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"We will," I finally said. "We have to."

Rivera nodded, turning back to the console. "I'll try to buy us more time. Maybe I can implement a partial stabilization protocol while we?—"

A sudden alarm cut through her words, sharp sonic pulses that stabbed at my sensitive hearing. Red lights began flashing across the displays, bathing the chamber in crimson.

The console erupted with warnings, displays fluctuating wildly as the alarms continued their piercing wail. Rivera's hands flew across the interface, trying to counter whatever had triggered the system's panic.

"What's happening?" I moved to her side, wincing as the sonic pulses hit a frequency that sent pain shooting through my skull.

"Someone else is accessing the system." Her voice rose to be heard over the alarms. "A remote interface... crude but powerful. Like a hammer blow against delicate circuits."

The console sparked under her fingers, forcing her back. "It's Hammond! He's trying to force his way in from outside the ruins."

My blood ran cold. "How?"

"The linked artifacts he stole, probably." Her markings brightened as she pushed forward again, refusing to yield control. "And... something else. These energy signatures..."

Understanding dawned in her eyes, horror replacing confusion. "He's using Claire! Or someone with amplified markings. Forcing them to interface remotely."

Fury surged through me, hot and sharp. Hammond dared to interfere now, when the system teetered on the edge of collapse? His clumsy, ignorant intrusion would only accelerate the failure.

"Can you block him?"

"I'm trying!" Her hands moved frantically across the console. "But his signal is strong. Too strong. He's going to cause a meltdown if he keeps this up!"

Another alarm joined the cacophony, this one deeper, more ominous. The floor beneath us trembled.

"He's making it worse," Rivera shouted. "The power fluctuations are destabilizing the containment fields!"

I pushed through my pain, moving to stand beside her at the console. "Tell me what to do."

She glanced up, surprise flickering across her face before determination replaced it. "We need to shield the core systems. If we can isolate the primary controls from his interference..."

"Show me."

She pointed to a secondary panel. "Place your hands there. Your lifelines might help create a buffer."

I hesitated only a moment before pressing my palms against the indicated surface. Gold light flowed from my lifelines into the ancient technology, an act that would have been unthinkable days ago. The sensation burned, foreign and intrusive, but I held firm.

"It's working!" Rivera called over the alarms. "Keep going!"

The connection deepened, drawing more energy from my lifelines. Pain lanced through me, but I gritted my teeth against it. Hammond would not destroy everything with his ignorance and greed. Not while I still stood.

"He's trying to override the environmental controls," Rivera said, fingers dancing across her section of the console. "If he succeeds, the atmospheric stabilizers will fail. The entire region could become uninhabitable."

"Not if we stop him first." I pushed more energy through my lifelines, creating a barrier between Hammond's crude attempts and the core systems. "Can you trace his signal? Find his location?"

"Already on it." Her markings pulsed in rhythm with my lifelines, our energies synchronizing through the bond between us. "Western canyon, just like we suspected. That's where he's holding Claire."

The console sparked again, but this time the alarms began to subside. Rivera let out a breath of relief.

"We've blocked him for now, but he'll try again." She looked at me, exhaustion and determination mingling in her expression. "And next time, he might succeed."

I nodded, understanding the unspoken conclusion. We needed to move quickly - to stop Hammond, rescue Claire, and return with someone capable of providing the amplified signature the system required.

"Then we need to leave immediately." I straightened, ignoring the protest from my injured side. "Can you stabilize the system enough to buy us that time?"

"I think so."She turned to the console, fingers already moving across the interface. "But without the amplified signature, it's just a temporary fix."