“Jackie, I hear gunfire on your end. What’s going on?”
Arthur, leading the group, asked over comms.
“Security reinforcements. Around fifty of them. But our boys lured them off.”
Even in Jackie’s voice, the gunfire was already fading into the distance.
“Then we need to move.”
Arthur called back over his shoulder.
“Pick it up, ladies.”
The generator’s power was probably feeding only the main hall’s critical systems. Out here, in the long corridor, just two dim light strips lit their way.
The three of them hurried through the wide passage, dodging carts and junk left scattered in the middle as they made for the elevator shaft.
...
Outside, David was firing as he retreated, covering himself step by step.
Viktor had tuned his Sandevistan for smoother use, but pushing it too often still risked knocking him out.
“You bastards! Come out here and let me vent!”
He shouted as he leaned out from cover, pistol spitting fire.
But the sheer weight of return fire immediately drove him back.
“Pathetic! That the best your trigger fingers can do?”
David forced himself to channel Arthur’s talent for trash talk, hoping to bait the pursuers into stretching their formation.
He’d handled plenty of gigs before, but his aim was only decent. Against small fry, the Sandevistan gave him the edge. But never before had he faced this many at once.
Sparks burst off his cover as bullets tore into it. David ducked lower, eyes flicking forward.
The pack behind him was pressing closer. He needed a new position.
His gaze locked on a CHOOH₂ fermenter tank ahead. Beneath it, thick crisscrossing supports and deep shadows offered the perfect place to turn the tables.
He triggered his Sandevistan. Green flooded his vision as the startup hum faded in his ears and time stretched.
Turning, he lined up his shots, putting a bullet into each man chasing closest, then sprinted toward the tank without looking back.
...
Underground, Arthur and the others were nearly at the elevator when something made them slow.
Under the faint wall lamps, a steel door had been gouged open, a jagged hole tearing its center. Twisted shards curled outward like something had clawed its way out.
“Shit... this is bad.”
V’s voice was strained.
Arthur scanned the ceiling shadows, jaw tight, but nothing moved.
He gritted his teeth and pushed on anyway.
“Stay close. We get topside, we’re out of this hellhole.”
His rifle was already up as they advanced.
They saw nothing else strange—until they reached the elevator.
“Ladies, luck’s on our side for once.
Just a quick ride up, and we can say goodbye to this place.”
Arthur jumped, hauling himself onto the elevator car through a narrow opening. He reached down and pulled the others up. V didn’t need the help. Rebecca did. She had spring in her legs but not the coordination to make the climb alone.
“Jackie, status? We’re at the bottom.”
Arthur glanced upward. Just like looking down, the shaft narrowed into a tiny red dot at the end.
“David’s solid. Lucy’s awake now.
See? Still smooth as always.”
Arthur frowned. That nagging weight in his gut didn’t agree.
“Hold tight, I’ll drop the rope.”
Going down, they’d used the steel cables. But climbing back up? Not a chance.
V had prepped a hoist device, carried by Jackie.
Arthur clipped onto the rope Jackie lowered, signaling him to start the lift. One after another, the women latched on as well.
The hoist whined, slowly raising them twenty meters before Arthur glanced up—and froze.
A nightmare loomed above, bathed in crimson glow.
A monstrous body clung to the shaft walls, braced on twisted limbs.
Sixteen scarlet cybereyes glared down at Arthur without a blink.
The steel cable at his waist swung between its arms—two black blades, each nearly two meters long.
“Fuck.”
Arthur whispered, then bellowed down:
“Drop! Now! We’ve got trouble!”
The monster’s massive shadow pressed silently toward him.
...
Outside, beneath the huge fermenter, David slipped deeper into the gloom, chest heaving as he leaned against a pillar.
The pounding boots drew closer. He’d end this here.
The shadows helped, but his enemies weren’t untrained.
They moved in tight squads of four or five, flashlights overlapping to cover each other and deny ambush.
David crept behind one unit, eyes locked on the grenades hanging from their belts—thermobaric grenades.
He needed them. But first, the squad had to go.
He triggered his Sandevistan again. Green bled into his vision as he wiped a trickle of fresh blood from under his nose.
He’d already burned through it in the drone fight, then again while pulling enemies away. He was pushing his limits.
In a blink, he slipped into their light. Five men dropped, skulls bursting crimson under point-blank fire.
David preferred it this way—muzzle to skull, no chance to miss. He didn’t know how Arthur managed to hit so clean at range.
The noise sparked shouts nearby.
“Movement here! Stay sharp!”
“Shit, he’s over here!”
David crouched lower, heart pounding, fumbling grenades free.
He yanked the pins and hurled them toward the voices.
Boom! Boom!
Twin blasts rocked the black. In the flash, David slipped away, two more grenades still clenched in his hands.
“Grenades! Kill the lights, go dark!
Maintain neural link!”
The order echoed, and in an instant every flashlight winked out.
The world plunged into pitch black.
“Great. Just great.”
David cursed under his breath, moving quieter still.
“David, David...”
The familiar voice cut through his neural link.
That cool, steady tone—it could only be Lucy. Relief hit him like a wave.
“I’m here.”
“What’s it like on your end?”
Her voice was weak but edged with urgency.
“I’m under the fermenters. Black as hell. No one can see a thing. We’re stuck in a stalemate.”
“Hold on. Let me in through your neural link—I can help.”
David accepted the breach without hesitation.
In the supply warehouse, Lucy sat slumped against a cold wall, fighting waves of dizziness as she patched into his feed.
By tracking fluctuations in traffic around him, she could pinpoint the enemies nearby.
“David, I’ve highlighted the enemies around you. Take them out fast.”
She kneaded her temples hard, then added:
“And don’t waste time.”
“You sure you’re okay? You sound...”
David ducked behind cover, worry creeping into his voice.
“Save it!”
He hunched his shoulders at the sharp reply.