[Location: Facility Zero - The Entrance]
We ditched the rover two miles out. We walked the rest of the way through the ash.
The facility looked like a black tombstone jutting out of the ground. No windows. Just a massive blast door.
"It's unguarded," Vesper whispered, checking her scanner. "That's suspicious."
"It's not unguarded," I said, unholstering my shotgun. "The guard is just invisible."
I stopped walking.
"Come out!" I yelled at the empty air. "I know you're there!"
The air ten meters in front of us shimmered.
Active Camouflage disengaged.
A machine materialized. It wasn't a grunt. It was a Type-Executioner. Sleek, humanoid, black armor, holding a double-ended thermal spear.
"Unit 404 Leader," the machine spoke. Its voice was deep, synthesized. "Anomaly detected."
"Vesper, get behind me," I ordered.
"That's a Class-S combatant," Vesper warned, stepping back. "Its speed parameters exceed human reaction time. You can't fight that."
"Watch me."
I activated the Ouroboros. The metal arm whined, the vents opening to release steam.
"Limiters Disengaged," I muttered. "Output: 40%."
The Executioner lunged.
It was a blur. In one heartbeat, it closed the distance. The spear slashed at my neck.
CLANG!
I caught the spear shaft with my metal hand. Sparks showered my face. The force of the impact drove my boots into the concrete.
"Fast," I grunted.
The machine spun, kicking me in the ribs. CRACK. I flew backward, skidding through the dirt.
"Caelum!" Vesper screamed. She pulled her pistol, firing useless rounds at the machine's armor. Ping. Ping.
The Executioner ignored her. It walked toward me.
"Your biological form is fragile," it stated. "Submit to harvesting."
I stood up, spitting blood. My ribs were definitely broken.
"Fragile," I laughed. "Yeah. We break easy. But we heal."
I charged.
The Executioner thrust the spear. I didn't dodge. I took the hit.
The thermal blade pierced my left shoulder—my flesh shoulder. The smell of burning meat filled the air.
AAAAAAAAHH!
I screamed, but I didn't stop. I used my own body as a sheath to trap its weapon.
"Gotcha," I snarled, face-to-face with the machine.
Its red optical sensor widened—or simulated widening.
"Illogical," it said.
"That's humanity, bitch," I roared.
I pulled back my right fist—the Ouroboros. The energy coils were glowing white-hot.
[TECH-ART: PILE BUNKER.]
I punched the machine directly in its chest core.
BOOM.
The impact was like a cannon shot. My metal fist punched clean through its armor, through its reactor, and out the other side.
The machine went rigid. Electricity arced from its body to mine.
I ripped my arm out. The Executioner collapsed, its lights fading.
I fell to my knees. The spear was still stuck in my shoulder.
"Caelum!"
Vesper was there instantly. She wasn't the High Marshall now. She was frantic. She sprayed bio-foam around the spear wound.
"Don't pull it out!" she ordered, her hands shaking. "You hit the artery. If we pull it out, you bleed out in thirty seconds."
"Leave it," I gasped, the pain making my vision swim. "We have... to get inside."
"You can't walk!"
"Help me up," I grabbed her shoulder. "We're almost there. She's... she's just behind that door."
Vesper looked at my bleeding shoulder, then at the blast door. She nodded. She put my good arm around her neck and hauled me up.
"You are the most stubborn variable in existence," she grunted, supporting my weight.
"Thanks," I wheezed.
We limped toward the black doors.
Behind them lay the truth. Behind them lay Lyra.
And I knew—because I had done this before—that waking her up was going to hurt more than the spear in my shoulder.