Underground, in the dim light, the monster’s twin blades scraped along the walls, screeching with a metallic howl that set Arthur’s teeth on edge.
Through the comms, Jackie’s voice cut in between bursts of gunfire, making Arthur’s scowl deepen.
They needed to retreat—but the monster ahead was forcing them back instead.
Clinging to the ceiling, its twisted limbs writhed as it lunged with terrifying speed.
Arthur didn’t hesitate. He raised his rifle and fired at the shadow above.
But the fight wasn’t going to be that simple.
To Arthur’s eyes, the thing seemed to bend time itself. It slipped past the bullet and dove straight at him, so fast he could barely track it.
In that razor-thin slice of a second, its blades slashed with killing force. Arthur barely dodged, the swings shredding piles of debris around him, scattering fragments like shrapnel.
“Sandevistan… fuck—we’re in deep trouble.”
V cursed under her breath. Her bullets cut only empty air. Only Arthur had the reflexes to keep up with the creature’s speed.
At least it was locked on him. If it had gone for V or Rebecca, they’d already be dead.
Arthur thought briefly of David—fast, yes, but nowhere near this fast.
“Bullets won’t stop it. We’ve gotta shut it down.”
He fired again, baiting it closer.
V’s optics flickered as she analyzed, then steadied with frustration.
“This thing has no neural link. I can’t hack it.”
Arthur rolled past another blade and slammed into it with his shoulder, firing Achilles at point-blank. The monster flickered, activating its Sandevistan, and slipped aside.
“Damn it.”
Pain burned through his shoulder as the monster clung upside down above, watching like a predator.
“Arthur, this isn’t working. We need a plan.”
V didn’t fire. Instead, she used the pause to think fast.
Arthur’s voice was low and clipped.
“Simple plan. One draws it out. One pins it. One shoots.”
He glanced at them both.
“I’ll bait it. Rebecca holds it. V takes the shot.”
V’s eyes darted to the creature’s torso.
“See that device on its belly? That’s its stabilizer—the reason it moves so fast. Hit that. If you get a clean shot at the head, even better.”
Rebecca tightened her grip on her pistol.
“I’ll be the decoy.”
Arthur shot her a sharp look.
“You can’t hold it down.”
Instead of arguing, Rebecca hurled her empty pistol toward the ceiling and sprinted forward.
The thrown gun was slow, clumsy—but the monster turned, distracted, and lunged at her without using Sandevistan.
Arthur stayed locked on, ready.
Rebecca slid under its sweeping blades, her small frame barely slipping through.
Arthur and V rushed to cover her. She couldn’t last alone.
Their pressure disrupted the monster’s rhythm, but it still turned back, locked on Rebecca.
Good. Its attacks were chaotic, frenzied—it only triggered Sandevistan when cornered. Otherwise, they’d have been crushed already.
As it twisted clumsily, V vaulted onto its back, locking her arms around its warped head.
Arthur lunged from the front, lining up the shot.
But the monster flickered again, exploding forward with V still clinging to it.
Its blade swept down toward Rebecca.
Arthur didn’t hesitate. He shifted his aim, fired at its right arm, and drove his left shoulder into the joint at the base of its descending blade.
Cold steel bit deep into him, pain blazing through his body.
Teeth clenched, Arthur jammed Achilles into its gut and fired.
The charge hadn’t built, but at this range the blast hit like a shotgun, shredding its torso.
The impact hurled the creature backward, dragging V with it as they both slammed into the ground.
“Arthur!”
Rebecca scrambled to her feet, staring at the blood streaming from his shoulder.
“You okay?”
Arthur steadied himself, his left arm dead weight, propped by his right.
“See? Arm’s still here. Can’t be that bad.”
Rebecca grimaced at the ugly wound across his shoulder.
“You need to stop the bleeding.”
She snatched up Achilles, ejected the empty mag, and pressed her thumb to the trigger.
The rifle vibrated as it overheated, rails glowing from the charge with no ammo loaded.
Arthur caught on and forced a bitter grin.
“Unless you’re craving barbecue, that heat’ll do it. But my gun—”
“Bend over. Tighten your back.”
Her tone was sharp, commanding.
Arthur obeyed. Rebecca pressed the overheated barrel straight to his wound.
The stink of burning flesh filled the air. Arthur bit down hard, a guttural groan escaping as pain ripped through him like lightning.
Finally, it was done.
V staggered upright, catching sight of the smoke rising from Arthur’s back.
“You still standing?”
Arthur rasped, arm limp at his side.
“First we put this bitch down. Then we get the hell out.”
On the ground, the monster convulsed, its cyberware limbs jerking uselessly. Without its stabilizer, it couldn’t hold itself up, writhing helplessly.
Arthur noted its grotesque head—swollen, featureless, studded with unnatural protrusions.
He drew his revolver with his good hand, aimed, and fired.
Bang.
The thrashing stopped.
No more wasting time. The three turned back toward the elevator shaft.
“Jackie, it’s done. How’s your end?”
Above, Jackie had fallen back into the human storage bay, trading fire with reinforcements. Relief colored his breath when Arthur’s voice came through.
“Rope’s on its way down. But listen—we’re gonna have to fight our way out!”