AETHER MIDNIGHT

The Countdown

Eighty minutes.

Time is a cruel illusion. To a mind paralyzed by panic, eighty minutes feels like a suffocating blink of an eye. But to a mind trained for war, it is a luxurious expanse of time, more than enough for meticulous, lethal preparation.

"We have to run," Jax urged, packing scrap into a sack with trembling hands. "Out the back door, into the sewers!"

"A statistically fatal decision," Cora cut in, her voice slicing through Jax’s hysteria with cold logic. "The lower sewers are heavily monitored by the Nexhold cartel's automated detector drones. If we move in a large, panicked group, the figure won't even have to look for us; he will easily track our collective heat signatures echoing through the narrow, uninsulated tunnels."

I looked around the room, taking in the fragile ecosystem I had built. Vex was leaning against the wall, her knuckles white as she fiercely gripped the ruined stump of her custom rifle. Kael was sitting on the floor, hugging a trembling Spark to his chest. Grox looked sickly pale, his massive frame curled inward. Sera and Tali were huddled together on a rusted cot, holding each other in quiet terror. And then there was Cora, standing tall and unblinking, like a lone data beacon in the middle of a raging storm.

"No one is running," my voice broke their panic. My flat tone radiated a calm authority that silenced the room. "You all stay here."

"L, are you crazy? We can't fight him!" Risha argued, stepping forward, her eyes pleading with me to see reason.

"We aren't going to fight him here," I replied. I walked to the workbench, grabbing my toolbelt and hooking it to my waist. "The Garage is double-lead-lined and thermally insulated to hide pirate engine radiation. It's the safest place in the sector if the doors are deadlocked."

I turned to Cora. "Cora, shut down all secondary life systems. Cut the external power grid, activate the internal signal jammers, and ensure The Garage is invisible on any thermal scanner. Make this place look like an empty, dead warehouse abandoned a week ago."

Cora nodded slightly, her fingers dancing across the terminal again.

"Vex," I looked at the bounty hunter. "Help Kael seal the back hydraulic doors. Don't leave a single air gap."

"Then where are you going, L?" Kael asked, his face full of anxiety. "You don't even have a combat weapon!"

"I am a mechanic, Kael. I will use my methods," I said, putting on my leather jacket. "The manifest tracking system on Level 1314 relies on the Sector 7 relay tower. I will climb the outer ventilation shafts and sabotage its core. If I cut the network before he finds Grox's name, his tracking hits a dead end. He'll lose our trail in the neon labyrinth of Noctis Reach."

It was an incredibly convincing technical lie. Kael nodded in understanding, and even Vex didn't debate the sabotage tactic.

"You have less than eighty minutes, L," Vex warned, leaning against the wall. "Don't play hero. Cut the cables, then come back."

"Lock the doors after I leave," I ordered.

I turned and walked out the emergency back door of The Garage, stepping into the narrow alley soaked in acid rain. Behind me, the heavy hiss of hydraulics sounded as the steel seals layered shut. Magnetic locks clicked in rapid succession. My friends were safely locked inside.

Now, I was alone in the rain. I didn't walk toward the Sector 7 ventilation shaft. Instead, I walked along the outer wall of my workshop, toward a stack of rusted cargo crates untouched for years. I moved an empty drum, revealing a drainage access panel that looked like a regular dirty water grate.

Using the tip of my kunai, I pressed a hidden lever behind the iron bars. The grate slid open silently, revealing a dark vertical tunnel leading straight beneath the foundation of The Garage.

This was the shortcut to the lead-lined basement.

I jumped down, landing silently on the dusty concrete. The air down here was dead. No light, only instinct guided me to a dull metal chest in the center of the room.

I knelt and opened the lid. Inside lay a neatly folded black cloak and a black metalic cylinder. I picked up the cylinder. Its weight felt familiar in my palm, awakening memories that buzzed like bees in my skull.

One Eclipse Agent. My mind spun with absolute clarity. In the past, at the height of the terror, I had faced two Eclipse Agents at once, dancing between the flashes of their twin blades, and walked out alive. I had even faced the Emperor's darkest secret—an ancient Wraith resurrected through horrific alchemy, a figure wielding arcane magic to bend minds and control elemental energy. I survived those monsters. Based on that experience, a single red-bladed Eclipse Agent hunting scavengers on Noctis Reach was just a regular foot soldier. A variable I could calculate.

However, I took a slow breath, suppressing the ego and arrogance trying to creep into my chest. Feeling superior is the first step toward carelessness, and carelessness is the gateway to the Dark Side. In the past, I fought only for myself. Tonight was different. If I underestimated this opponent and let the fight drag on, the sparks could ignite The Garage. If that Eclipse Agent managed to call for backup, Kael, Grox, Risha, and the others would be wiped out.

I must not fight to test strength. I had to end it absolutely, efficiently, and without a trace. Like a mechanic pulling the power cable from a broken machine.

I hooked the metal cylinder inside my jacket, hiding it from view, then pulled the cloak's hood over half my face.

"Eighty minutes," I muttered to the empty space before me.

I turned and climbed the stairs, leaving my mechanic identity down there, returning as a shadow phantom ready to comb the halls of Level 1314. The hunter would soon realize that tonight, he was the prey.