Sofía Márquez POV
"Get him up. Now!"
My voice cracked, but I didn't care.
Miguel hauled Julián's limp arm over his shoulders. Elena grabbed the other side.
His skin was burning and freezing at the same time.
Every breath sounded like it scraped against broken glass.
The Sweepers advanced in perfect formation—
silent, synchronized, unstoppable.
I raised my rifle.
Miguel hissed, "Bullets won't stop them—"
"Then they'll damn well slow them down."
I fired.
The rounds sparked harmlessly off their armored chests.
They didn't even flinch.
Elena yanked the console wires free. Sparks rained.
"We need to MOVE!"
We stumbled out of the sub-core chamber just as the Sweepers surged forward like a single living weapon.
Behind us, the biological sphere throbbed wildly—
cracked, bleeding heat, glowing like a dying star.
The anomaly wasn't just waking up.
It was angry.
Dr. Elena Vargas POV
The hallway outside the sub-core was sweltering.
Pipes screamed with pressure.
The floor trembled with every heartbeat of the anomaly.
We half-dragged, half-carried Julián down the corridor.
His skin flickered—
glimmering red beneath the surface like magma trying to escape.
"His temperature is collapsing," I said. "Internal organs are oscillating between hypothermic and hyperthermal response. If we don't stabilize him soon—"
Sofía interrupted, voice raw:
"Just tell me how to save him."
I swallowed hard.
"We need to get to the Cryo-Calibration Bay on Level −7. There's equipment there that was designed specifically for unstable hybrid hosts."
Miguel grunted.
"Then point the way, Doc."
"Right now?" I said, "there's a bigger problem."
I pointed behind us.
The Sweepers weren't sprinting.
They didn't need to.
They simply walked.
Confident.
Precise.
Hunting.
And they were gaining.
Camila Torres POV
My whole body felt electrified.
Shaking.
Sore.
Half-numb.
The implant in my skull crackled with static, like someone whispering in another room.
I heard… parts of the Director.
Fragments.
Bits.
…retrieve…
…Prototype Zero…
…terminate interference…
I slammed my hand against the nearest wall.
"Get out of my head! Get OUT!"
Miguel grabbed my shoulder.
"You're with us, Cami. Focus."
I nodded—too fast.
My heartbeat jittered.
Then I saw the cameras.
Still tracking me.
My stomach dropped.
"Miguel," I whispered. "Please. If I lose control again—you have to stop me."
He shook his head instantly.
"No."
"Yes!" I snapped.
"If I become his puppet again—you stop me, do you understand?"
Sofía turned sharply.
"No one is shooting anyone on this team. We're getting out of here."
But her eyes…
her eyes said she wasn't sure.
Julián Herrera POV
Darkness.
Heat.
Pain.
Light pulsing behind my eyelids like a red heartbeat.
But somewhere through the haze—
I heard them.
Sofía.
Elena.
Miguel.
Camila.
Voices.
Warm.
Human.
Real.
I tried to reach them.
Tried to move a hand.
A finger.
A breath.
Nothing worked.
Then the anomaly spoke again.
YOU ARE FRACTURED
WE ARE FRACTURED
YOU TOOK
NOW I TAKE BACK
A shockwave of heat tore through my chest.
I gasped aloud.
Sofía's voice snapped into focus.
"Julián! HEY—stay with me—stay—"
I felt her hand on my cheek.
And for a second—
I came back.
"Don't—"
I coughed.
"Don't let them take me…"
Her voice broke.
"I won't."
I believed her.
Even as darkness pulled me under again.
Sofía Márquez POV
We reached the maintenance junction—
a tall vertical chamber with ladders and service catwalks crisscrossing like a steel web.
Heat shimmered.
Steam escaped ruptured valves.
And directly across—
the corridor to Level −7.
But then—
A metallic crash behind us.
We turned.
The Sweepers filed into the junction from the tunnel we'd just escaped.
Not running.
Stalking.
On the wall beside them, red letters flashed:
RETRIEVAL PROTOCOL // ACTIVE
TARGET PRIORITY: PROTOTYPE ZERO
SECONDARY TARGET: HOSTILE INTERFERENCE SQUAD
Miguel swore.
"They're going to cut us off."
"No," I said. "They'll run right through us."
Elena pointed upward.
"We have to go vertical. Now!"
We pulled Julián toward the ladder.
Miguel climbed first, lifting him as much as possible.
Elena followed, pushing from below.
I was last to ascend.
Camila hesitated at the bottom—
eyes locked on the Sweepers who were now stepping onto the lower catwalk.
One looked up at her.
Red optics dilated.
"ASSET 3F-Δ12
RETURN TO CONTROL."
Camila froze.
I grabbed her arm hard enough to bruise.
"Camila—MOVE!"
She shook herself free of the paralysis and climbed.
But halfway up—
A Sweeper jumped.
It leapt across the distance like a predator, slamming into the ladder below us.
The entire frame shook.
Camila screamed.
Her foot slipped.
I caught her wrist.
"Climb!" I yelled. "Climb NOW!"
She climbed.
We reached the upper platform, dragging Julián between us.
And then—
The lower ladder ripped free.
The Sweepers climbed the walls like they had claws.
Miguel looked at me.
"We can't outrun them."
I looked at Julián.
Barely breathing.
At Camila.
Fighting her own mind.
At Elena.
Terrified but pushing forward.
I lifted my weapon.
"Then we don't run."
"Elena—open the Level −7 hatch!"
"I'm trying!" she cried. "It's jammed!"
The Sweepers closed in from below.
I pulled Julián close, shielding him with my body.
"Miguel," I said softly, "if we don't hold this line—"
"We will."
He raised his rifle beside me.
"We're not losing him."
The Sweepers reached the last catwalk.
Their optics glowed brighter.
The Director spoke through them all at once:
"PROTOTYPE ZERO
WILL BE RETRIEVED."
I gritted my teeth.
"Over my dead—"
The reactor pulsed.
A blinding shockwave of heat surged up through the entire facility.
Everyone staggered.
Even the Sweepers.
Elena gasped.
"The anomaly—it's waking up fully!"
Camila clutched her skull.
"No—no—NO—he's coming back—he's in my head again—"
The catwalk shuddered.
One Sweeper rebalanced.
Another reached the platform.
Miguel fired point-blank.
Nothing.
The Sweeper raised its arm.
I pushed Julián behind me.
And then—
something above us screamed.
Metal tore.
Heat spiraled.
And a massive chunk of ceiling collapsed—
crushing two Sweepers instantly.
Their limbs twitched under the rubble.
Everyone froze.
Miguel blinked.
"Did… did the anomaly just help us?"
Elena shook her head in terror.
"No.
It isn't helping."
She pointed at the ceiling, where pipes glowed bright red.
"It's losing structural control.
If we stay in here,
we all die."
The Sweepers regrouped.
The anomaly howled beneath the floors.
The ladder behind us snapped.
The hatch ahead still wouldn't open.
I gripped my rifle harder.
"Then let's make a hole."