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I study the deployment pattern again, looking for weaknesses. "The drainage system. I’d read that the old towns like this always had underground water management. Sewers, I think they were called. If it's still intact?—"

"We could bypass the surface perimeter," Trent finishes, already seeing the strategy.

"I go alone," I decide. "Smaller target, better chance of success."

"Absolutely not," both men say simultaneously.

"I'm the fastest," I argue. "And my modifications can adapt to whatever's down there."

"Which is exactly why Unity wants you," Trent counters. "If you're captured?—"

"I go with her," Vex interrupts. "You maintain position here as lookout and backup."

Trent's jaw tightens, but he can't argue with the tactical logic. He simply doesn’t possess the skills that Vex’s system does. "Thirty minutes. If you're not back or signaling, I'm coming in."

We locate a drainage access point hidden beneath collapsed rubble at the settlement's edge. The opening is narrow, barely wide enough for shoulders, descending into darkness that would be impenetrable without enhanced vision.

"I'll go first," Vex says, already easing into the opening. "Stay close."

I follow him into the underground passage, immediatelyassaulted by the stench of stagnant water and decay. The tunnel extends beneath the settlement, branching occasionally into smaller channels. Vex navigates with the confidence of someone used to moving through hostile environments.

"Your modifications adapting okay?" he asks softly as we splash through ankle-deep water.

"Fine," I confirm, though the air down here is thick with contaminants my body is busily processing. "You?"

"This is nothing compared to what I've survived," he says, a rare reference to his past.

We continue in silence, guided by Vex's mental map of the surface structures above. The tunnel gradually narrows until we're moving in a crouch, the ceiling pressing uncomfortably close.

"Here," Vex stops beneath what appears to be an access point. "Should put us near the building where we spotted movement."

He reaches up, testing the cover. It shifts slightly but doesn't open. "Blocked from above. Need to find another exit."

A splash behind us freezes us both. Not a random drip—something moving in the tunnel we just traversed.

"Unity?" I mouth silently.

Vex shakes his head—uncertain. We press against the tunnel wall, waiting. The silence stretches until I think I might have imagined the sound. Then—another splash, closer now.

Vex draws a knife, eyes gleaming in the darkness. I do the same, gripping the weapon he gave me before our separation at the relay station.

A figure appears around the bend—humanoid but moving with unnatural fluidity, as if boneless. My enhanced vision picks out details that send alarm through me—skin with a faint luminescent quality, eyes too large and entirely black, fingers elongated into something like claws.

Not Unity.

Something else entirely.

The figure stops, head tilting as it studies us. Then it speaks, voice oddly musical despite the tension.

"Thorne offspring. At last."

I blink in surprise at the sight. "You know me?"

"Your genetic signature precedes you." The strange figure moves closer, movements smoother than should be possible in the cramped space. "The harbinger returns."

Vex positions himself slightly in front of me, knife still ready. "Identify yourself."

The figure's oversized eyes shift to him. "Predator adaptation. Effective but limited." Then back to me. "She carries greater potential."