The air inside the HelixCorp facility was heavy, thick with the static charge left by the EMP. The faint hum of dormant machinery echoed through the corridor as Ethan's pulse pounded in his ears.
But all of that faded the moment Nemesis stepped out of the shadows.
Tall. Towering. Clad in reinforced armor that gleamed under the flickering emergency lights. The faint blue glow of cybernetic implants lined its jaw and neck, pulsing with energy in time with its movements.
And its eyes—
Cold. Artificial.
Ethan's breath caught as the figure's gaze locked onto him, and in that moment...
He felt it.
A presence.
Not just a machine.
Something... more.
"Ethan," Lena's voice was barely above a whisper, but the tension in her tone was impossible to miss.
"What the hell is that?"
Ethan's jaw clenched.
"Nemesis," he murmured softly, his voice tight. "HelixCorp's ultimate weapon."
Lena's pulse pistol was already raised, her stance shifting instinctively into a defensive position.
"And what exactly makes it ultimate?" she murmured, her eyes narrowing.
Ethan's pulse quickened as fragments of Crowe's memories surged forward.
"Nemesis... adaptive combat AI. Enhanced reflex protocols. Tactical override capacity."
"Because it learns," Ethan murmured softly, his grip tightening on his pulse blade.
Lena's jaw clenched. "Learns?"
Ethan's eyes never left Nemesis.
"Every move we make," he murmured softly. "Every tactic. Every weakness."
Nemesis took another step forward, the faint hum of power radiating from its core sending a chill down Ethan's spine.
"It won't just fight us," Ethan murmured. "It'll adapt to us."
Lena's expression hardened. "Great."
Her finger hovered over the trigger.
"Then we'd better make this quick."
Ethan's jaw clenched.
"Don't waste shots," he murmured softly. "If it learns too fast, we're dead."
"Copy that," Lena murmured, her eyes locked on the target.
Nemesis's gaze shifted between them, its systems analyzing, calculating.
Then—
It moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
"Down!" Ethan barked, diving to the side just as a pulse blast erupted from Nemesis's gauntlet.
The energy bolt slammed into the wall where Ethan had been standing a second ago, sending sparks and debris flying.
Lena fired, her pulse shots aimed with surgical precision. The first shot struck Nemesis's left shoulder.
But the second—
Nemesis moved.
Its body shifted mid-motion, adjusting its trajectory in an instant.
The second shot missed.
"Damn it!" Lena hissed, ducking behind a support beam as Nemesis's systems recalibrated.
Ethan's pulse blade hummed softly in his hand, the energy vibrating against his skin as Crowe's instincts surged forward.
"Close the distance. Disable the core."
"Lena, cover me!" Ethan barked, his voice sharp.
Lena's pulse pistol fired again, forcing Nemesis to adjust its position.
Ethan moved.
Fast.
Crowe's instincts guided his every step, his body moving with a fluidity that wasn't entirely his own.
"Strike low. Disrupt the power feed."
Ethan ducked low, his pulse blade slicing through the air as he aimed for the exposed conduits along Nemesis's left leg.
The blade connected.
Sparks erupted as the energy surged through the system, momentarily disrupting Nemesis's balance.
"Got it!" Ethan barked, his pulse quickening.
But Nemesis recovered—
Faster than it should have.
"Ethan, MOVE!" Lena's warning echoed through the corridor, but it was too late.
Nemesis's gauntlet swung in a brutal arc.
Ethan barely had time to twist, but the impact caught him across the shoulder, sending him sprawling against the cold metal floor.
Pain exploded through his body as the air was knocked from his lungs.
"Ethan!" Lena's voice was sharp, panic lacing her tone.
Ethan's vision blurred as Crowe's memories surged forward again, louder this time—
---
Flashback – Crowe's First Encounter with Nemesis
"Stay back!" Crowe's voice echoed through the lab, his fingers flying across the console as he attempted to override the system.
But Nemesis was already moving.
"Damn it!" Crowe hissed, his pulse pounding as he watched the adaptive algorithms recalibrate in real time.
"It's learning too fast..."
"Override sequence initiated," Crowe murmured under his breath, his eyes narrowing as the encryption layers peeled away.
But it was too late.
Nemesis moved with lethal precision, and Crowe's last thought before everything went dark was—
"I was too slow."
---
"Ethan!"
Lena's voice snapped him back to the present, but the weight of Crowe's memories lingered.
"I won't make the same mistake."
Ethan's jaw clenched as he forced himself to his feet, ignoring the pain radiating through his body.
"Lena," Ethan murmured softly, his eyes narrowing as Nemesis recalibrated its systems.
"Yeah?"
"Hit the power grid," Ethan murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
Lena's eyes widened.
"Ethan—"
"Do it!"
Lena didn't hesitate.
Her pulse pistol fired, striking the junction box along the far wall.
Sparks erupted as the grid overloaded, sending a surge of energy cascading through the facility.
Nemesis's systems flickered.
"Now!" Ethan barked, his pulse blade humming with renewed energy.
He moved.
Fast.
Crowe's instincts surged forward, guiding his every step as he closed the distance.
Nemesis was recalibrating, but the disruption in the power grid had slowed its adaptive processes.
"Target the core."
Ethan's blade sliced through the air, striking with surgical precision.
The pulse blade connected with Nemesis's central core—
And for a brief moment...
Time stopped.
Energy surged through the system as Nemesis's core flickered.
Ethan's pulse pounded in his ears as the surge intensified—
Then Nemesis's body went rigid.
The glow of its cybernetic implants dimmed.
And the hulking enforcer collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Ethan's breath came in ragged gasps as he staggered back, his pulse pounding in his ears.
"Is it...?" Lena's voice was barely above a whisper.
Ethan's jaw clenched as he stared at the lifeless body of Nemesis.
"Yeah," Ethan murmured softly.
"For now."
But deep down...
Ethan knew this wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
---