It lunged first.
Metal legs scrabbling, a screech like gears grinding on bone. The TRACE unit moved fast, blurring shadows across the tunnel walls. He barely had time to breathe before it was on them.
She fired.
The shot rang out—loud, brutal, real. The unit staggered, sparks flying from its shoulder, but kept coming. Relentless. Merciless.
He moved without thinking.
Muscles that hadn't worked for years ignited, burning with purpose. Dodging metal claws, he slammed into its side, driving it into the wall. Rusted panels shattered under impact. It reeled, twisted its head toward him, red eye glaring.
Recognition.
[ENTITY MATCH CONFIRMED: TARGET IDENTITY RECOGNIZED.]
He froze, breath catching. "What?"
She shouted from behind. "It's lying. Ignore it."
But he hesitated a fraction too long.
The TRACE unit swung a mechanical limb, catching him across the chest. Pain exploded through his ribs, and he crashed against the tunnel floor. The world spun, vision flickering.
Her scream cut through the chaos, raw and desperate. She leaped forward, blade driving into the unit's core. Oil and sparks erupted, spraying her with burning black fluid.
He watched, stunned, as she fought. Her movements precise, ruthless, each strike a calculated fury. But the TRACE unit adapted. Its limbs shifted, weapons emerging, metal reshaping. It struck again, knocking her backward, sending her blade skittering across the concrete.
He felt the rage before he understood it.
Rage—not from fear, not from pain—but from seeing her fall.
His fists clenched. He stood, ignoring the agony in his chest, vision tunneling until nothing existed but the enemy and his need to erase it.
Then something clicked in his mind.
[SYNC PARTIAL ACTIVATION…]
The air shimmered. Reality bent around him, edges fracturing like broken code. His veins burned.
The TRACE unit paused, hesitating as if it sensed something more dangerous had awoken.
He raised his hand.
And the world around him—
shattered.