The first shot hit the wall inches from Kai's head.
He dove to the side instinctively, shoulder slamming against a rusted console. Sparks flew. Behind him, Icarus returned fire, his pistol flashing in rapid bursts. The red-eyed figures in the doorway advanced with mechanical precision, unfazed by the suppressive fire.
"Retreat back to the corridor!" Icarus shouted. "We can bottleneck them!"
Kai didn't argue. He gripped his blade, ducked low, and sprinted through a gap in the console array, heat licking his skin as another volley of energy rounds zipped past. The air smelled like scorched copper. The static storms outside the node flared as if reacting to the conflict.
As they reached the corridor, Icarus slapped a small orb onto the door frame.
"EMP mine!" he warned.
The moment Kai crossed the threshold, Icarus triggered it. A pulse of blue-white energy exploded outward, shorting out the entrance. The first two attackers spasmed and collapsed mid-stride, twitching violently. The rest halted just outside the range of the blast, seemingly assessing the trap.
"Buys us time," Icarus muttered, reloading.
Kai leaned against the wall, catching his breath. "What are they?"
"Purifiers," Icarus said grimly. "Modified hunter drones. Originally used to clear infected zones. But these… they've been retrofitted. Someone's controlling them."
Kai's mind flashed back to the inscription on the techno-beast: Property of Omega Seed.
"They're not just clearing zones," he said. "They're after me."
"Then that means whoever's behind them knows you've accessed the node. We triggered something."
Kai nodded. His gaze fell to the system interface hovering faintly in the corner of his vision.
[Core Mapping: 12% Complete]New Route Established: Subsector Theta-9 — Status: Hostile Territory]
He frowned. "The next location is in Theta-9. System just updated the route."
Icarus groaned. "Of course it is. That place is crawling with ruinborn. You'll be lucky if radiation doesn't melt your skin before one of them tears it off."
Kai straightened, eyes hard. "I don't care. If the Core is real, if it can change everything... I need to get to it before they do."
Icarus studied him. Then, with a sigh, he nodded. "Then let's not die standing still."
They pushed deeper into the corridor, taking a winding path that avoided major sectors. The static interference thinned as they left the node's immediate area, though Kai could still feel energy buzzing faintly under his skin—a side effect of the Tier 2 upgrade, perhaps.
Every now and then, Kai heard movement behind them. The red-eyed shadows weren't done.
"We've got tails," he said quietly.
"I know," Icarus muttered. "They're testing your route. Watching your decisions."
"Why?"
"Because they're learning you."
That made Kai pause. "What?"
"Adaptive pursuit protocols," Icarus explained. "AI hunters from the Collapse era had learning algorithms. They'd watch a target—figure out how you think, how you run, how you fight. Then, they evolve."
"Great," Kai muttered. "So we're not just being chased—we're being studied."
The corridor opened into a vast chamber—an old train platform swallowed by time. Broken rails jutted out of the floor, and ancient maglev cars lay overturned like discarded toys. The remnants of a long-gone evacuation. On the far side, a security gate flickered with life.
Kai scanned the map the System had given him. "We go through there."
He jogged toward the gate—but the System chimed again.
[Warning: Subsector Detour Detected — Hostile Signal Interference]
Alternate Path Available: Detour to Vault-17? (Y/N)
He hesitated.
Vault-17. He'd heard the name before—one of the sealed bunkers buried during the early Collapse. Rumors said it still housed original tech, untouched for decades.
"Icarus," he called, "what's in Vault-17?"
Icarus stiffened. "No one knows. It's been sealed since the old world fell. But if it's open now…"
"Then someone cracked it," Kai finished.
The implications were clear. If someone had accessed Vault-17, and the System was pointing him there… it wasn't just coincidence. It was connected.
"Change of plans," Kai said. "We're going to Vault-17."
Icarus didn't argue this time. "Then we take the service tunnels beneath the platform. They'll cut straight toward it."
They made their way to a rusted maintenance hatch behind a collapsed train car. Icarus pried it open with effort, revealing a narrow stairwell spiraling into darkness.
Kai dropped in first, landing lightly on the platform below. The air was thick and still. Pipes groaned in the distance, and every step echoed like a warning.
As they moved forward, a flickering light blinked on ahead.
A voice—metallic, female, and distorted—suddenly echoed down the tunnel.
"System Echo Detected. Designation: Kai. Authorization Key Fragment: Validated."
Kai froze. "Did you hear that?"
Icarus raised his pistol. "Yeah. And I don't like it."
The tunnel opened into a circular chamber, its walls lined with dead terminals and sealed doors. In the center, a pedestal glowed faintly with blue light. Resting atop it was a strange device—half-disk, half-crystal, humming softly.
Kai stepped forward.
The System chimed again.
[Sub-Node Acquired: Omega Fragment Alpha]
Memory Link Recovered — Displaying…
Suddenly, Kai's vision blurred.
The room vanished.
He was somewhere else—standing on a platform suspended in the sky, a world of clean lines and white towers. People in uniforms stood around a glowing core.
A woman spoke, her voice urgent.
"Initiate Omega Protocol. Seed the fragments. Hide them across the grid. If even one survives, the Ascension Protocol can be reactivated."
The vision ended.
Kai stumbled back, breath caught in his throat.
"What the hell was that?" Icarus asked.
"A memory," Kai said quietly. "A message. From the people who built the Core."
He looked at the glowing fragment in his hand.
They planted pieces of the Ascension Protocol throughout the ruins. This was one of them.
And he had just found it.
[End of Chapter 13]