Falling felt less like dropping and more like being swallowed whole by the darkness itself. Light flashes past in fractured streaks while the tower's guts peeled apart around me. Cables whip through the air like angry vines. Metal fragments tumble beside me, spinning end over end until the dark takes them.
I hit something hard enough to knock the sound out of the world. My ears ring. My sight is hazy, My chest feels like it has been folded in half. I roll onto my side, coughing grit.
"Cadence," I rasp.
"Still here," she replies. "Congratulations on a successful landing."
"I landed on top of debris !"
"Correct. Success is subjective, you're still alive right ?"
"Obviously"
"Successful it is then"
I push myself up, my palm slipping on dust and whatever powdered regret coats the floor. My legs feel heavier than they should, joints stiff from impact and the weight of too much metal.
"What's my status."
"Stable. Gravity continues to be your greatest enemy."
The floor shudders under me. Steel groans above like the tower is debating whether to finish falling on top of me or not.
"Cadence, find me a way out."
"Already did."
"Where?"
"Down and to your left."
"Of course it is, always down."
The next level hangs just beneath the collapsed flooring. I drop down. The landing bends metal with a noise that sounds suspiciously like protest.
Cadence hums. "You are stronger than before."
"I noticed that too."
"Structural integrity of this section is below acceptable parameters. You may wish to move faster."
"I'm working on it."
I move through the corridor, ducking under bent piping. Dust makes my throat itch. Every footstep echoes unevenly, one boot thudding solid, the other hollow because of the metal grafts.
Behind me, the tower moans again. The sound travels through the structure like thunder caught inside a ribcage. I continue running.
The corridor opens into a room that might once have been a control floor, now nothing but tilted glass and rebar. Ahead, a staircase gives up halfway down, leaving a five-metre gap before the next platform.
"Cadence, that's a drop."
"Technically, yes."
"That's not helpful."
"Gravity is consistent. Calculations indicated you can make it."
"Are you out of your mind? I weigh three hundred pounds. I am going to crack the floor and myself."
"With proper momentum, damage risk reduces. Also, you look excellent for three hundred pounds."
I blink. "Was that a compliment?"
"Yes, both logical and factual."
I stare down at the gap. "You really are terrible at reassurance."
"Everyone has a talent, eventually we'll find mine."
The tower groans again, louder this time. Dust rains from above. I run. Three steps, a jump, a heartbeat of airborne panic.
I hit the far edge, slip, crash shoulder-first into a pipe. Sparks burst from somewhere I hope is not essential. I tumble across the platform with all the elegance of falling furniture.
Pain spikes through my ribs.
Cadence's voice softens. "You should not have survived that."
"Thanks for the emotional support."
I push myself up. The platform complains under my weight. The muscles in my leg twitch like live wires. "You said stronger than I used to be."
"Correct. You appear to be compensating beyond normal organic limits."
"That is not comforting."
"I did not intend comfort."
I move deeper into the tower. The corridor narrows, filled with hanging cables and shattered lights. A few red bulbs blink deeper inside, their glow weak but steady.
Cadence murmurs, "Movement detected below."
I freeze. "Define movement."
"Settling debris."
"I assume you're not elaborating on the volume of settlement ?"
"Your concerns are noted."
The ceiling trembles. Instinct takes over. I sprint. The walkway behind me tears loose with a scream of metal and plunges into the dark.
"Cadence!"
"Forward. Outer wall ahead."
The path narrows again until the walls press close enough to scrape my arms. Heat radiates through the metal, making the air feel thick.
At the far end, daylight leaks through a jagged crack where the tower has split open.
"There," I breathe.
"The breach is unstable," Cadence warns. "Proceed quickly."
"I wasn't planning a picnic."
The metal shifts above me, a beam falling and smashing into the floor inches behind my heels. I push forward. The gap ahead widens just enough for me to fit.
The last few strides are pure instinct. The floor collapses behind me. I throw myself through the opening. Sharp metal tears at my side as I tumble out into open air.
I hit sand. Roll. Stop.
Silence.
The sand is warm under me, soft in ways steel never is. I stare up at the bruised sky, my breath hitching.
Behind me, the tower leans, groans and settles into the dunes, exhaling the last of its structural dignity.
Cadence breaks the quiet. "External environment confirmed. Collapse radius expanding. Recommend movement."
"I am thinking."
"Thinking is less effective than running."
"Noted."
I sit up, brushing sand off my visor. The tower lists at an impossible angle, half-swallowed by dunes. Smoke coils from cracks in its metal skin.
Cadence hums. "Structural failure complete. Re-entry not recommended."
"Wasn't planning on visiting again."
"Power stabilising at nineteen percent."
"Good."
I stand, my legs still shaking. The world feels too big and too quiet.
For a moment, I just stare at the dying light, letting the silence sit on my shoulders.
Cadence breaks it. "You should keep moving. Remaining still increases target likelihood."
"For what?"
"Unknown. But statistically, something will find us."
Sand shifts under my boots. My HUD flickers. A pulse of light appears in the corner of my vision.
A beacon.
"Cadence," I whisper. "What is that?"
"Scanning."
The pulse accelerates.
"Unidentified energy source approaching from the north-east. Closing distance."
My stomach turns cold. "Human?"
"Negative."
"Then what?"
A long silence.
Cadence's voice drops into something I have never heard from her.
"I do not know."
The ground hums under my feet, a vibration crawling through the sand like breath.
On the horizon, something moves.
Cadence whispers, "Iris… I recommend running."