The doors hissed open with a mechanical groan, revealing a massive chamber. It looked nothing like the rest of the facility. The walls were smooth obsidian, glowing faint blue with pulses of energy that ran like veins. A circular platform sat in the center of the room, surrounded by hanging cables and flickering monitors. The temperature dropped the second they stepped inside. Davion exhaled slowly. “This is the core.” Beverly’s boots echoed as she walked beside him. “It’s like a tech cathedral.” Scarface—the boy with the eye scar—whistled under his breath. “It’s beautiful… and cursed.” “Yeah,” Davion muttered. “Just like him.” As if summoned by his thoughts, a hologram flickered to life in the center of the platform. His father’s face. Cold. Digital. Watching. “Welcome, Subject Eight,” the voice said smoothly. “Bringing traitors into the sanctuary now, are we?” “You call this a sanctuary?” Beverly asked, stepping forward with her gun drawn. “You brainwashed kids into soldiers

The corridors twisted like a maze designed by madness.Rust clung to the walls. Pipes hissed. Red emergency lights painted everything like blood. But Davion didn’t stop. He led with his jaw clenched and eyes set on a future he refused to let slip away again.Behind him, Beverly held the rescued girl, her name barely whispered: Nia. Maya flanked them with her pistol drawn, covering corners. Rami’s boots thudded fast, his tablet pressed to his chest like a guidebook through hell.“We’re close,” Rami shouted. “Core’s one floor down. There’s a vertical shaft ahead. But—”The ground shook beneath them. A pulse. Low, like a heartbeat.“That’s new,” Beverly muttered.“It’s powering up,” Davion said. “He’s not gonna let us in easy.”“Let him try,” Maya growled. “I got twelve more rounds and a score to settle.”They turned a corner—straight into gunfire.Clang. Sparks. A bullet grazed the wall near Rami’s head. He ducked, yelling, “Turrets!”Automated. Sleek and silver. Guns mounted like spide

The morning after the mountain fell was too quiet.The air smelled like scorched earth and rain. Somewhere in the trees, birds were calling—hesitant, like they didn’t trust the silence.Davion sat on a boulder at the edge of their makeshift camp, watching the smoke rise from what was once Genesis. His helmet lay beside him. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking.Behind him, Elias slept under a pile of blankets, his breathing shallow but steady. Beverly was crouched next to him, changing the IV bag with the precision of someone who’d done it too many times for too many people.“You should eat,” Beverly said without looking up.Davion didn’t turn. “I’m not hungry.”“You’re running on fumes.”“I said I’m fine.”Her voice hardened. “You almost collapsed carrying him out last night.”He finally looked at her. “I’m still here. That’s enough.”Beverly’s jaw worked like she wanted to say more, but instead she clipped the IV in place and stood. “Don’t make me drag you to the fire.”A crunch of boots

The corridors of Genesis were quiet. Too quiet.Not the normal “library quiet,” but that type of silence that felt like it was holding its breath, waiting for you to make the wrong move.Beverly was a few steps ahead, shoulders squared, her black jacket shifting with every sharp stride. She didn’t say much—just kept her eyes on the holographic map on her wristband. I knew her well enough to realize that meant she was locked in.Behind us, Irene kept glancing over her shoulder, her fingers twitching near her holstered gun. “This place gives me the creeps,” she muttered.“It’s supposed to,” I said. My voice came out harsher than I meant, but… yeah. This was my father’s handiwork. Every metal wall, every security drone, every bolt in the floor—he’d either designed it or had someone design it while standing over their shoulder, breathing down their neck like some corporate overlord from hell.“Still no movement on the scanners,” Reika said from the back. “It’s almost like they want us to

The alarms wouldn’t shut up. They were this constant, ear-splitting wail echoing through the whole place, like the walls themselves were panicking. Red lights flashed over the steel corridors, making everyone’s faces look like they were covered in blood.“We’ve got company!” Maya yelled from the back. She was gripping her pistol, eyes darting like she expected a swarm to drop from the ceiling.Davion didn’t slow down. “No kidding.”Beverly was right beside him, her voice low but sharp. “We’re not gonna make it to the core if we keep getting boxed in.”“Then we don’t let them box us in,” Davion shot back, gripping his rifle tighter. His knuckles were white.They hit the next corner—and almost ran straight into three more enhanced kids. These ones weren’t the ones they’d seen before. Taller. Bulkier. Probably older. Definitely armed.“Move and you’re dead,” one of them barked, his voice mechanical through a throat modulator.Davion stepped forward, holding up a hand. “We’re not your ene