The second Davion yelled Run, the whole world seemed to explode.Alarms shrieked so loud the floor vibrated. Red lights stuttered and flashed like the facility was having a panic attack. Beverly grabbed Davion’s sleeve and yanked him down the hallway just as the heavy chamber doors behind them slammed shut—so hard the walls rattled.Wilson tripped on nothing and screamed, “I CAN’T DO THIS AGAIN! I WAS NOT BUILT FOR CARDIO!”“Shut up and MOVE!” Irene shouted, practically dragging him by the collar.The ground shook again—this time deeper, heavier. Like something massive had just stepped onto the platform they’d escaped from. Davion didn’t dare look back, but he could feel it. The air itself felt wrong. Too thick. Too electric. Too alive.HX-02 was awake.And every instinct in Davion’s body screamed the same thing:This one is built to kill you specifically.The hallway stretched endlessly ahead, pipes bursting overhead, sparks raining down. Beverly smacked a piece of flying debris away

The warehouse smelled like smoke and metal, like the whole world had burned and then tried to cool too fast. Davion sat on the edge of a broken table, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. His breaths came uneven, shaky, like his lungs didn’t know if they were supposed to keep going or give up entirely.Beverly stood in front of him, pacing, running a hand through her hair every five seconds. “You’re not listening,” she snapped, her voice sharp but cracking at the edges. “Davion. Look at me.”He didn’t.“Davion.”She stepped closer.He lifted his head, and Beverly froze. His eyes were red—not from tears, but from the smoke and adrenaline draining out of him. His face looked hollow. Older. Like he’d aged years in the few minutes since Genesis collapsed.“He’s alive,” Davion muttered. “I felt him move before the blast hit. You saw it too.”Beverly exhaled hard. “I saw rubble. I saw fire. And I saw you almost die trying to get him out.”“No.” Davion shook his head slowly. “He survived.

The hideout felt way too quiet that night. Like the walls were holding their breath, same way the whole city seemed to be ever since Iron Hand went down. Davion lay on the old mattress near the back wall, staring up at the cracked ceiling like it was supposed to give him answers. It didn’t. It just sat there, dusty and disappointing—kinda like everything else lately. Across the room, Beverly paced back and forth with her hands buried in her pockets, muttering something about “patterns” and “timing.” She looked stressed. Like, the kind of stressed where even her hair was mad. “You’re gonna wear a hole in the floor,” Davion said finally. She stopped pacing but didn’t look at him. “Something’s off.” “Yeah. The whole world is off.” “No, I mean tonight.” She rubbed her arms like the air suddenly got colder. “Doesn’t it feel weird?” Davion pushed himself up on his elbows. “Everything feels weird since we blew up Genesis.” She gave a weak laugh. “Fair.” But the laugh didn’t stick. Sh

The industrial district looked like a graveyard for buildings. Everything was metal, rust, shadows, and broken windows that whistled with the cold wind. Midnight hadn’t even hit yet, but the whole place already felt like a warning.Davion’s stomach twisted as they approached the warehouse. The air tasted like dust and danger. Beverly walked beside him, hood up, jaw tense. Irene was a few steps behind, carrying a backpack full of tech like it was a bomb.Lights flickered down the street, buzzing in and out.“Perfect,” Irene muttered. “The power grid here is so trash, I barely even need to hack anything.”Beverly elbowed her lightly. “Focus, hacker Barbie.”Davion didn’t say anything. His heartbeat was too loud, too fast. The warehouse towered in front of them—huge, rectangular, and silent. It looked like something bad had happened inside it a long time ago, and something worse was about to happen tonight.Beverly stopped, turned to him, and whispered, “Last chance. If you want to back

Cold night air slapped Davion in the face as he burst onto the empty street, lungs burning. Beverly ran beside him, practically dragging him forward, and Reika followed a few steps behind, moving with deadly, irritated grace like this whole thing was an inconvenience she hadn’t scheduled.The city street was silent—too silent. Even the streetlights buzzed in a weird, glitchy way, flickering like someone was messing with the grid.“Keep running!” Beverly yelled, breathless.“I’m—trying,” Davion wheezed, clinging to a stitch in his side.Reika rolled her eyes. “Please tell me we’re not dying because cardio isn’t your thing.”“Shut—up—Reika—” Davion gasped.But behind them, the warehouse door exploded open with a metallic crack that echoed like a gunshot.All three of them whipped their heads around.There he was.The man wearing Davion’s father’s face—or whatever he was—standing in the doorway, shoulders too broad, posture too familiar. His eyes glowed faintly, like something inside him