The city looked different at dawn. Not quieter—Granis City never truly slept—but tense, like it was holding its breath before a storm.
Kael stood in front of the derelict subway entrance beneath Southpoint Bridge. His hood was up, hands clenched, and the weight of what was coming pressed heavy on his shoulders.
Behind him, Aria adjusted the straps of her combat vest. Rin, already in place at the portable command module she'd built from spare drones and an old tablet, tapped furiously on the screen.
"This is it," Rin said, eyes glowing under the blue hue of the screens. "The tunnel leads to a decommissioned metro line. Below that is the Citadel Core—the System's central node and the Order's most protected secret."
Kael turned toward the metal hatch. Rusted. Locked. Sealed tight.
He pulled up his System menu.
[ITEM: Echo Key – Use?]
"Do it," Aria said.
Kael tapped yes. A faint pulse of light radiated from his hand, and the rusted lock clicked open with a mechanical hiss. The door creaked as it swung inward, revealing a narrow stairwell leading into darkness.
Aria smirked. "Ladies first?"
Kael led the way.
---
They descended quietly, the only sound being their footsteps echoing off the cracked concrete walls. Emergency lights blinked dimly, casting flickering shadows across the space.
Rin's voice came through their earpieces. "You'll hit a triple-lock door in thirty meters. I'm patching into the old grid now."
Kael moved carefully, every nerve on edge. At the end of the tunnel, a massive steel door loomed. As expected, locked tight.
Rin whispered, "I'm in. Give me thirty seconds… no, twenty. They've got backup security running, but nothing I can't handle."
Aria cracked her knuckles. "If this door doesn't open in twenty, I'm blowing it."
Kael chuckled. "Let's give the genius her moment."
Seconds later, the door slid open with a hiss of steam and hydraulics.
"Boom," Rin said smugly. "Welcome to the Citadel underbelly."
---
Inside, the tunnel gave way to a sprawling underground facility—white sterile walls, humming power cores, and overhead lights that blinked to life one by one as they stepped in.
A new alert flashed in Kael's vision.
[WARNING: ENTERING SYSTEM CORE TERRITORY]
[All system-based abilities temporarily monitored]
[Enemies Nearby: 7]
Aria drew her dual stun-blades. "We've got company."
The first wave of defense drones rolled from the shadows—sleek, spider-like bots with glowing red cores.
Kael charged forward, activating Pulse Step, blinking through space to appear right in the middle of them. His fist crackled with energy as he delivered a crushing blow to the nearest drone, smashing it against the wall.
Aria followed with her signature dance of destruction—fast, lethal, beautiful in its brutality. Her blades sliced through metal like paper.
Rin's voice pinged through again. "Security's alert. More will come. You need to find the Node Room fast—coordinates are uploading to Kael's HUD."
Kael dodged another drone's blade arm, grabbing its leg and slamming it down into the floor.
[+50 XP]
[+Core Fragment – Tech Resource]
"Go!" he shouted. "I'll clear this room—Aria, head with Rin's coordinates."
She hesitated for only a second before nodding and sprinting toward the next hallway.
Kael finished the last bot and sprinted after her.
---
They regrouped in front of a sealed room glowing with blue symbols—etched directly into the walls like circuit veins.
"This is it," Rin whispered. "The Core Node."
A final alert popped in Kael's system:
[Final Stage: Bypass Core Encryption – Defeat Security AI Echelon]
From the walls, machinery shifted.
A humanoid form stepped forward—silver armor, no face, and eyes glowing like the sun.
[ENEMY: ECHELON – SYSTEM GUARDIAN]
[LEVEL: ???]
[Threat Level: MAXIMUM]
Kael stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
"No turning back now."