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"Don't shoot him!" Vesper slammed her palm against the side of Boris's cannon.
The weapon bucked anyway.
A burst of rounds tore through the lift shaft. Rex hit the floor hard, and the tether between him and Vesper snapped tight inside his skull. Every impact became his pain. Every muzzle flash became a white-hot nail driven behind his right eye.
He rolled behind a rusted support beam as metal screamed above him.
"You call that not shooting?" he shouted.
"I said don't shoot him!"
"Try telling your friend with the gun!"
Boris stepped through the hole he had burned in the wall. Heat clung to his armor. One side of his face was covered by a black combat plate, and a red targeting lens crawled across it, searching for Rex through the smoke.
"Still loud," Boris said. His voice came through a damaged speaker, deep and rough. "That means the core hasn't eaten your brain yet."
Vesper shifted in front of Rex, knife low in her hand. Blood ran from the wound at the back of her neck and soaked into her collar.
"Boris, stand down."
"You first, Croft. Drop the blade. Put your hands where I can see them."
"You know I don't take orders from you."
"You took them for six years."
Her jaw tightened. Rex saw the tiny pause. He also felt it through the tether, a sharp squeeze under his ribs that wasn't his own fear.
Boris's cannon rotated toward her.
"Move aside," he said. "The scavenger dies. You come home."
"He dies, I die."
The targeting lens stopped on Rex.
"Then I guess you made a bad choice."
The second burst hit the beam.
Rex's teeth slammed together. Pain punched through his eye and raced down his neck. He heard Vesper gasp, then felt her knees almost buckle. The live tether took the damage from the bullets and shoved it through both of them at once.
"Rex!" she snapped. "Stay up!"
"I am up!"
"Your pulse just dropped."
"Then stop checking it!"
He pushed off the floor and fired the compact pistol he had stolen from the first security team. The rounds sparked against Boris's chest plate. Boris didn't even flinch.
"That pea shooter won't help you," Boris said.
"It made you look down."
Rex kicked a loose section of grating into the air. Boris's cannon tracked it for half a second. That was all Rex needed. He grabbed Vesper's wrist and dragged her behind the old lift housing.
Her fingers locked around his sleeve.
"Don't pull me."
"You want to stand there and get shot?"
"I want to know what you're doing."
"Surviving. You should try it."
She yanked him back until his shoulder struck the housing. Her body pressed close in the narrow gap, warm through two layers of torn tactical fabric. Her breath touched his cheek. The smell of hot metal, blood, and the bitter chemical sealant on her neck filled the space between them.
"Your eye is bleeding," she whispered.
"Your neck is worse."
"I didn't ask you to look."
"You put it right in front of me."
Her gaze dropped to his mouth for one quick, stupid second. Then she shoved two fingers under his chin and turned his face toward the dark.
"Listen. Boris has a rotary cannon, armor plating, and a combat spine. We can't beat him head-on."
"I noticed the cannon."
"The shaft has a service bridge above us. I can reach it."
"And I stay here to distract him?"
"You stay here because the tether says I can't get more than three meters from you."
Rex glanced at the faint red line pulsing across his vision. The core had marked the distance between them in a thin, unstable arc. Three meters. Maybe less now.
"You could have mentioned that before dragging me into a corner."
"I was busy keeping you alive."
"You put a knife in your own neck."
"And you keep getting shot. We're both making questionable choices."
Boris fired again.
The housing behind them jumped. A round punched through the metal and clipped Rex's upper arm. He felt the impact. Then Vesper felt it too. Her head snapped back, and her grip on his jacket tightened hard enough to wrinkle the fabric.
"Damn it," she hissed.
"That one was mine."
"I know. It went through me."
"You're welcome."
She stared at him.
"Did you just thank me for being shot?"
"I'm trying to keep morale up."
"Your morale is defective."
"So is your employer."
The cannon began to spin again.
Vesper's eyes cut toward the upper bridge. It hung twelve feet above them, a narrow strip of steel with half its rails missing.
"When I say move, run left," she said.
"That's your plan? Run left?"
"You have a better one?"
"Yes. I run right."
"Boris's sight is on the right."
"Then your plan is better. I hate that."
"Get used to it."
She pulled a small charge from her belt. The device had a cracked blue indicator and a manual trigger.
Rex pointed at it. "That thing still works?"
"It only has to work once."
"What does it do?"
"It makes a hole."
"In what?"
"Whatever is standing there."
"I liked the plan better when it was just running."
Vesper thumbed the trigger cover open.
"You distract him."
"You said I run left."
"You can distract him while running left."
"And how do I distract a six-hundred-pound murder machine?"
She leaned closer. Her mouth nearly brushed his ear.
"Make him angry."
"That's usually your job."
"You seem very good at it."
Her breath slid across his skin. Rex's fingers tightened around her wrist before he could stop them. Her pulse jumped under his thumb. The tether noticed. A tiny electrical pulse passed between them, warm and sharp.
Vesper's eyes lifted to his.
"Let go."
"You first."
"Rex."
The way she said his name cut through the noise. Not an order this time. A warning. A request she would hate herself for making.
He released her.
"There," he said. "Still alive."
"For the next ten seconds. Don't waste them."
Boris's cannon spun faster.
"Croft!" he roared. "Last chance. Kneel and I might leave your head attached."
Vesper rose from cover with the charge in her hand.
"You always were bad at making offers."
Boris fired.
Rex moved before he thought. He caught Vesper around the waist and drove both of them down. Bullets hammered the top of the housing. The tether flashed. His eye filled with red static, and pain burst through his skull in three separate waves.
Vesper elbowed him in the ribs.
"Get off me."
"You were standing in the bullets."
"I had a charge."
"You still have it."
"My hand is under your chest. Move."
Rex froze for half a beat, then shifted away. "You could have said that less dramatically."
"I could have stabbed you."
"You already did that too."
"Not recently."
She pushed up and threw the charge toward the upper bridge.
It struck the steel rail and clamped on with a magnetic snap.
"Now!" she yelled.
Rex sprinted left.
Boris swung the cannon. The barrel screamed. Rex fired at the targeting lens and shouted, "Hey, tin man! Your mother called. She wants her face back!"
The lens snapped toward him.
"You talk too much," Boris said.
"You keep listening."
The charge detonated.
The bridge blew apart. Steel fragments rained through the shaft. Vesper ran toward the opposite ladder while Rex slid behind a hanging cable bundle. Boris lifted one armored arm and took the blast against his shoulder. The impact shoved him back but didn't drop him.
"That was your big hole?" Rex shouted.
Vesper reached the ladder and looked down at him. "I said it makes a hole. I didn't say it makes a big one."
"You should work on your sales pitch!"
"Get over here!"
Boris ripped the cannon free from a tangled cable and aimed at the ladder.
Rex saw the red targeting beam cross Vesper's back.
"Move!" he screamed.
She climbed anyway.
"Vesper!"
He ran toward the ladder, but Boris fired.
The bullets struck the wall beside Vesper. One hit the ladder. The steel rung exploded, and Vesper dropped. Rex felt the tether tear open with pain. Her fear hit him like a fist. Her body jerked, and his legs nearly folded.
"I have you!" he shouted.
He caught her hand.
The sudden pull nearly dragged his shoulder out of its socket. Vesper slammed against the wall, one boot scraping for purchase.
"Don't let go," she said.
"Wasn't planning to."
"Your arm is shaking."
"It's a style choice."
Boris advanced through the smoke.
"How sweet," he said. "The gutter rat is holding the executioner."
Vesper looked up at Rex. "He wants us separated."
"Why?"
"Because the tether transfers damage. He shoots one of us, both of us go down."
Boris raised the cannon again.
"You don't need to explain it," Rex said. "I hate it already."
"Then let me fall."
"What?"
"I can swing to the pipe. You can't carry me and fight him."
"I'm not dropping you."
"That's not your choice."
"It is if I'm holding your hand."
Her fingers tightened around his.
"Rex, listen to me. If he fires again, you'll take the hit through me."
"Then don't get hit."
"That's your brilliant answer?"
"It's the one we have."
Boris's weapon locked on.
Vesper pulled a second blade from her boot and tossed it toward Rex. He caught it against his chest.
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Cut the cable above you."
Rex looked up. A thick power line ran from the lift housing to the emergency control box.
"That cable is live."
"So is the tether. Pick your poison."
"You know, normal people say thank you when someone catches them."
"Normal people don't catch corporate assassins."
"You're not an assassin anymore."
Her eyes sharpened. "Don't decide what I am."
"Then decide faster."
The cannon fired.
Rex slashed the cable.
Blue current exploded across the shaft. The blast struck Boris's cannon and sent him stumbling. It also surged through Rex's hand. His muscles locked. Vesper cried out below him, and the tether dumped her pain into his chest.
For one second, they hung together between the ruined ladder and the burning cable.
Then the line snapped.
Rex fell.
Vesper twisted in midair and drove her boot into the wall. The move changed her angle enough for Rex to catch the back of her harness. They crashed onto a narrow maintenance ledge three feet above the floor.
His shoulder hit first. Vesper landed across him, her knee braced beside his hip, one hand against his chest.
"You cut the cable," she said.
"You told me to."
"I told you to cut it after I swung."
"You were taking too long."
"I was trying not to die."
"You should do that faster."
Her face was inches from his. A strand of dark hair had come loose and stuck to the blood at her neck. Rex reached up and pulled it away before he could think better of it.
She went very still.
"Don't," she said.
His fingers stopped beside her cheek. "Don't what?"
"Touch me like you mean it."
"I was moving your hair."
"You don't move anything without a reason."
"You think you know me now?"
"I know you lie when you're scared."
"I'm not scared."
"Your hand is on my face."
Rex glanced down. His thumb rested against the edge of her jaw. Her skin was hot. His own pulse kicked hard beneath the tether, and hers answered almost at once.
Boris stepped onto the floor below them.
"Should I give you two a minute?" he asked.
Vesper shoved away from Rex and rolled behind a pipe.
"You talk too much," she called.
"I learned from him."
Boris opened a compartment in his forearm. A narrow vibro-blade slid out with a high electric whine.
Rex's core flashed across his vision.
TARGET: HOSTILE MODIFIED UNIT.
The words vanished before he could read the rest.
"What did you see?" Vesper asked.
"Nothing."
"You just went pale."
"That was the lighting."
"There is no lighting."
Boris swung his arm. The blade extended another six inches.
"I don't need the cannon for this," he said. "The tether is already doing half the work."
He jumped.
The ledge shook under his weight. Rex rolled aside as the blade cut through the pipe where his neck had been. Steam burst out. Vesper fired twice at Boris's knee joint.
The rounds sparked and bounced.
"Aim for the seams!" Rex yelled.
"I know where to aim!"
"Then hit them!"
Boris backhanded him.
Rex flew across the ledge and struck the wall. The tether carried the impact straight into Vesper. She staggered, one hand flying to her head.
"Rex!"
"Still here."
"You can't keep letting him hit you!"
"Great advice. Tell him."
Boris came at Vesper with the vibro-blade. She blocked with her tactical knife. The vibration shrieked through the metal and nearly tore the weapon from her grip.
"You should have stayed loyal," Boris said.
"To the people who sent you to erase me?"
"They sent you back."
"They sent a butcher."
"They sent the only man who can get you out alive."
"You call this alive?"
She twisted, caught Boris's wrist, and drove her elbow into the damaged plate at his throat. Boris grunted but didn't release the blade.
Rex scrambled up and fired at the joint behind Boris's knee.
The armor cracked.
Boris dropped half an inch.
Vesper used the opening. She kicked his leg sideways and shoved him toward the edge of the ledge.
"Now!" she shouted.
Rex grabbed a hanging chain and swung. His boots slammed into Boris's chest. The heavy hunter went back one step.
The ledge groaned.
Boris caught Rex by the throat.
Vesper's pain flared through the tether as Boris's gauntlet tightened. Rex's vision blurred. He clawed at the metal fingers.
"Put him down," Vesper said.
Boris looked at her. "Make me."
She lowered her knife.
Rex felt the choice hit her before she spoke. She was considering the shot. If she fired, she might hit Boris. She might hit Rex. If she didn't, Boris would crush his airway.
"Vesper," Rex rasped.
"Don't talk."
"You hate being told what to do."
"This is not the time."
"Then shoot."
Her eyes flashed. "Shut up."
"You heard me. Shoot him."
"I could hit you."
"You already did that with the tether."
Boris lifted Rex off the ledge.
"You want to die for her?" he asked.
Rex forced air past the gauntlet. "No. I want you to stop touching me."
Boris drew the vibro-blade back with his free arm.
Vesper raised her pistol.
"Rex, move your head."
"Can't. Big hand. Neck. You know how it is."
"Move it anyway."
Boris drove the blade forward.
Rex saw the edge coming for his chest. He didn't think. He released Boris's wrist, reached across the narrow gap, and caught the vibro-blade barehanded.
The weapon shrieked against his palm.
Pain tore through him so fast that his vision flashed white. The blade chewed into his glove and stopped a fraction from his chest. The vibration ran through his bones, into the tether, and straight into Vesper.
She screamed.
"Let go!" she shouted.
"Not yet!"
"Rex, let go!"
"He'll cut you!"
"The blade isn't touching me!"
"It is through me!"
The core pulsed under Rex's skin. His right eye filled with red symbols. The blade's vibration changed pitch. The system was reading it. Copying it. Learning the frequency.
Boris stared at Rex's hand.
"That's impossible."
"You say that a lot."
"The core can't process an active weapon."
"Maybe it doesn't know that."
Rex squeezed harder.
The vibro-blade stuttered. Its humming edge weakened, then kicked back with a violent surge. The shock threw Boris's arm sideways.
Rex pulled the weapon toward himself and drove his forehead into Boris's face plate.
The armor cracked.
Boris released him.
Rex dropped to one knee, clutching his burned hand. Vesper caught the back of his jacket before he fell off the ledge.
"You absolute idiot," she said.
"You saved me."
"I stopped you from falling. Don't make it romantic."
"Wasn't planning to."
"You caught a live blade with your hand."
"It worked."
"It nearly killed both of us."
"But it didn't."
She pulled him closer by the jacket. Her face was tight with anger, but her thumb brushed once over his collar, checking his pulse.
"You don't get to gamble with my life," she said.
Rex looked at her hand. "You dug a tracker out of your neck with a knife."
"That was my life."
"We're connected."
"I know."
"Then stop acting like only you get to choose who risks it."
Her grip tightened.
"You think this is a partnership?"
"No. I think it's a hostage situation with better eye contact."
For one dangerous second, her anger slipped. The corner of her mouth twitched.
Boris rose below them.
The crack in his face plate spread from cheek to jaw. One red lens blinked. The other stayed dark.
"Cute," he said. "You two found a way to hurt yourselves together."
Vesper turned toward him. "You're damaged."
"I'm upgraded."
The plates along Boris's spine opened.
Rex heard the locks release one by one.
"Vesper," he said. "What does that mean?"
"It means we move. Now."
Boris's armor expanded around his shoulders. Hydraulic pistons punched through the plates. His arms thickened, and the damaged knee snapped back into place with a hard mechanical clack.
"Combat overdrive," Vesper said. "He's faster now. Stronger. Less careful."
"That sounds bad."
"It is."
"How long does it last?"
"Until he kills us or burns out."
"You really need to stop giving me good news."
Boris lunged.
Vesper shoved Rex down and fired at the ceiling. The rounds struck an emergency valve. A cloud of white suppressant blasted into the shaft.
Boris swung blind. His fist missed Vesper by inches and smashed the pipe behind her.
Rex grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into the gap beside the lift housing.
"You keep doing that," she said.
"You keep standing where the punch is going."
"I was baiting him."
"You were baiting a truck."
"It worked."
Boris tore through the suppressant cloud.
Vesper shoved Rex toward the service tunnel.
"Go."
"Together."
"The tether won't let me get far."
"Then stay close."
"You can't fight and protect me."
"Who said anything about protecting you?"
She grabbed his chin and forced his face toward hers.
"Don't lie to me when we're linked. I can feel it."
Her glove was warm against his jaw. Her breath came fast, brushing his mouth. Rex could feel every beat of her pulse through the tether, fast and angry and far too close to his own.
"Fine," he said. "I don't want you dead. Happy?"
"No."
"Good. We're consistent."
Boris charged.
They ran.
The service tunnel narrowed immediately. Rex went first, firing over his shoulder. Vesper stayed close enough that her sleeve brushed his back with every step. Boris followed by smashing through the walls instead of using the corridor.
"He's gaining," Vesper said.
"I can hear that."
"The tunnel ends at the old transfer pipe."
"Dead end?"
"Not exactly."
"I hate that answer."
"You can hate it after we reach it."
Boris's hand punched through the wall beside Rex's head.
Rex ducked. Vesper fired into the exposed joint. The shot forced Boris's arm back, but the recoil knocked her into Rex.
His back hit the tunnel wall. She landed against him, one hand flat on his chest, her face close enough for him to count the tiny flecks of gold in her gray eyes.
Neither moved.
The tether hummed between them.
Boris ripped through the wall again.
Vesper whispered, "If we survive this, I'm going to hit you."
"For what?"
"For staring."
"You were staring too."
"I was checking your pupils."
"With both eyes?"
Her lips parted. The answer got stuck there.
Rex felt the hesitation. So did she.
Then she shoved him forward. "Run, smart-mouth."
They reached the transfer pipe.
It was an enormous round tunnel buried beneath the maintenance levels, wide enough for cargo crawlers. A broken platform extended over a black drop. The far side had collapsed, leaving only a narrow pipe crossing the gap.
Vesper stopped at the edge.
"We cross that."
Rex looked down. "That's your not-exactly-dead-end?"
"You wanted options."
"I wanted a floor."
"The floor is compromised."
"The floor is gone."
Boris stepped into the tunnel behind them.
His overdrive systems roared. The sound shook dust loose from the ceiling.
"You have nowhere left to run," he said.
Vesper raised her pistol. The magazine clicked empty.
She threw it at him.
Boris knocked it away.
"That's all?" he asked.
"No."
She grabbed Rex's hand and jumped onto the narrow pipe.
Rex landed behind her, boots slipping on wet metal. His fingers locked around her belt before she could fall.
"I swear," he said, "if you do that again without warning—"
"You'd complain?"
"I would complain loudly."
"Then keep up."
They moved across the pipe.
Below, black water rushed through the old sewer channel. The sound bounced up through the tunnel. Boris climbed onto the platform.
"Croft!" he called. "You know what happens when the tethered subject dies?"
Vesper kept moving. "I know what happens when you miss."
"The scavenger's brain cooks first. Then yours follows."
Rex glanced at her. "Is he lying?"
"No."
"Could you lie a little?"
"It wouldn't help."
Boris fired.
The first round struck the pipe behind Rex. The tether flared. Rex's skull jolted, and Vesper stumbled ahead of him.
"Keep moving!" she shouted.
Another round hit the pipe beside her boot.
Vesper's leg buckled.
Rex caught her under the arms and hauled her against him. Her back pressed to his chest. His burned palm locked around her waist.
"You hit?" he asked.
"No. The tether."
"Same thing."
"Not to me."
"It is now."
Boris advanced on the pipe.
"Put her down," he said. "Walk away, Rex. The company can still use you."
"They just tried to turn my brain into soup."
"They can fix that."
"You couldn't fix your face."
Boris fired again.
Rex spun Vesper behind him. The round struck his shoulder. Pain exploded through the tether. Vesper's nails dug into his back as she absorbed the same hit.
"Stop doing that!" she yelled.
"Stop standing behind me!"
"I'm standing where you put me!"
"Then move!"
"I can't move if you keep taking the bullets!"
"Pick a complaint and stick to it!"
Boris's boots reached the pipe.
The metal dipped under his weight.
Vesper pressed against Rex's back. "We need to turn around."
"There's nowhere to turn."
"The pipe joins the sewer wall ahead. There's a maintenance hatch."
"Locked?"
"Probably."
"Can you open it?"
"Probably."
"You are terrible at confidence."
"You are terrible at not getting shot."
They edged forward.
Boris raised the cannon.
Vesper spotted the weapon and reached around Rex's side. Her fingers found the damaged vibro-blade still hanging from his belt.
"Give me that."
"You want the blade?"
"I want the thing that can cut through his armor."
"It didn't cut through my hand."
"You stopped it."
"With my hand."
"Don't sound proud."
She pulled the blade free. Their hands brushed. The tether gave another warm pulse, softer than the pain but impossible to ignore.
Vesper looked at him.
"Don't," she said.
"You keep saying that."
"Because you keep making it difficult."
"I'm walking on a pipe over a sewer while a metal giant shoots at us. I think difficult is already covered."
She moved closer, shoulder pressed to his arm.
"If I lose my balance, you catch me."
"You don't have to ask."
Her eyes held his for a beat too long.
"That answer was worse."
"Why?"
"Because I believe you."
Boris fired.
Vesper shoved the vibro-blade into a cable bracket. Rex grabbed her waist, and they both swung under the pipe as bullets tore through the metal above them.
Their bodies hung over the rushing sewer. Rex's boots kicked empty air. Vesper's back was tight against his chest, her hair brushing his cheek.
"Tell me you have a plan," she said.
"I have several."
"Tell me one."
"I'm holding on."
"That's not a plan."
"It's step one."
Boris moved above them. The pipe groaned.
Vesper looked down. "He's crossing."
"I know."
"If he reaches us, we're dead."
"I know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because you keep giving me bad news."
She shifted her grip on the blade. "When I pull this cable, the bracket will tear loose."
"And we fall."
"Into the sewer."
"You said that like it was better."
"The current isn't running through it anymore."
"The water is still moving."
"There's a ladder below the hatch."
"Probably?"
"I didn't see one."
"Vesper."
"Trust me."
The words came out low. Bare. Nothing like her usual sharp orders.
Rex's grip tightened around her waist.
"I do," he said.
She looked back at him. "Don't say things you can't take back."
"You asked."
"I asked you to trust me, not make this—"
Boris's boot came down beside Rex's fingers.
The pipe bent.
Vesper pulled the blade.
The bracket tore free.
They dropped.
Rex wrapped both arms around Vesper and twisted so his back hit the sewer wall first. They struck a lower maintenance shelf instead of the water. The impact drove the air from his lungs.
Vesper rolled off him and came up with the blade raised.
"You alive?"
"Ask me after my spine stops filing a complaint."
"That means yes."
Boris landed on the pipe above them. His armor hit hard enough to crack the metal shelf.
"You can't keep running," he said.
Vesper pointed the vibro-blade up at him. "Watch us."
Boris jumped.
Rex grabbed Vesper and pulled her into the maintenance hatch. Boris's fist smashed through the shelf where they had stood. The metal folded. The edge of the platform broke away and plunged into the water.
Vesper slammed both hands against the hatch control.
"Come on," she muttered. "Come on."
Boris tore his arm free.
"It's locked," Rex said.
"I know."
"You said you could open it."
"I said probably."
"Now would be a good time to become more probable."
She yanked the access panel open. Wires spilled out.
Boris stepped toward them.
Vesper grabbed Rex's hand and pressed it against the panel.
"What are you doing?"
"The core copies signals. Feed it into the lock."
"How?"
"You tell me. It's in your head."
"My head is currently busy hurting."
"Make it hurt usefully."
Rex stared at the wires. His eye filled with red lines, then symbols. The core reached through his nervous system, following the pulse of the tether. Vesper's hand remained wrapped around his wrist, her thumb pressing against his skin.
"I need a target," he said.
"The lock."
"It doesn't have a signal."
"Everything has a signal."
"That sounds like something a maniac says."
"Open it, Rex."
Boris charged.
Rex slammed his palm against the exposed wiring.
The lock flashed green.
The hatch opened two inches, then jammed.
"It's stuck!" Vesper shouted.
"Kick it!"
"I'm trying!"
She drove her boot into the hatch. It opened another inch.
Boris reached them.
Vesper turned and raised the vibro-blade.
Boris caught her wrist.
The weapon stopped beside his throat.
Rex saw the strength in Boris's arm. Saw Vesper's boots slide across the wet metal. Saw the blade vibrating inches from Boris's damaged armor.
"Let her go," Rex said.
Boris looked at him. "You still think you have leverage?"
"No. I think you have a habit."
"What habit?"
"You focus on the person holding the sharp thing. You forget the person holding the door."
Rex slammed his burned hand into the hatch control.
The core surged.
The door ripped open.
A pressure blast burst from the tunnel beyond. It caught Boris in the side and threw him into the opposite wall. Vesper tore free and stumbled backward into Rex's arms.
He caught her against his chest.
Her hands landed on his shoulders. His mouth was close to her temple. Her breath shook against his neck.
"Put me down," she said.
"You're standing."
"Then stop holding me."
He did.
She didn't step away.
For one second, the only sound was the failing whine of the vibro-blade in her hand.
"You believed me," she said.
"About the hatch?"
"About the fall. About the water. About all of it."
"Don't make it important."
"It is important."
Her fingers slid from his shoulders, but stopped at his collar.
"You don't trust people," she said.
"Neither do you."
"I trusted you enough to jump."
"You had Boris behind you."
"I still could have chosen the water."
Rex looked down at her hand on his jacket.
"Then don't do it again."
"Why?"
"Because I can't catch you every time."
"That isn't what I asked."
Boris moved behind them.
Vesper's eyes snapped up.
"Rex."
They spun together.
Boris stood at the edge of the broken shelf. His armor smoked. One side of his face plate hung loose, exposing a strip of synthetic skin beneath. The red lens fixed on Rex's eye.
"There it is," Boris said. "The core is awake."
Rex's vision filled with another line of red text.
HOSTILE UNIT CONFIRMED.
A second line appeared beneath it.
CONSUMPTION PATH AVAILABLE.
Then the words vanished.
Vesper saw his expression change.
"What did it show you?"
"Nothing."
"Rex."
"I said nothing."
Boris smiled without warmth. "He hasn't told you, has he?"
Vesper shifted in front of Rex. "Told me what?"
"That the thing inside him is cataloging me."
Rex's burned hand curled.
"Boris," Vesper said, "back away from the edge."
"You hear it too, don't you? The little machine counting my upgrades. Reading my combat spine. Looking for a way to pull me apart and wear what it finds."
Vesper glanced at Rex.
He didn't answer.
That was enough.
"Rex," she said quietly. "What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"The core is reacting to him."
"It reacts to everything."
"Not like this."
Boris stepped onto the broken shelf.
The metal gave a deep, tired groan.
"You can keep lying to her," he said. "It won't matter. When I drop, the core will finish waking up."
"You aren't dropping," Vesper said.
"Look down."
The shelf beneath Boris split from the wall.
A crack raced through the wet metal and reached Rex's boots.
Vesper grabbed his arm.
"Move!"
Rex pulled her toward the open hatch.
Boris charged at the same time.
The floor collapsed.
Metal tore free beneath all three of them. Vesper's fingers slipped from Rex's wrist. Boris dropped through the broken shelf in full combat overdrive, his armor roaring as he fell into the sewer pipe below.
Rex caught Vesper's hand, but the ledge under his knees folded next, and Boris's red lens vanished beneath them as he shouted, "You want my core? Come take it—"