"We're stuck," Mateo said, his voice barely a whisper in the suffocating dark. "We're suspended between floors.""Oh, brilliant. That’s just perfect," Akash groaned, his breath rattling in his throat as he slumped against the handrail. "Tell me you brought a spare set of stairs in that delivery bag of yours.""I don't think they'd fit," Mateo replied. He reached up, his fingers brushing against the cold, metallic ceiling of the cabin. "But I think I found the maintenance hatch.""Can you reach it?""If I stand on the handrail, yeah. Just keep your weight on the opposite side so this box doesn't tilt any more than it already has.""Right, because gravity hasn't had enough fun with us today," Akash muttered, wincing as he shifted his position. "Go on. Get us out of this coffin."Mateo carefully placed his boot on the thin metal handrail, balancing his weight against the swaying wall. The emergency red light pulsed, casting long, erratic shadows across his face. He pressed his palms agai

"I'm trying, man! I'm trying!" Mateo shouted back, his fingers flying across the touch-sensitive keyboard of the flashing terminal."Well, try faster!" Akash yelled, clutching his bleeding side as he leaned heavily against the edge of the console. "The automated voice just told us we have less than two minutes! I don't want to get locked in this basement with a bunch of angry robots!""The system is completely locked down on Rosslyn's profile because she's flagged as a security threat outside," Mateo said, his eyes scanning the rapidly scrolling lines of blue code. "But wait. Look at this.""Look at what? All I see is red flashing lights and our imminent demise!""There's a master administrative bypass," Mateo said, pointing to a golden icon flashing at the top of the network directory. "It's a high-level executive override. The CEO. His personal terminal is still logged into the mainframe.""The CEO?" Akash blinked, coughing into his hand. "The big boss of the whole agency? He’s actu

"Hold on!" Mateo's voice was a ragged scream against the deafening roar of the helicopter’s twin rotors. The wind tore at his goggles, forcing tears from his eyes as he dangled by his fingertips from the twisted metal edge of the landing skid. "Akash! Are you still there?""Do I sound like I'm not here?!" a voice yelled from just a foot below him. Akash was hugging the cold steel of the landing gear, his knuckles white, his face smeared with grease and dried blood. "My side is killing me, Mateo! Pull me up before my fingers turn into butter!""I've got you! Just don't look down!" Mateo yelled back, his muscles screaming as he locked his legs around the skid. He reached down, his glove slick with sweat as he grabbed Akash by the wrist. "On three! One, two, heave!""Ah! Watch the stitches, you idiot!" Akash gasped as Mateo hauled him up onto the narrow strut. He clung to the metal, his chest heaving. "Holy crap. We are actually flying. Look at the city!""I told you not to look!" Mateo

The engine of the Strider-X didn't just howl; it tore a hole straight through the suffocating silence of the mutated forest. A blinding blue dome of kinetic energy erupted from the dampener coils, hitting the dark canopy like a miniature sun."Get back!" Mateo screamed, his hand twisting the grip until his knuckles popped. "Get the hell back!""They’re flinching! Mateo, the light’s actually burning them!" Akash yelled, shielding his eyes as the yellow-eyed shadows shrieked—a sound like metal scraping against stone—and scattered back into the swirling violet fog."I'm flooring it!" Mateo shouted over the shriek of the motor. "Duck your head!""I can't duck any lower without merging with the chassis!" Akash barked, his fingers clawing at the metal rack behind the seat. "Watch the root on the left! Watch it!""I see it!"The bike slammed over a massive, pulsing purple root, launching them into a brief, bone-jarring leap."My ribs!" Akash groaned, his face pressed against Mateo's shoulder

The speaker on the tunnel wall crackled again, repeating the same message through a thick layer of static: "...the extraction window... is closing..."Mateo slowly kicked the stand down, his boots grinding against the wet gravel. "Yeah, Akash. I heard it.""Well, don't just stand there like a statue," Akash said, wincing as he gripped his side. "Get over there and clear up the signal.""I'm going, I'm going," Mateo muttered, walking toward the rusted console mounted near the brickwork. "Just keep your weight centered on the seat so the bike doesn't tilt.""It's kind of hard to balance when my ribs feel like they're being squeezed by a hydraulic press," Akash groaned. "Hurry up. This static is making my teeth ache.""I'm adjusting the copper dials now," Mateo said. A sharp hiss of noise erupted from the speaker, and he recoiled slightly. "Ah, damn it. That's loud.""Turn it down!" Akash yelled, covering his ears. "Do you want to broadcast our position to every mutated thing in this yar