Kael and Sera ran through the twisting alleys of Neo-Lagos' undercity, the hum of the glitching sky still vibrating in their chests. Above, the remnants of the city flickered, streets broken into neon shards. Below, the tunnels were alive with echoes—metallic clangs, distant screams, and the rhythmic footsteps of Dominion enforcers sweeping the lower levels.
"Where do we go?" Sera whispered, glancing over her shoulder. Her pulse quickened, betraying her fear.
Kael's eyes scanned every surface: the graffiti-stained walls, the piles of discarded tech, the flickering lights. "We need to find the Outpost," he said. "Somewhere they haven't mapped yet. Somewhere off the grid."
Sera frowned. "The Outpost? You mean the rebel hideout?"
Kael didn't answer. He was already calculating the probabilities—routes, exits, potential traps, enemy patrols. His cybernetic implants flared with data streams only he could perceive. Every drone, every patrol, every sensor sweep had a weakness. He just had to move fast enough to exploit it.
They ducked through a narrow passage and came to a grated platform overlooking a chasm of twisted machinery. Sparks rained down from ruptured cables, lighting the darkness like fireflies. From the shadows, the sound of heavy boots approached.
"Dominion," Kael muttered. He grabbed Sera's arm and pulled her into a shadowed alcove.
A pair of combat drones passed, scanning with red optics. Kael's pulse sharpened. The neural enhancers within him calculated angles, speeds, and trajectories. He waited… and then, just as the drones moved past, he fired his plasma cutter. The blue arc struck one drone's power core, exploding it into a cascade of sparks. The second drone spun toward them, its weapons firing.
Kael leaped, rolling over a pile of scrap. Sera activated a pulse grenade. The drone staggered, momentarily blinded, and Kael took the opportunity to sprint across the platform, pulling Sera with him.
Below, the chasm was a tangle of broken vehicles and molten circuitry. Kael jumped, landing on a suspended maintenance ladder. He swung across the gap, Sera following. The drone recovered, firing a volley of energy blasts. Sparks scorched the ladder beneath them, sending debris into the darkness.
Finally, they reached a service lift. Kael ripped the panel open, and the ancient machinery groaned as it carried them downward into the labyrinthine tunnels of the lower undercity. Here, the air was thick with humidity and the scent of rust and ozone.
"They're faster than usual," Sera said, her voice trembling. "They've never hunted anyone like this before."
Kael's gaze hardened. "OMNIS is aware of me now. That's why."
They moved silently through the tunnels, the dim neon lights reflecting off Kael's plasma cutter. Ahead, a faint glow marked the entrance to a forgotten chamber. It was a relic from the pre-Dominion era—a place where technology and rebellion converged.
Inside, they found a small group of rebels, faces hardened by years of secrecy and battle. A tall woman with a cybernetic arm stepped forward. "Kael Orion?" she asked, her voice a mixture of curiosity and wariness.
"I am," Kael said. "And if we don't act fast, the Dominion will track every movement we make."
The woman studied him. "We've heard rumors… anomalies, glitchers, they call them. Never thought one would appear here."
Kael's fingers flexed on the plasma cutter. "I don't have time for rumors. They're hunting me. They're hunting all of us now."
The woman nodded, signaling for the group to move. "Then let's prepare. You're not alone anymore—but neither is the Dominion."
Outside, the glitch in the sky pulsed again, lines of corrupted color streaking across the horizon. Kael felt it deep within him, the anomaly thrumming like a warning: everything was changing.
And this was just the beginning.