaceful."
Henry smirked faintly. "Peace is always a lie in places like this. Just looks calm until someone or something decides it isn't."
They all fell into a slow, careful pace, moving along the stone paths between plants. Every footstep blended natural caution with curiosity. The garden was serene but the atmosphere of the arcology's secrets hung like a cloud above their heads.
Blyke signaled a pause. "Be careful. They know intruders are in. Someone could be watching us from anywhere, even nowhere."
Cagaro's attention was driven aside.
On a pale violet flower near the edge of the path, something shimmered.
There was a blue fly.
Its wings were translucent, veined with silver patterns that caught the artificial sunlight like stained glass. Its body reflected an iridescent glow very beautiful. It moved delicately, antennae twitching every seconds, as if entirely harmless.
Cagaro slowed.
"Hey… look at this." he murmured, drawn closer despite himself. "It's kind of—"
He reached out.
A sharp metallic whistle split the air.
Before his fingers could brush the petals, a knife sliced through the leaf, through the insect and pinned both to the bark behind it.
The fly split cleanly in two. A thick, dark fluid sizzled faintly where it touched the plant.
Cagaro stunned in confusion.
Blyke lowered his arm. "Get the knife."
Cagaro stared at him. "What the hell—?"
"Get the knife, hurry."
Arcee stepped forward, crouching near the ruined flower without touching it. She studied the residue carefully. "Good call." she muttered. "Venom sac along the abdomen. Probably neurotoxic. The coloration isn't decorative too."
Cagaro swallowed, stepping forward to retrieve the blade. The fluid hissed softly against the steel before evaporating.
Blyke met his eyes.
"Don't look at anything while on duty." he said flatly. "Not even if it looks like an angel."
Cagaro nodded slowly.
Meanwhile,
Henry knelt beside the reinforced garden exit, fingers moving quickly across the access panel.
The lock was old, mechanical override beneath digital security.
"Thirty seconds." he murmured.
Cagaro kept watch over the greenery behind them. Blyke monitored the hallway camera feed through a small cracked display Henry had rerouted. Arcee stood closest to the door, blade already resting against her forearm like an extension of thought.
The lock disengaged on Henry's mark.
Henry pushed the door open a fraction first slowly. Blue hallway walls stretched beyond, sterile and quiet.
Arcee slipped through first.
The others followed at staggered intervals.
For three seconds, nothing happened.
Then a shadow shifted at the far bend.
A guard stepped into view, rifle half-raised up. He never finished the motion.
Arcee crossed the distance in silence, one hand sealing his mouth while the other drove the blade cleanly beneath his jawline.
She lowered him gently to the floor.
"Clear," she whispered.
Cagaro exhaled. "You went there like you are late for dinner."
Arcee wiped the blade on the guard's sleeve. "Guess what, that gaurd was the dinner."
Blyke snorted softly despite himself.
Henry shut the garden door behind them and glanced at Arcee. "Pulse?"
"Gone." she replied calmly.
Cagaro looked at the fallen guard, unease flickering briefly in his eyes. Blyke noticed.
"He would have done worse." Blyke said.
Cagaro nodded.
Henry placed a hand briefly on Cagaro's shoulder.
"We don't linger aimlessly." Henry said.
As they moved down the blue corridor, their spacing tightened naturally.
They advanced carefully through the blue hallway, boots barely making a sound against the polished floor.
Cagaro slowed feeling something abnormal.
He narrowed his eyes and focused, letting his senses stretch beyond sight. The air carried a subtle distortion, like heat rose from asphalt. Then he saw it.
Small circular impressions along the walls. Beneath light panels. Even faint seams across the floor tiles.
"Mines," Cagaro whispered urgently. "They are everywhere."
Henry stopped instantly. Blyke froze mid-step.
Arcee's gaze sharpened. "How many?"
"Dozens." Cagaro replied. "Maybe more. I can only feel the closest ones. If we trigger one, it will chain the rest."
The hallway no longer looked sterile. It looked engineered for massacre.
Henry exhaled slowly. "Pressure-based or proximity?"
"Both." Cagaro said. "Some are layered. I can feel overlapping runic signatures."
Arcee stepped forward calmly, reaching behind her clothes. From within, she withdrew something unusual.
A massive feather. Half black. Half white.
It was longer than her forearm, edges shimmered as if ink and light were constantly trading places across its surface.
"This" she said quietly, "is my Astra."
Cagaro felt it immediately.
Runic Flow surged through the corridor, vast and controlled, pressing gently against Cagaro's skin like wind before a storm. The mines' hidden signatures flickered in response.
"What is yours?" Cagaro breathed.
"AllGaurd." Arcee answered.
She lifted the feather and drew it through the open air in a slow arc. Light rippled outward from its tip in concentric waves, brushing against walls, ceiling, floor.
One by one, the mines dimmed in charge.
Tiny clicks echoed as internal mechanisms disengaged. Faint red indicators faded to black.
The oppressive tension dissolved gradually.
Cagaro stared in awe. It was the first time he had witnessed an Astra in use.
Arcee lowered the feather. The hallway returned to stillness.
"Path's clean, I assume." she said evenly.
The hallway curved left and opened into a reinforced stairwell landing.
Henry checked the corners first, scanning for secondary traps.
"Up," he said quietly.
Blyke nodded and tested the first step with controlled pressure before committing the impact.
Cagaro glanced upward through the spiraling flights. Two floors above ground level. 21 more to the roof.
Arcee twirled the Astra feather once before tucking it away. "Let's climb before they reset something."