The bullet struck the metal rung inches from Lyric's hand, sending a spray of hot sparks into their face.
"Don't look down!" Lyric shouted, shielding their eyes. "Just climb!"
Rook was scrambling up the ladder like a monkey, his backpack bouncing against the safety cage. Valerius was slower. He was dragging himself up, his breath coming in ragged, wet gasps. The hospital stay and the torture had stripped his stamina.
"They're adjusting aim!" Rook yelled, looking between his legs. "They're opening the roof hatch all the way!"
Below them, the elevator car—now about fifty feet down—was lit up by muzzle flashes. The guards weren't climbing; they were setting up a firing line.
"We're sitting ducks on this ladder," Lyric gritted out.
Lyric looked around the massive shaft. It was a vertical city of steel. Cables hummed, pulleys groaned. To their left, a massive, dark shape whizzed past them, going down.
"Another car," Lyric realized. "The shaft has multiple lanes."
"Lyric!" Valerius called out, his voice straining. "The car below us… look at the main cable!"
Lyric looked. The thick steel cable attached to the top of the elevator car below them was vibrating violently.
"It's moving!" Lyric said.
"They're sending the car down!" Valerius shouted. "They're going to the lobby to get reinforcements or a heavy drone!"
"Good!" Rook yelled. "Let them go!"
"No, you idiot!" Valerius pointed to the darkness below the car. "If the car goes down..."
A low rumble shook the shaft. A massive block of concrete and steel—the size of a truck—was rushing up toward them from the depths.
"...the counterweight comes up!" Valerius finished.
"Jump!" Lyric screamed.
The counterweight roared past them like a freight train. It was moving fast—maybe thirty miles an hour—ascending as the car below descended.
Lyric didn't hesitate. They leaped from the ladder, grabbing the thick, greasy chains attaching the counterweight to the cable.
"Rook! Val!"
Rook jumped, landing hard on the flat top of the weight. He scrambled for a grip.
Valerius hesitated. The gap was only four feet, but he was exhausted.
"Jump, Val!" Lyric extended a hand.
Valerius pushed off the ladder. He fell short. His chest slammed into the edge of the counterweight.
"Gotcha!" Lyric lunged, grabbing Valerius by the back of the coat.
Lyric hauled him up just as the counterweight sped past a structural beam that would have taken Valerius's head off.
They collapsed onto the top of the concrete block. It was rising rapidly, the wind whistling in their ears. The gunfire from below faded instantly, replaced by the hum of the guide rails.
"Okay," Rook panted, lying flat on his back, staring up at the rushing darkness. "New rule. No more jumping. Ever."
"We're moving fast," Lyric said, standing up on the shifting platform to check their progress. "We just passed Level 60... 65..."
"It's an express elevator," Valerius wheezed, sitting up and clutching his side. "It won't stop until the car hits the bottom. That takes us to the top pulleys."
"And then we get crushed into the ceiling?" Rook asked.
"Ideally, we get off before that," Lyric said.
The ride was smooth but terrifying. Floors flashed by through the gaps in the shaft doors—glimpses of offices, labs, armories.
"Wait," Lyric said, squinting up. "Something is blocking the track."
High above, a red light was blinking. A drone. Not a cargo drone, and not a camera. This one looked like a spider, clinging to the guide rails with magnetic legs.
"Maintenance unit?" Rook asked.
"Security spider," Valerius corrected. "It senses the weight moving. It thinks we're a malfunction."
The spider-drone screeched. It detached from the rail and dropped, landing with a heavy clang onto the counterweight right in front of them.
It was the size of a large dog, all chrome and red lenses. It raised a mechanical pincer.
Unauthorized load detected, it chirped. Clearing obstruction.
It lunged at Rook.
"Hey!" Rook scrambled backward, nearly falling off the edge of the block.
Lyric stepped in. The ceramic sword was already in hand.
The drone swiped, its pincer sparking against the sword blade. It was heavy. Strong.
"Don't erase the floor!" Valerius shouted. "If you erase the weight, we fall!"
"I know!" Lyric yelled, ducking a second swipe.
The drone pushed Lyric back toward the edge. The shaft wall was blurring past inches away.
Lyric kicked the drone, but it was magnetized to the block. It didn't budge. It raised a small welding torch on its tail.
Incinerating trash, the drone announced.
A jet of blue flame shot out.
Lyric rolled to the side, the fire singing the canvas coat Valerius was wearing nearby.
"Rook!" Lyric shouted. "The magnets!"
"What?"
"It's holding on with magnets! Cut the power!"
Rook fumbled for his laser cutter. "I have to get close!"
"I'll hold it!" Lyric yelled.
Lyric didn't attack the drone. Lyric caught the drone.
As the pincer came down, Lyric grabbed the mechanical arm. It was hot, vibrating with hydraulic force. Lyric gritted their teeth, muscles straining.
"Now!"
Rook slid underneath the drone's legs. He jammed the laser cutter into the underbelly and pulled the trigger.
Zzzzt.
Smoke poured out of the drone. The red eye flickered.
The magnetic lock failed.
Lyric shoved.
The drone slid off the counterweight. It tumbled into the darkness below, crashing against the walls of the shaft until the sound faded.
"Teamwork," Rook gasped, wiping grease from his face.
"Heads up!" Valerius yelled. "Roof!"
Lyric looked up. The top of the shaft was rushing toward them. Massive pulleys and gears churned just fifty feet above.
"We have to jump!" Lyric shouted.
"Where?" Rook looked at the smooth walls.
"There!" Lyric pointed to a service ledge—a small metal platform used for inspecting the gears. It was Level 98.
"On three!"
The counterweight roared upward. The gears loomed closer, grinding loudly.
"One! Two! Three!"
They leaped.
Lyric hit the metal grate of the ledge and rolled. Rook landed on top of Lyric. Valerius landed on his knees, sliding dangerously close to the edge before grabbing the railing.
WHAM.
Behind them, the massive counterweight slammed into the buffer springs at the top of the shaft. The noise was deafening, shaking the entire Spire.
Then, silence.
They lay on the narrow metal grating, high above the city, staring at a heavy steel door marked LEVEL 99 - SERVER ACCESS.
"We made it," Rook whispered. "Top of the world."
Lyric stood up, helping Valerius to his feet.
"Not yet," Lyric said, looking at the door. "This is the Architect's office. He's not going to just let us walk in and delete his life's work."
"He's unconscious," Rook said. "You punched him. Remember?"
"That was an Architect," Lyric said, checking the sword for damage. "The Spire has dozens. And the one in charge of the force field? He's going to be the big boss."
Lyric tried the door handle. Locked.
"Rook," Lyric said. "Can you hack it?"
Rook looked at the keypad. It didn't have numbers. It had a bio-scanner and a complex geometric puzzle interface.
"This is Architect encryption," Rook said. "If I get it wrong, it probably electrifies the floor. Or releases gas. Or plays jazz music. I don't know."
"Stand back," Lyric said.
Lyric placed a hand on the lock.
"Wait," Valerius said. "Don't erase it."
Lyric paused. "Why not?"
"Because if you erase the lock, the system registers a breach," Valerius said. "The alarms go silent, but the turrets inside activate. We need to walk in like we belong."
Valerius stepped forward. He pulled the Architect's notebook from his pocket.
Lyric blinked. "When did you get that?"
"When you punched him in the elevator," Valerius said. "I swiped it before we climbed out. I figured it might be useful."
He opened the book. The pages were blank—Lyric had erased the ink.
"It's empty," Lyric said.
"To the naked eye," Valerius said. "But the paper still holds the indentation of the pen. The pressure."
Valerius ran his fingers over the blank page, eyes closed. His hyper-thymesia wasn't just for memories; it was for patterns.
"Triangle. Circle. Bisected line," Valerius muttered. "It's a geometric key."
He reached out to the keypad and traced the shape on the touchscreen.
Beep.
The light turned green.
Welcome, Architect Prime, the door voice said.
The heavy steel door slid open.
"Nice steal," Rook grinned.
"I learned from the best," Valerius said, glancing at Rook.
They stepped through the door.
They weren't in a server room.
They were in a penthouse.
The walls were floor-to-ceiling glass, offering a panoramic view of the burning city and the blue force field dome. The floor was white marble. Classical music played softly from hidden speakers.
In the center of the room sat a massive, circular desk. And behind the desk, looking out at the chaos below, sat a figure.
He turned his chair around slowly.
He looked exactly like the Architect from the boiler room. And the elevator. Same white suit. Same bland face.
But there were three more of him standing by the windows. And two more by the wet bar.
Six Architects. All identical. All staring at Lyric.
"Unit 7," the one at the desk said. "We have been waiting for you."
"Clones?" Rook whispered, terrified.
"No," Valerius said, his voice cold. "Iterations. They aren't people. They're programs."
The Architect at the desk stood up.
"You want to bring down the wall," he said. "But you do not understand. The wall is the only thing keeping the world together. If you delete the design... everything falls."