The tunnel was dark and cold.I walked behind Dr. REN-9, my footsteps echoing off the stone walls. Nyx-0 moved beside me, its wolf form barely visible in the darkness.My optical implants flickered, adjusting to the low light. I could see the tunnel stretching ahead, ancient and worn."The data key," I said. "We need to use it."Dr. REN-9 stopped and turned. "Not here. Too exposed.""Then where?""There's a chamber ahead. Deeper in the tunnel. We can use it there."We kept walking. The tunnel wound deeper, branching into passages I couldn't count. Dr. REN-9 moved with purpose, like she knew exactly where she was going."How do you know these tunnels so well?" I asked."I've been using them for decades. The Resistance built them. To move people, to hide information, to survive.""The District doesn't know about them?""They know some of them. Not all. We've been careful."We reached a small chamber, barely large enough to hold us. Dr. REN-9 pulled out a small lamp and set it on the gro

The ground exploded beneath my feet.I hit the ground hard. My ribs screamed. My mechanical arm sparked. Dust and debris rained down on me."Move!" Dr. REN-9 shouted.I scrambled to my feet. Soldiers were everywhere. White armor. Unblinking eyes. They emerged from the ruins like ghosts."Surround them!" a commander shouted. "Don't let them escape!"Nyx-0 moved fast, faster than I'd ever seen it. Its wolf form tore through the first soldier, sending him flying. But more kept coming."There's too many!" I shouted."This way!" Dr. REN-9 grabbed my arm and pulled me toward a collapsed structure. We ducked inside, pressing ourselves against the wall."I thought you said the safe house was hidden!" I hissed."It was! They must have tracked us somehow!""Or someone sold us out!"I looked at Nyx-0. Its burning-star eyes were fixed on the entrance."They're coming," it said.I raised my mechanical arm. The energy pulse was still new. I didn't fully understand it. But I knew it worked.The firs

We left the Red Bazaar and moved fast. Mira led us through narrow alleys and hidden passages, moving like someone who knew every corner of the Bone Yard. Her hood was pulled low, hiding her face. But I could see her eyes. Sharp. Watchful. "The Spire is three days from here," she said. "Maybe more. The terrain is dangerous, and the District patrols heavily." "I don't care how long it takes," I said. "You should. Every day you delay, the District gets stronger." I looked at my wrist. At the watch. "Then we move faster." Mira stopped and turned to face me. "You really are like him." "Who?" "Nexus. He used to say the same thing. Always pushing. Always moving." I felt a strange warmth in my chest. "What happened to him?" She was quiet for a moment. "He got too close. The District knew he was coming. They were waiting for him." "Where?" "At the Spire. He was trying to do the same thing you're trying to do now." I stared at her. "He tried to broadcast the truth?" "Yes. He almo

Zero-One raised his hand.The soldiers moved. White armor. Unblinking eyes. They came at us like a wave, weapons raised, boots thundering against the polished floor.I didn't think. I just moved.My mechanical arm came up, and I fired. The energy pulse hit the first soldier square in the chest. He flew backward, crashing into the others behind him. But more kept coming. They were everywhere.Nyx-0 moved like shadow, faster than I'd ever seen it. Its wolf form tore through the soldiers, teeth and claws and burning-star eyes. It took down three before they could even react.Dr. REN-9 was beside me, her device raised. A burst of light shot out, blinding the soldiers closest to us. Mira was running toward the broadcast tower, her fingers already working on the control panel."Cover me!" she shouted.I turned and fired again. Another soldier went down."Zero-One!" I shouted.The man in white was still standing at the top of the stairs, watching. Calm. Unbothered. Like he knew how this woul

We reached the first scavenger camp at dawn.I knew it before I saw it. The smell came first: burnt oil, boiled scrap-moss, and too many people packed into too little space. Then the walls appeared out of the orange haze, a ring of welded Beast plating with a gate made from a single enormous jawbone."Ashfall Camp," Mira said. "Four hundred people. They're on the repeater line, so they should have caught part of the broadcast.""Should have," I said."That's the best I can give you."Kira stopped at the edge of the dust and studied the gate. "I'll stay out here. If the District has eyes on this place, they'll be watching for a group. Better if I'm not part of it.""You're the one who wanted us to move fast," I said."And I still do. Go in, find out what they know, and come back before the sun clears the ridge."She said it smoothly, and it made sense. I still didn't like it.Nyx-0 pressed against my leg, small again, cat-shaped, pretending to be something a scavenger would keep for co