Long-press a paragraph to send danmaku
"Run faster, Vera!" Dex shouted through my comm. "Or they are going to carve you open."
"I am running," I snapped, pressing one hand against my side. "Tell your rich little friends to use smaller knives."
A round punched through the brick beside my head.
I ducked hard and nearly ate pavement. My boots skidded across the alley, sparks jumping from the metal toes. Behind me, three black drones swept around the corner, red targeting beams cutting over the walls and my back.
"You are bleeding too much," Dex said.
"I noticed."
"The timer on your brother's debt just dropped again."
My wrist display blinked red.
MEDICAL HOLD: 00:08:43
The number fell to 00:08:42.
"Don't say it," I warned.
"Vera, if you don't deliver that package in eight minutes, the clinic shuts off his support rig."
"I said don't say it."
Another round cracked past my ear. I threw myself behind a stack of broken coolant drums as the drones opened fire. Metal screamed. One drum burst, spraying hot blue fluid across my jacket.
The package under my shirt stayed warm against my ribs.
Too warm.
"Dex," I whispered. "What did you put in this thing?"
For half a second, all I heard was static.
That was answer enough.
"Dex."
"It's not my hardware."
"You said it was a routine military battery."
"I said it looked like a battery."
"You lied to me."
"I was trying to keep you alive long enough to get paid."
The drones shifted position. Their beams crossed over the drums, searching. A voice came from their speakers, flat and clean, with no anger in it at all.
"Vera Vance. Drop the package and put both hands on your head. You are carrying stolen corporate property. Failure to comply authorizes spinal extraction."
My fingers tightened around the broken pipe beside me.
"Spinal extraction?" Dex said. "That is not a normal recovery team."
"Shut up."
"Vera, listen to me. Do not let them open the case."
"Why?"
"Because the case is not the dangerous part."
A drone fired.
I rolled before the shot hit. The blast tore through the coolant drums and filled the alley with white steam. Heat slapped my face. I came up with the pipe in both hands and swung at the nearest machine as it dropped low.
The pipe crushed its camera eye.
The drone spun, whining, and clipped my shoulder with one armored fin. I hit the wall hard enough to bite my tongue.
"One down," I gasped.
"That was not a victory," Dex said. "That was you getting lucky."
"I hate when you sound smart."
The other two drones came through the steam.
I ran.
The alley narrowed ahead. A security gate had slammed down across the exit, its red lock pulsing. Behind me, the drones hovered over the wreckage. Their weapons charged with a rising electric whine.
I grabbed the gate and yanked.
It did not move.
"Open," I shouted at the lock. "Come on. Come on!"
The red light stayed red.
"Vera," Dex said, quieter now. "You have to ditch the package."
"Then the clinic kills Nico."
"If you keep it, they kill you first."
"He is eleven."
"And you are twenty-three. Do the math."
I looked at the timer.
00:07:56.
My brother's life had been reduced to a number on my wrist. A number that kept dropping while I stood in an alley with a hole in my side and a military kill squad warming up behind me.
The gate rattled under my hands.
"Open!" I screamed.
One of the drones spoke again.
"Final warning. Kneel."
"Go to hell."
"Your debt holder has accepted your termination."
That hit harder than the bullet grazing my shoulder.
The clinic had already sold me out.
I let go of the gate and turned.
The drones floated through the steam. Their barrels aimed at my chest. Behind them, two armored figures stepped into the alley. Corporate retrieval soldiers. Black helmets. White shoulder marks. Shock rifles held across their bodies.
The taller soldier raised a hand.
"Last chance," he said. "Give us the core."
"You keep calling it a core," I said. "Dex called it hardware. Which lie am I supposed to believe?"
The soldier's helmet tilted.
"You are in no position to ask questions."
"Funny. You came all this way to ask me for something."
The timer blinked again.
00:07:31.
I pulled the package from under my jacket.
It was the size of my palm, sealed in a black ceramic shell. Thin blue lines crawled over the surface like trapped lightning. No label. No port. No serial number.
The soldiers stiffened.
"Set it down," the tall one ordered.
"You first."
"Do not damage the casing."
"There it is." I smiled, though my mouth tasted like blood. "Now I know it matters."
"Vera, put it back," Dex said. "Slowly."
"You knew what this was."
"I knew enough to get you the run."
"You knew they would chase me."
"I knew someone might."
"You knew."
"I needed the credits."
My hand shook around the core.
"For your exit ticket?"
"For my sister's surgery."
"Everybody has a dying relative tonight."
The tall soldier took one step closer.
"Give me the core, and I can stop the clinic shutdown."
"You can?"
"The debt authorization is corporate. I have access."
"Then say my brother's name."
A pause.
"Nico Vance."
My stomach dropped.
Nobody outside the clinic knew his name. Not the broker. Not Dex. Not even the debt collection office that kept calling me.
The soldier knew.
"You looked him up," I said.
"We looked at everything."
"Why?"
"Because you were selected."
The drones opened their weapon ports.
I pressed my back to the gate.
"Selected for what?"
"For compatibility."
Dex went silent.
"What does that mean?" I demanded.
The soldier's rifle clicked into a higher charge.
"It means the core chose you before you ever touched it."
"That is not how machines work."
"This one is not a machine."
The pain in my side flared. My knees weakened. I gripped the core tighter, and the blue lines on its shell brightened.
Every drone snapped toward my hand.
The tall soldier lifted his weapon.
"Do not activate it."
"I do not even know how."
"Your nervous system knows."
"You are making a very bad sales pitch."
"Put it down."
"Or what? You shoot me and lose your precious mystery box?"
"We shoot you, open your spine, and take it out."
The words came without heat. Like he had read them from a checklist.
I glanced at the locked gate, then at the soldiers, then at the timer on my wrist.
00:06:58.
Nico had six minutes and fifty-eight seconds left before a corporate system decided he was too expensive to keep alive.
I had one bullet hole, three drones, two soldiers, and a black box that apparently wanted to crawl into my nervous system.
"Dex," I said. "Tell me the truth. Can I use it?"
"No."
"That was fast."
"Because the answer is no. The casing is sealed against manual access. It is military-grade neural tech. If you force it into your system, it could burn out your motor cortex."
"Could?"
"It will probably burn out your motor cortex."
"Probably is not no."
"Vera, you will die."
"I am already about to die."
The tall soldier moved again. He was close enough now that I could see the faint reflection of my face in his visor.
"You are making an emotional decision," he said.
"You are holding a gun. Nobody asked you to be a therapist."
"Your brother will be dead before you finish."
"Then shoot me now."
The soldier's rifle rose.
I slammed the core against the gate.
The ceramic shell cracked.
A sharp blue flash burst between my fingers.
The drones shrieked. Their targeting beams scattered across the alley. One fired into the wall. Another spun sideways and crashed into the soldiers.
I moved before I knew I was moving.
I drove my shoulder into the tall soldier's chest. His armor knocked the air out of me, but his boots slid on the coolant. We went down together.
His rifle hit the ground.
"You stupid girl," he growled.
"You keep saying that like it changes anything."
He caught my wrist and twisted.
Pain shot up my arm. The broken core slipped from my palm. He reached for it.
I head-butted his helmet.
The impact made my vision jump.
"You have a concussion," Dex said.
"Add it to the list."
The soldier shoved me flat against the gate. His forearm pressed across my collarbone. Metal dug into my throat.
"Where is the core?"
"Ask your drones."
"Where?"
"You are terrible at this interrogation thing."
He tightened his arm.
The timer on my wrist flashed across his visor.
00:06:21.
"Your brother's life is not worth this," he said.
I laughed once. It came out ugly.
"You do not get to price him."
"You cannot save him."
"Maybe not. But I can ruin your night."
I drove my knee into his thigh and grabbed the loose power cable hanging from the gate. The exposed end sparked against his armor.
The soldier jerked away.
I rolled under him, snatched the core, and scrambled toward the opposite wall.
The drones had recovered.
Three red beams locked onto my chest.
"Drop it!" the soldier shouted.
"Try asking nicely."
"Drop it now!"
"No."
All three weapons charged.
Dex's voice broke through my comm, sharp with panic.
"Vera, the seal is damaged."
"I noticed."
"You cannot leave it exposed."
"I am working on that."
"No, you are not listening. The core is looking for a neural path."
The cracked shell opened a fraction.
A thin metal spine unfolded from inside it. Tiny needles lined one side. Blue current jumped between them.
I stared at it.
"Tell me that is not what I think it is."
"It is exactly what you think it is."
"You said it was a battery."
"I was wrong."
"You lied."
"I panicked."
"You always panic after ruining my life?"
"Usually before."
The drones fired.
I threw myself sideways. The first blast hit the gate. The second tore across my jacket. The third hit the soldier behind me.
He screamed and dropped to one knee.
I landed hard, rolled, and slammed into the wall at the dead end of the alley.
There was nowhere left to run.
The soldiers had one rifle between them. The drones hovered over the wreckage. The gate locked my back in place.
My blood ran down my fingers.
The core pulsed in my hand.
Not like a battery.
Like a heartbeat.
"Vera," Dex said. "Listen carefully. There is a maintenance seam at the base of your neck."
"I know where my neck is."
"You need to open it."
"With what?"
"The ceramic edge."
I looked at the cracked shell.
"You want me to cut myself open?"
"I want you to have a chance."
"That thing goes into my spine."
"Yes."
"And if I refuse?"
The tall soldier rose behind the drones. Smoke curled from his armor.
"They kill you," Dex said. "Then they take the core."
"And if I do it?"
"They might still kill you."
"Great. Love the options."
The soldier pointed his rifle at my head.
"Last warning, Vance. Kneel and surrender."
"You have said that three times. Get new material."
"You are not trained for this."
"Neither are you, apparently. I still hurt you."
His head tilted again.
"You think this is a game."
"No. I think you are scared of what happens if I plug in."
The alley went quiet for half a beat.
That was all the answer I needed.
I turned the core in my hand.
The ceramic edge was hot enough to burn my palm.
"Dex," I said. "If this works, can it open the gate?"
"Maybe."
"Can it wipe the debt timer?"
"Maybe."
"Can it save Nico?"
"I do not know."
"You are really committed to being useless."
"Vera, please. Do not do this."
I pressed the core against the back of my neck.
The soldiers shouted at once.
"Stop!"
"Drop the device!"
"Hands where we can see them!"
The drones aimed higher.
I pushed the ceramic edge into the maintenance seam.
Pain flashed across my skull before the shell even broke skin. My fingers slipped. I almost dropped it.
"Vera, wait," Dex said. "You need to align the contact points."
"Tell me how."
"The blue marks. Match them to the seam."
"They are moving."
"Then move with them."
"That is not instructions!"
The core vibrated against my neck. The blue lines spun, forming a pattern I could barely see through the blood and steam.
The tall soldier fired.
I ducked.
The shot struck the wall above me and showered my hair with hot stone.
I jammed the core into the seam.
The device bit down.
Every muscle in my body locked.
The alley snapped into pieces.
I saw the drones from above. I saw the soldier's finger tightening on the trigger. I saw the gate's internal wiring, the broken lock, the current running beneath the street.
Then a line of text appeared across my vision.
NEURAL HOST FOUND.
"What the hell?" I whispered.
Dex sucked in a breath. "It connected."
"Get it out."
"I cannot."
"Then disconnect me."
"I cannot do that either."
A second line appeared.
HOST CONDITION: CRITICAL
COMPATIBILITY: 98.7%
COMBAT CORE: DORMANT
"Dex," I said, barely able to move my jaw. "What does dormant mean?"
"It means you have not activated it."
"How do I activate it?"
"You do not."
The soldier stepped through the steam, rifle aimed at my chest.
"Vera Vance," he said. "Remove the core."
My hands shook at my sides.
"It is already in."
For the first time, the soldier hesitated.
The core pulsed against my neck.
The blue lines spread beneath my skin in thin, burning paths. My vision filled with numbers, warnings, and a spinning red symbol.
COMBAT CORE LOCKED.
MANUAL OVERRIDE REQUIRED.
"Manual override," I said. "That sounds bad."
"Vera, do not touch anything."
"It is in my head. What do you mean, do not touch anything?"
"You need to stay conscious."
"I am trying."
The soldier took another step.
"You have ten seconds to surrender."
"You said last warning."
"This one is real."
"They all sounded real."
He raised the rifle.
The system displayed a new prompt.
OVERRIDE AVAILABLE.
ACCEPT: YES / NO
My brother's timer blinked in the corner of my vision.
00:05:04.
I could see Nico in my mind. Not a memory. Not some soft little flashback. Just his stupid grin from yesterday, his hands shoved in his hoodie pockets while he told me the clinic would not dare shut him down because I was scary.
I had laughed at him.
I had promised I would fix it.
The soldier's rifle clicked.
"Vera," Dex whispered. "If you accept, there is no way back."
"There was no way back when they put a price on my brother's life."
"You could die."
"I am aware."
"Your brain could burn."
"Dex."
"What?"
"Stop talking and help me cheat."
The soldier's visor reflected my face again. Pale. Bloodied. Smiling like I had already lost my mind.
"Put your hands up," he ordered.
I lifted one hand.
He relaxed by half an inch.
That was enough.
I grabbed the loose cable beside my shoulder and wrapped it around the nearest drone's stabilizer arm.
"Now," I shouted.
The system prompt flashed.
ACCEPT: YES / NO
I slammed my palm against the gate.
"Yes."
The core woke up.
A shockwave tore through the alley.
The drones dropped from the air. One hit the ground and exploded in a burst of sparks. The second slammed into the soldier. The third spun into the locked gate and overloaded the security system.
The gate flew upward.
I ran through it before I could change my mind.
The world moved too slowly.
I heard the soldier shout. I heard Dex yelling in my comm. I heard the scrape of my boots on concrete and the wet, uneven drag of my breathing.
A transparent display hovered in front of my eyes.
SYNCHRONIZATION: 12%
MOTOR RESPONSE: OVERCLOCKED
TARGETS: 4
My body jerked left before the next shot fired.
The round missed my ribs by less than an inch.
I spun and threw the broken pipe.
It struck the rifle out of the soldier's hands.
He stared at me.
So did I.
"That was new," I said.
"What did you do?" he demanded.
"I followed your advice. I stopped being emotional."
The remaining soldier charged.
He was faster than the first. He caught my jacket and drove me into the side of a delivery truck. The metal panel dented behind my back.
His gloved hand closed around my throat.
"You have no idea what you are carrying," he said.
"Then explain it."
"You are not authorized."
"I am bleeding on your uniform. I think we are past authorization."
His face came close, hidden behind black glass. His breath pushed hot against my cheek through the helmet filter.
"The core will consume you."
"Maybe it is hungry."
He tightened his grip.
The display flashed.
THREAT DETECTED.
COUNTERMEASURE AVAILABLE.
I did not know what countermeasure meant.
I accepted anyway.
My elbow slammed into his ribs with enough force to lift him off the ground.
He crashed onto the truck hood.
I stumbled back, clutching my throat.
Dex made a strangled sound in my ear.
"You just threw a two-hundred-pound armored man."
"I noticed."
"Your synchronization jumped to thirty-one percent."
"Is that good?"
"No."
"You say that a lot."
The soldier rolled off the hood and reached for a sidearm.
I moved first.
The system painted a red line across his wrist. I followed it, kicked the weapon away, and drove my boot into his chest.
He hit the pavement and stayed there.
For three seconds, I stood over him, shaking.
Then the alley lights snapped on.
Not the broken security lights. New ones. White beams cutting down from the rooftops.
A voice filled the street.
"Vera Vance."
I looked up.
A man stood on the raised platform above the gate. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Black coat over light armor. No helmet. No company badge. One hand held a compact pistol pointed straight at me.
His face was calm. Too calm.
The soldiers below him did not move.
The man looked at the core fused to the back of my neck, then at the timer glowing on my wrist.
"You have three seconds to tell me who—"