Rain hammered the iron lattice above East Harbor like a thousand rifle shots. Deep in the catacomb warren, Selene's tactical map flickered, painting crimson paths toward Cathedral Station—the Syndicate's heart. Asha keyed new intel onto the holowall: guard rotations, blast-proof gateways, the data-nexus where Key Three supposedly slept.
Alaric folded his arms, eyes tracking the red lines. "Too many choke points. We need a ghost inside before we breach."
Asha's cyber-eye whirred. "I have a contact—ghost enough. Street name 'Patch.' Hacker for hire. Lives in the Wire Den, west Grid."
Selene nodded. "Fetch him."
"I'm faster," Lia said. She had cleaned the blood from her school blazer, yet a faint crimson shadow still clung to the cuff. "Give me an hour."
Alaric hesitated—Wire Den was a lawless zone where child smugglers bartered credits for teeth—but Lia's gaze held a blade-sharp certainty. He handed her one of Selene's comm beads. "Stay linked. If anyone tails you—"
"They'll bleed," she finished, lips curving. She vanished up a service ladder, a ripple of silver and resolve.
Wire Den reeked of ozone and burnt plastic. Neon coils snaked like vines over shattered storefronts, each sign crowing illegal data markets. Lia cut through the tangles with silent steps, senses tuned. Her comm bead crackled with Alaric's steady breathing—its rhythm soothed the pulse in her ears.
She found Patch exactly where Asha predicted: hunched over six keyboards in a rooftop shack, goggles flickering code. He looked up, freckles glowing teal in monitor light. "Delivery?" he squeaked.
"Recruitment." Lia placed a crypto chip on the desk. "Need a stealth worm and live relay into Cathedral mainframe."
Patch's pupils dilated. "Council servers? That's a beheading bounty."
Lia drew her dagger, let the blade kiss the rubber spacebar, carving a thin cut. "Or a lifetime payday. Choose."
Patch swallowed, then pocketed the chip. "Need two hours and raw uplink."
"You'll have twenty minutes." She pressed a portable node into his hand. "Move."
They descended fire escapes when three bounty scavs blocked the alley mouth—miners' armor, shock mauls crackling. "Courier's sister," the leader sneered, brandishing a printed wanted poster. "Worth half a million alive."
Electric arcs hissed. Lia's heartbeat slowed, Alaric's breath steady in her ear. She exhaled. Then shadows exploded.
First scav lunged; Lia ducked, hamstringing him in one seamless arc. Second swung the maul overhead—Patch screamed and dove aside. Lia pivoted under the blow, dagger flashing once, twice—tendons parted, weapon clattered. The leader jabbed a stun prod; the crackling tip grazed her forearm, numbing flesh, but she stepped inside, slammed pommel into visor, and buried the blade through throat gasket. Warm spray misted neon puddles.
Two scavs writhed; one fled. Lia retrieved her blade, breath steady.
Patch gaped. "You—Are you even human?"
"She's my sister," Alaric's voice crackled, pride edged with fear. "Follow her."
Catacombs air vibrated as Patch linked his node to Asha's relay. Code spiraled like holographic dragon coils across rusted walls. "Passage key forged. Thirty-minute window before Cathedral watchdog notices," Patch declared, chest puffing despite shaking hands.
Selene's eyes gleamed behind porcelain slits. "Good. We strike tonight."
Alaric pulled Lia aside, wrapping fresh gauze over her electro-burn. Her pulse quickened as his fingers brushed skin. "You overcharged," he murmured.
"Alive," she answered, leaning closer than necessity. He caught the subtle tremor of exhilaration in her smile—a storm held at bay only by proximity.
System text scrolled behind his vision:
[Life-or-Death Duel logged]Vitality +0.5%Stealth +0.6%
Minor gains, but gains all the same. He inhaled her scent—rain, blood, and the faint sweetness of street pastry. Resolve hardened. "When we breach Cathedral, stay behind me."
She brushed her lips across his cheek—fleeting, scorching. "Always."
Night sealed Zenith under black glass skies. Cathedral Station rose in white marble arches above mag-rails, corporate banners rippling like angel wings. Selene, Alaric, Lia, and Patch approached via a maintenance trench still humming with power. Patch keyed his worm; security lasers blinked out for ten heartbeats—just long enough to slip past.
Inside, art-nouveau corridors glowed soft gold. Automated custodians drifted, polishing crystal benches while hidden turrets tracked beneath gilt paneling. Selene led them down a servant stairwell into the spinal datacenter—vault doors of alloy petals identical to the Vault of Mirrors.
"Key two," she whispered. Alaric pressed his now-bandaged thumb. Needles pricked. The petals opened.
Rows of quartz pillars thrummed, each hosting memory cores. At chamber center, a pedestal cradled a sapphire cylinder—Key Three. Micro-runes pulsed Vale-blue.
Patch stared like Moses at Sinai. "That code could rewrite immunity genomes."
Alaric approached—pulse loud—when every pillar turned blood-red. Sirens wailed. "Biometric override detected."
Selene's sword flew up, intercepting flechettes from ceiling turrets. Shards pinged stone. Doors slammed behind—four Council Paladins in obsidian exo-armor stormed inside, halos of electric arcs crowning shock-spears.
Alaric flicked his knives free, Vitality buzzing. Lia pivoted at his side. Selene whispered: "Mirror dance."
She darted right, becoming a blur—blade sparking across exo-visors. Alaric charged left, meeting a spear thrust. Strength E gave his parry steel depth; he skidded under the crackling tip, plunged his knife into joint seam, twisting until the exo pistoned sparks. Lia's dagger flashed past his ear—embedding in the Paladin's exposed throat.
A second Paladin activated grav-boots, soaring overhead. Selene hurled a spike; the projectile detonated, shredding thrusters. The armored giant crashed, denting marble. She landed atop the visor slit, sword stabbing through.
Patch shrieked behind servers. Turrets realigned on him. Lia dashed, snatching a fallen shield, angling its reflector dish. Laser bolts ricocheted, carving gouges through two turrets and shorting circuits.
Third Paladin's gauntlet snapped open, releasing micro-drones in a buzzing cloud. Alaric tossed an EMP pellet—blue shockwave silenced the swarm, lights dying mid-air. He vaulted over falling shells, drove both knives into the Paladin's collar plates, leveraging new strength to pry armor apart. Circuits burst; the warrior convulsed, silent.
Final Paladin advanced on Selene, twin blades whirling. She slipped strike after strike, porcelain mask flashing like a moonlit scythe. Alaric slid beneath combat arcs, hamstringing the giant. Lia leapt upon armored shoulders, plunging her dagger through neck seam. They toppled as one.
Silence flooded the chamber, broken only by Patch's ragged breathing. Alaric wiped blood from his brow—liquid ruby under haloed lights. System notifications cascaded:
Strength +0.2%Stealth +0.8%Available Stat Point: 1
He saved it—another moment's choice.
Selene sheathed her sword, retrieving Key Three. The sapphire cylinder locked magnetically to Key Two on her belt. She turned to Alaric. "All pieces gathered. Activation demands the mother's voiceprint or… direct bloodline resonance. You and Lia together may suffice."
Lia, cheeks flushed, stepped closer, hand slipping into Alaric's. "Let's finish this."
Alarm klaxons thundered anew—armored reinforcements inbound. Selene's masked smile sharpened. "Then we run—and plan the ascension."
They fled the vault, three predators and a trembling hacker clutching code that could topple empires. Above, the Cathedral rang with sirens; below, the tunnels waited like veins ready to bleed the city dry.
Alaric sprinted at Lia's side—Syndicate storm behind, the future blazing ahead like holy fire.