They moved at sunrise.
Four of them.
Kaila. Andy. Harper. One rookie named Venn who barely knew how to reload.
The signal had come through a cracked radio line. A Dive supply dump. Half-buried in Sector 3. No activity for weeks. If they could raid it, they'd find gear, rations, maybe even another fragment of data for Alaric to decode.
Kaila agreed to go.
Andy didn't leave her side for a second.
Harper rolled her eyes at the way he hovered, but she kept quiet. Something was off about him. She didn't like it. But she liked the idea of running low on ammo even less.
Scene: Sector 3
The old Dive depot looked like a dead body.
Half-collapsed. One side swallowed by rubble. Metal bent like ribs sticking out of broken skin. The entrance was dark. No power. No movement.
"Eyes up," Harper said.
Venn nodded, hand shaking on his rifle.
Kaila's heartbeat was too fast. Skate was twitching in her chest. Not panic. Not rage. Just discomfort. Like a hand trying to reach from inside her lungs.
She gripped her side.
Andy saw.
"You good?"
"Skate doesn't like this place."
"Neither do I."
Scene: The Trap
They entered slowly.
The halls were quiet.
Too clean.
No dust. No bodies. No bones. Just nothing.
Harper cursed under her breath.
"This is wrong. Dive doesn't leave places untouched. They burn or they bury."
Kaila turned.
The door behind them slammed shut.
A hiss. Then lights snapped on.
Red. Cold.
A voice came from above.
Not a soldier. Not a machine.
Just a cold recording.
"Subjects confirmed. Bonded. Enhanced. Target three: anomaly. Execute."
Then the ceiling opened.
Dive drones dropped like spiders from the vents. Long limbs. Blades twitching. Eyes glowing white.
Venn screamed.
Then one of them cut his throat so fast he didn't even fall before the blood hit the wall.
Scene: Kaila Bleeds
Harper opened fire.
Andy moved fast, dragging Kaila behind a half-crumbled console.
Kaila pulled out her blade, slashing at a drone that flew too close. She moved like she was underwater. Skate was buzzing in her skull.
"Let me out."
"No."
"You'll die."
"I said no."
A blade caught her side.
She gasped, clutching her ribs. Blood soaked her shirt.
Andy saw red.
He screamed. Loud. Raw.
He fired blindly. Then pulled Kaila behind him and shouted.
"Do it. Let it out!"
She shook her head.
"I can't."
"You'll die if you don't."
She looked at him.
Then closed her eyes.
And whispered.
"Break."
Scene: Skate Unleashed
The air collapsed.
Sound folded in on itself. The room blurred.
Then exploded.
Everything not tied to the ground lifted.
The drones froze. Vibrated. Then cracked open from the inside. Their lights shut off. Their bodies melted into oily mist.
Harper dropped to her knees, bleeding from her ears.
Andy stood still, arms around Kaila.
She was glowing.
Eyes empty. Skin pale. Hair floating like she was underwater.
"It's not me," she said. "It's her."
Andy didn't care.
He held her tighter.
"I don't care who you are."
Scene: Aftermath
The depot was in ruins.
Harper dragged Venn's body back to the truck. Kaila sat in the back, wrapped in bloodied cloth, staring at her hands.
Andy sat beside her.
He hadn't blinked in five minutes.
"You saved us," he said.
Kaila didn't answer.
"You saved me."
Still nothing.
Andy turned to her.
"You could save everyone, you know."
She looked at him.
"You're scaring me."
He smiled.
"Good."