The drive to the northern sector felt way too long. Maybe it was the tension sitting between them, or maybe it was the fact that every single highway sign looked like it was warning them instead of giving directions. Beverly kept tapping her fingers on the wheel, a habit she only did when she was nervous… or annoyed.Davion wasn’t sure which one it was.“So,” she finally said, eyes locked on the road, “they’re starting this Omega thing tomorrow? As in tomorrow morning?”“Yeah,” Davion replied, scrolling through the re-decoded files again. “At exactly 08:00. Whoever’s behind it doesn’t waste time.”Beverly snorted. “Yeah, well, neither do we.”He looked up at her. “You sure you’re in for this?”She glanced at him, offended. “Are you actually asking me that? After everything?”Davion held up his hands. “Just checking.”“You don’t ‘check’ me,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I literally saved your life like… twelve times.”“Seven,” Davion corrected automatically.“Whatever,” she muttered.T

By the time they reached the safehouse, Beverly’s arms were shaking so hard she could barely keep hold of the girl. Davion grabbed the door and shouldered it open, letting them spill inside. It wasn’t much—just an old apartment above a boarded-up deli—but it was clean, quiet, and most importantly, off-grid.The door slammed shut behind them.Reika kicked the lock twice just to be sure. “Cute place,” she muttered. “Love the whole ‘we might get murdered but at least the walls are beige’ vibe.”Beverly ignored her and laid the girl—Omega—on the faded couch. Davion knelt beside them, brushing damp hair from the girl’s forehead. She felt like ice.“Beverly, get the blankets,” Davion said urgently.She grabbed two from the hallway closet and wrapped the child gently, tucking them under her chin. “Her pulse is weird,” Beverly whispered. “Fast and… glitchy.”Reika raised an eyebrow. “Glitchy. Great medical term.”Davion shot Reika a look sharp enough to cut metal. “You didn’t see what they di

The moment the screen went black, the whole room felt like it exhaled.Then Beverly shot to her feet.“Reika—Davion, she’s coming.”Davion didn’t even pretend to act surprised. “Yeah. I figured.”Wilson paced near the door, rubbing the back of his neck. “So what, we just… wait for her to show up and murder us? Cool. Great plan.”Irene kicked a chair aside and muttered, “She’s not killing anybody. Not while I’m here.”Davion leaned forward, elbows on the table. “She said she wouldn’t come for me until she found whatever incomplete file Hale left behind. That means we have time.”“Time?” Beverly snapped. “Davion, the girl just shut down an entire government firewall in fifteen seconds. She can track us through a cereal box barcode.”That actually made Wilson pause. “Wait—can she?”“I don’t know!” Beverly yelled. “Probably!”Davion stood. “Look… we need to move. Now. Reika’s tracking the residue signal from Genesis. She’ll realize fast that the data trail cuts off here.”“Where do we eve

Davion’s lungs burned. Every breath felt like fire in his chest, but he couldn’t slow down. Behind him, the metallic screech of HX-01’s armor echoed through the underground tunnels, each step a drumbeat of terror. Sparks and debris bounced off the walls as the prototype powered up, its movements jerky but lethal.“LEFT!” Davion shouted, grabbing Beverly’s wrist and pulling her hard around a corner.She stumbled but recovered. “You think I need directions from a guy who just tried to electroshock a murder robot?!” she yelled, half-laughing, half-panicked.“I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR SASS!” he snapped, though the words didn’t carry the usual bite—they were just adrenaline and fear.Irene and Wilson followed close behind, Wilson tripping over his own feet, banging against the walls. “OH MY GOD! I AM NOT BUILT FOR THIS!” he screamed, flailing wildly. “I’M A REGULAR HUMAN! A VERY SCARED REGULAR HUMAN!”“You’re literally slowing us down!” Irene yelled. “Get your head in the game!”“GAME?! T

IThe silence after HX-01 collapsed didn’t feel real. It felt like the kind of silence that comes right after a scream—too heavy, too full of things unspoken. The robot’s body twitched once, sparks fizzing out like dying fireflies. Then it went completely still.Davion stared at it, chest rising and falling like he’d run a marathon. Beverly touched his shoulder lightly. “You good?”“No,” he said honestly. “But let’s keep going anyway.”There wasn’t time to celebrate. Genesis still pulsed around them—every wall lined with old wiring, every hallway humming with a heartbeat that didn’t belong to anything alive. Somewhere in this building, Davion’s father was waiting.Irene brushed dust off her jacket. “We need to move. The shutdown sequence didn’t spread to the whole facility. Some parts restarted.”Wilson whimpered. “Why would they restart? It died. We saw it die. Machines are supposed to die and stay dead!”“It’s called a backup grid,” Irene said. “And screaming won’t fix it.”Beverly