Page 47

We sprint for the maintenance shaft, alarms blaring behind us. The security team opens fire—suppression rounds designed to incapacitate rather than kill. Still deadly serious for those with modifications.

Vex dives through the maintenance door first, shielding Lily with his body. I follow, with Trent covering our retreat. A suppression round impacts the wall beside him, exploding into chemical mist.

"Go!" he urges, firing back with his own weapon.

We descend the maintenance shaft at dangerous speed, Vex somehow managing to carry Lily while navigating the ladder. I follow close behind, heart pounding as Trent's footsteps echo above us.

"Security teams converging on all maintenance access points," Vex reports, his enhanced hearing picking up communications. "They're trying to box us in."

"Level three intersection," Trent decides as he catches up. "We can cut through the water reclamation section to the secondary exit."

We reach level three and burst into a wider maintenance corridor. Distant shouts and pounding footsteps tell us pursuit is close.

"This way," Trent directs, leading us through a maze of passages.

Lily stirs in Vex's arms, color returning to her pale cheeks. " The suppression is fading," she says, voice clearer now. "I can feel it."

"Your modifications are processing the compounds," I explain as we run. "Same thing happened to me."

Her silver eyes find mine with unexpected intensity. "I can hear you," she says cryptically. "In my head. Your pattern."

No time to unpack that now. We reach a massive chamber filled with purification equipment—giant tanks, filtration systems, and the constant rush of water. The noise provides excellent cover for our movements.

"The exit should be on the far side," Trent says, consulting his handheld one last time.

We weave through the equipment, staying low. Halfway across, a security team bursts through a door to our left.

"Split up!" Trent orders.

Vex takes Lily right, disappearing behind a massive filtration tank. I move left, drawing fire away from them. Trent goes straight ahead, creating a third target for the security team to track.

A supression round flies past my head, far too close. I duck and roll, coming up behind a control station. The security team splits, two officers following me while others pursue Trent and Vex.

Time to see what my fully restored modifications can do.

I wait until the officers approach, then move—faster than they can track, flowing between cover positions like Vex taught me. Their surprise is evident as I seemingly vanish from one spot and appear at another.

"Subject displaying enhanced mobility," one reports into his comm. "Requesting additional suppression rounds."

Not today, buddy.

I circle behind them, moving with predatory stealth. One senses something and turns, but too late—I'm already striking precise pressure points that drop him unconscious without permanent damage. The second officer fires wildly, suppression rounds exploding against equipment around me.

Chemical mist fills the air, but my modified lungs process it without effect. My mother's design proving its worth once again.

I neutralize the second officer with equal efficiency, then move to locate the others. Across the chamber, I spot Trent engaged with three security personnel. His Sentinel training makes him a formidable opponent even without modifications, but he's outnumbered.

Making my decision instantly, I sprint across the open space, leaping over equipment with enhanced agility. I crash into the group like a missile, disrupting their coordinated attack.

"About time," Trent grunts, blocking a strike from one officer.

"Had to do my makeup first," I quip, dropping another officer with a sweep kick.

Together, we make short work of the security team. As the last one falls, Vex emerges from behind a massive tank, Lily still in his arms but now awake and alert.

"Exit's clear," he reports. "But they're establishing a perimeter outside. We need to move now."

We race for the exit—a maintenance hatch that opens into a water runoff channel. Beyond, I can see daylight and the broken landscape that will provide our escape route.

"I can run," Lily tells Vex as we approach the hatch.

He sets her down carefully, keeping a supportive hand on her shoulder. Her legs wobble briefly, then steady as her modifications continue to overcome the suppression.

"Stay between us," I instruct her.

Trent opens the hatch, scanning the area beyond. "Three security teams deploying. South and east covered. North is our best option."

"The transport is southeast," Vex reminds him .

"Can't reach it directly," Trent decides. "We'll circle around, use the ruins for cover."

We slip through the hatch into blinding daylight. After the arcology's controlled environment, the outside world feels raw and immediate—wind carrying unfamiliar scents, sun warming skin, sounds not processed through dampening fields.

Lily gasps beside me, silver eyes wide. "Is this...outside?"

"Your first time?" I ask as we run, keeping her between us.

She nods, face a mixture of terror and wonder. "They said...nothing could survive out here."

"Another Unity lie," Vex tells her grimly.

Lies built upon lies built upon lies.

We reach the cover of ruins just as a Unity patrol spots us. Suppression rounds impact the crumbling wall beside us, showering debris.

"Keep moving," Trent urges, taking Lily's hand to help her navigate the unfamiliar terrain.

We weave through the ruins, using collapsed structures for cover. Lily adapts quickly, her movements becoming more sure as her modifications strengthen. The silver in her eyes intensifies, seeming to swirl with internal light.

"They're deploying aerial support," Vex warns, hearing the distinctive sound of Unity drones before they're visible.

"There," I point to a half-collapsed building with underground access. "Service tunnels should run beneath this whole sector."

We make for the opening, sliding into darkness seconds before a drone sweeps overhead. The space below is tight but navigable—ancient maintenance tunnels for the pre-collapse infrastructure.

"Can you track where we are?" I ask Trent as we move through the darkness.

He consults his handheld, now switched to mapping mode. "These tunnels parallel the old transit system. If we follow them north for two kilometers, we can circle back to the transport."

"If it's still there," Vex mutters.

"It's our only option," Trent responds.

Lily stays close to me as we navigate the tunnels, her silver eyes now glowing faintly, providing additional illumination in the darkness.

"Your eyes," I note. "That's your modification?"

"One of them," she confirms. "Enhanced vision across multiple spectrums. I can see...everything."

"Everything?"

She nods. "Thermal patterns, electromagnetic fields, even some quantum fluctuations. That's why Unity was so interested. I can see things their equipment can't detect."

No wonder they wanted her badly enough for priority transport orders.

We continue through the tunnels, alert for signs of pursuit. The distant sounds of Unity search parties occasionally filter down from above, but our path remains clear.

After what feels like hours, Trent signals a stop. "Transport location should be directly above us, approximately 200 meters southeast."

"I'll check," Vex volunteers, already moving toward a maintenance ladder.

"Be careful," I caution.

He pauses, amber eyes meeting mine. "When am I not, Flutterby?"

The nickname makes Lily look between us curiously as Vex disappears up the ladder.

"Are you together?" she asks with adolescent directness.

"No," I answer, perhaps too quickly. “Just a friend.”

I think I can call him a friend at this point?

Trent's expression remains carefully neutral, though something flickers in his eyes .

Awkward silence falls until Vex returns several minutes later, expression grim.

"Transport's compromised. Unity patrol has it surrounded."

"Alternatives?" Trent asks immediately.

"There's an abandoned settlement two kilometers north," Vex says. "Might find usable transportation there."

"Or we could appropriate one of Unity's vehicles," I suggest, a plan forming. "They've got at least three patrol crafts deployed in the area."

Trent studies me, recognizing the look. "You have an idea."

"A terrible, risky, possibly brilliant one," I confirm.

"Those are my favorite kind," Vex says with a predatory smile.

I outline my plan quickly—create a diversion at the compromised transport site, draw away enough forces to isolate a single patrol craft, then hijack it for our escape.

"That's insane," Trent says when I finish.

"But feasible," Vex adds, already calculating angles.

"I can help," Lily offers unexpectedly. "If I can get close enough to their communication equipment, I can see the transmission patterns. Maybe disrupt them."

We all stare at her.

"What?" she shrugs. "I've been practicing with my abilities when the suppressants were lighter."

"Definitely a Haven child," Vex mutters.

We refine the plan, accounting for Lily's unexpected capabilities. As we prepare to move out, Trent pulls me aside briefly.

"This is significantly higher risk than our original extraction plan," he says quietly.

"Original plan went sideways the moment they spotted us," I remind him. "We improvise now."

His hand touches my arm lightly. "Just be careful. These Unity operators aren't standard security. They're Enhanced Division."

The concern in his eyes makes my chest tight. "I'll be fine," I assure him. "Besides, I've got you watching my back, right?"

"Always," he says softly, the single word carrying more weight than seems possible.

For a breathless moment, we're back in the storage chamber at the Old Refuge, the interrupted moment hanging between us. His eyes drop briefly to my lips before he steps back, resuming professional distance.

"Let's move," he says, voice steady once more.

As we head toward the surface and the next phase of our increasingly complicated mission, I catch Lily watching this interaction with those unsettling silver eyes. A knowing look far too mature for her young face.

"He’s in love with you," she whispers as we climb. "I can see it in his energy patterns."

Before I can respond to this bombshell, before my body and heart can make sense of what that means, and if I’ve wanted to hear it, Vex signals from above—time to execute the plan. Personal complications will have to wait.

Again.