AETHER MIDNIGHT

Hole in the Door

Thick gray smoke billowed, mixing with the concrete dust falling from the ceiling. The sharp stench of ozone and burning metal choked the lungs. Through the gap in the two-meter-wide steel door, now bent inward, a massive shadow stepped inside, crushing the remains of the hexsteel frame beneath its heavy iron boots.

That figure was not an Eclipse Agent. My mind slowed slightly, though my alertness remained absolute.

Through the dust cloud, his form was clear: a Vorrak mercenary cyborg. Half of his wrinkled face was replaced by cheap cybernetic plates, and his right arm was a heavy-class plasma cannon. His remaining eye emitted an artificial red glow.

He was surely a low-level tracker, a Noctis Reach rat who caught the transmission and came to claim the bounty.

"Transmission... signal... Imperium Nexus goods..." the cyborg's broken vocoder ground out. He raised his plasma cannon, pointing it straight at Grox near the table.

Grox froze. All four of his arms shot up, his massive body trembling. "H-H-hey! W-we don't have any Imperium goods! This is a workshop! There's only junk and... and a coffee maker!"

The cyborg ignored him. The barrel of his weapon glowed blue, charging plasma energy.

My old instincts screamed, urging me to summon my true weapon, let the Veil flow, and slice through this threat in the blink of an eye. My eyes briefly darted toward the tool rack, an empty reflex. I knew the truth. That weapon, was not there. It was buried deep beneath the underground foundations of The Garage, coated in lead and steel so its energy remained untraceable, completely out of reach within mere seconds.

I had to finish this as L, the mechanic. "Get down, Grox!" I yelled.

Grox threw himself to the floor as blazing blue plasma shot from the cyborg's cannon, obliterating the Skimmer engine behind him and spraying hot metal shrapnel.

Without wasting a second, my hand slid into my toolbelt. My fingers found a cold metal grip: a medium-sized Kunai, forged from dense battleship hull armor. I carried it for thick cables, but its balance was perfect.

The cyborg pivoted toward me, his cannon hissing. I didn't use impossible speed. I sprinted sideways behind a hydraulic support pillar, feigning the panic of a street mechanic. A second plasma blast exploded, melting the pillar's surface.

I took a short breath. Focus. Calculate the angle. Hide the precision. As the cyborg stepped forward, I threw the kunai with all my might.

SLASH.

The kunai streaked through the dusty air, lodging deep between his neck armor and main hydraulic cable. It severed his synthetic coolant flow instantly.

The cyborg growled, stumbling backward. His organic hand reached to pull the kunai out as blue fluid sprayed like blood. His movements grew stiff from a system short circuit.

That was my chance. I dashed out from behind the pillar, ducking to avoid a random swing of his cannon, and rammed my shoulder into his cybernetic knee with full momentum. The cheap knee joint crunched and snapped.

As the giant Vorrak body lost its balance and fell flat on its back with a deafening iron crash, I quickly grabbed a high-voltage grounding cable dangling from a wall panel I was fixing this morning. Without hesitation, I jammed the bare tip of the live wire straight into the cyborg's chest port, which had popped open from the fall.

Breathing raggedly from the sheer effort of restraining my true power, I brushed the dust off my jacket. I walked over, pressed my boot against his iron chest, and yanked the kunai from his neck. I wiped the blade and tucked it away.

"L..."

Grox's voice shook. The massive Brakkar peeked from behind a barrel, standing up slowly. His eyes widened at the corpse. "W-what just happened? You took down a combat cyborg with just a chisel? And a cable?!"

He stared at me like an unmasked monster. He knew me as a precise mechanic, not a killer. I steadied my breathing, feigning complete panic, widening my eyes and trembling my hands.

"I just threw whatever I could grab!" I made my voice hoarse. "This pipe cutter hit a cable in his neck. I just thought of electrocuting him before he shot me!"

Grox swallowed hard. The logic of a street mechanic began to replace his panic. "What an incredible coincidence," he sighed, his four arms slumping. "By the cosmos, I thought we were dead. You have a madman's luck, L."

I nodded, tossing the cable to the floor. My secret was safe. "Help me out, Grox," I said, stepping back to the workbench.

The Scout Synth cylinder was still beeping. I grabbed a sledgehammer, raised it high, and smashed the black object with full force. The threatening beep died instantly.

I took a deep breath, feeling the Veil churning in my chest settle. My real name died years ago, burned to ash in the flames of revenge. In Noctis Reach, I stripped myself of everything. I am merely 'L', an entity who cares only about broken spare parts.

The Garage is my territory. This workshop is my healing from a mad galaxy. I glanced at the destroyed door. Ripples might be felt later. A greater threat might creep from the shadows, searching for this signal. But that is not today's problem. Today, my quiet life carries on.

"Grox," I called out, tossing the hammer. "Stop staring at the corpse. We have a much more pressing problem."

Grox wiped his sweaty forehead. "Shouldn't we dump this thing in the acid waste before his friends arrive?"

"That's for tonight," I pointed at the doorway. "My door is destroyed. Since you brought that cursed object, you're going to help me weld replacement plates until it's sealed. Got it?"

Grox chuckled nervously, his laughter returning to the usual absurdity of Noctis Reach. "Okay, L! You win. But after this, you really have to drink my cheap beer."

I smiled faintly. "We'll see about that, Grox. Get me plate number four."