The Core Zone at night was a different world.
Lin Shen stood at the boundary between the Middle Zone and the Core Zone, looking at the gleaming towers that rose into the smog-choked sky. Holographic advertisements flickered everywhere, casting the streets in an artificial glow.
He was dressed as a maintenance worker—coveralls, tool belt, fake ID badge. Li Mei had provided the disguise, along with a small communication device hidden in his ear.
"Remember," her voice came through the earpiece, "the service entrance is on the east side of the building. Your ID should get you through the first checkpoint. After that, you're on your own."
Lin Shen took a deep breath and stepped across the boundary.
The difference was immediate. The streets were cleaner, the air less thick. People walked with purpose, their clothes expensive, their faces blank. They moved like sleepwalkers, Lin Shen thought—following routines, obeying rules, never questioning.
He kept his head down and walked toward the Atlas facility.
The building was massive—a tower of glass and steel that seemed to touch the clouds. The Atlas logo glowed on its side, a stylized letter A that seemed to watch over the city like an all-seeing eye.
The service entrance was exactly where Li Mei had said—a small door set into the side of the building, almost invisible among the larger architectural features. A guard stood nearby, but he looked bored, distracted.
Lin Shen approached, trying to look like he belonged.
"ID," the guard said without looking up.
Lin Shen handed over the fake badge. His heart was pounding, but he kept his face neutral.
The guard scanned the badge. A moment of tension—then the scanner beeped green.
"Go on through."
Lin Shen walked through the door into a corridor that looked like any other maintenance area—pipes along the ceiling, fluorescent lights, the hum of machinery. But beneath the ordinary appearance, he could feel something else.
A presence. Multiple presences. Consciousness signatures that felt wrong—suppressed, modified, controlled.
He was in the heart of Atlas's operation.
"Li Mei," he whispered into his earpiece, "I'm inside."
"Good. The holding cells are in the basement. Take the service elevator down."
Lin Shen found the elevator and pressed the button for the basement level. The doors closed, and he felt himself descending.
When the doors opened, he was in a different world.
The basement was a maze of corridors, each one lined with doors. Some were ordinary—storage rooms, maintenance areas. But others had special locks, warning signs, the hum of security systems.
These were the holding cells.
Lin Shen walked slowly, reaching out with his consciousness. He could feel the minds behind the doors—some sleeping, some awake, all of them trapped.
And then he felt it.
A familiar signature. Warm, despite the cold surroundings. Tired, but still fighting.
Old Zhou.
Lin Shen moved toward the signature, counting doors until he reached the right one. It was locked with a biometric scanner, but Li Mei had given him a device that could bypass it.
He pressed the device against the scanner. A moment of tension—then the lock clicked open.
He slipped inside.
The cell was small, bare. A single cot, a toilet, nothing else. And on the cot, looking older and more tired than Lin Shen had ever seen him, was Old Zhou.
"Kid?" The old man's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"
"Rescuing you. Can you walk?"
Old Zhou struggled to sit up. He was injured—Lin Shen could see bruises on his face, a bandage on his arm.
"They've been questioning me. Trying to find out about the Alliance. About you." He coughed. "I didn't tell them anything."
"I know. Come on, we need to move."
Lin Shen helped Old Zhou to his feet. The old man was weak, but he could walk.
They made their way back to the corridor. Lin Shen was about to head for the elevator when he felt it.
A presence. Approaching fast.
"Someone's coming," he whispered.
They ducked into an alcove, pressing themselves against the wall. Footsteps echoed in the corridor—multiple sets, moving with purpose.
"Find him," a voice said. "He can't have gone far."
Atlas security. They knew he was here.
Lin Shen's mind raced. They were trapped. The elevator was too far, and there were too many guards between them and the exit.
But then he remembered what Professor Zhang had said. About his abilities. About what he might be able to do.
He closed his eyes and reached out with his consciousness.
He could feel the guards—six of them, spread out through the corridor. Their signatures were cold, controlled, but not impenetrable.
He focused on the nearest one, probing for the cracks in the mental armor.
There. A flicker of doubt. A memory of a family, a life before Atlas.
He pushed against that flicker, trying to amplify it.
The guard stumbled, his hand going to his head.
"What the—"
"Stay focused!" another guard barked.
But Lin Shen was already moving to the next one. And the next. Pushing, pulling, trying to create chaos in their minds.
It was working. The guards were confused, disoriented. Their formation was breaking.
"Now," Lin Shen whispered to Old Zhou. "Move!"
They ran for the elevator, dodging confused guards who seemed to be fighting invisible enemies. Lin Shen pressed the button, and the doors opened just as shouts erupted behind them.
They stepped inside, and Lin Shen pressed the button for the ground floor.
As the doors closed, he saw the guards recovering, their training reasserting itself.
"They'll be waiting for us upstairs," Old Zhou said, his voice weak but steady.
"Then we find another way out."
The elevator stopped at the ground floor. Lin Shen peeked out—guards were already converging on the position.
He pulled back and pressed the button for the parking level instead.
"This way."
They emerged into an underground garage. Cars were parked in neat rows, and a few maintenance workers moved about, oblivious to the drama unfolding above.
Lin Shen spotted a service vehicle—a small truck with the Atlas logo on the side.
"Can you drive?"
Old Zhou managed a weak smile. "I can try."
They climbed into the truck. Old Zhou took the wheel, his hands trembling slightly.
"Hold on, kid."
He floored the accelerator, and the truck lurched forward, crashing through the garage exit and into the night.
Behind them, alarms began to wail.
They had escaped.
But Lin Shen knew this was just the beginning.
Atlas would come for them. And next time, they would be ready.