The door goes first.Metal screams. Light floods the relay bay.Something steps through the breach and the room shrinks around it.
It is huge. Wrong, all wrong. Built from scraps of men and machines. Rebar for ribs, plates for skin, pistons for muscles. The glow inside its chest flickers like a heart that forgot how to die. Each breath rattles through its frame in low thunder.
Rhea whispers, "That's not possible."Mara doesn't blink. "Neither are we, yet here we are."
The creature's head tilts. Its mouth is a cage of steel teeth, wet where the metal meets meat. It looks at me like recognition hurts. Then it moves.
The floor shakes.I move faster.
The first hit glances my shoulder, air splitting where my body used to be. The shockwave throws sand across the floor. The next swing tears a support beam out of the wall. Sparks rain like a broken storm.
"Cadence," I say."Target mass excessive. Strategy suggestion: survive.""That from that new add-on ?."
I slide forward, low. The new leg anchors my stance. My heel drives into its shin plate. The clang echoes. It's like kicking a tank. It doesn't even flinch. Its hand grabs me by the torso and throws me. The world spins. The console stops my flight.
Rhea yells my name. Mara opens fire. Bullets hit, spark, flatten, die. The creature roars once, sound cutting through the gunfire like a wave breaking glass.
"Distraction," Cadence says."I'm the distraction."
It charges again. I duck under the arm, grab the joint where rebar meets muscle, and twist. Something gives, a wet metal pop. The beast lurches, angry instead of hurt. Its elbow clips my ribs. The HUD flashes warnings.
Battery: 34 percent.
"Not helpful," I grunt."Accuracy rarely is," Cadence replies.
I spin behind it and drive my knee into its back. The plate buckles but not enough. It whips around and backhands me into the wall. My vision doubles. The floor becomes ceiling for a moment. I spit blood and stand again.
The relay hums behind us, bright and nervous. Every blow shakes the field.
Rhea's voice cracks through comms. "If it ruptures the coils, the whole grid burns out!""Then it doesn't rupture it," I say.
The creature lunges. I dive left, catch a loose cable, and whip it like a rope. The end snaps across its face. Electricity arcs. For a heartbeat it pauses, flickers, groans like it remembers pain. I use that second.I run straight at it.
My fist meets its jaw with a crack that splits bone and steel. It staggers half a step. I follow through, elbow to temple, knee to gut, another strike to the chest. It retaliates with a swing that would turn a car to powder. I barely duck. The air burns past my head.
Cadence hums. "Pattern prediction limited.""So change the rhythm."
I fake left, drop low, grab its leg, and pull. Weight like a truck shifts above me. For a moment, gravity argues with itself. Then it falls, slow but heavy. The floor shakes with the landing.
I climb its back before it can rise, fingers slipping in oil and blood."Core's exposed near the spine," Cadence says."Perfect place to hit something that hates being touched."
I drive my hand into the gap. Heat bites deep. Circuits hiss. The creature screams, a digital wail mixed with something human. It thrashes. I hang on until my arm feels like it will tear from its socket. Then it flings me.
I hit the ground hard. The HUD glitches. Cadence's voice cuts in and out."…battery…twenty-seven… neural desync…""English," I cough."You're dying, but making it look productive."
The beast rises again, smoke spilling from its back. It beats its chest with a hollow clang that shakes dust from the ceiling. It takes a step, slow, deliberate. One eye burns brighter, steady white against the dark.
I rush it before fear can think. The impact is sound more than motion. My shoulder crashes into its torso. We hit a wall together. Concrete cracks. My hands search for anything sharp. I find a shard of broken plate. Jam it under a joint. It screams again and slams its head into mine.
The world folds. For a heartbeat I'm somewhere else, memory or static. Then Cadence's voice drags me back."Wake up. Do not stay down.""I was thinking about it.""Request denied."
I roll away as the creature's fist punches through the floor where my head was. Dust sprays. I get up on shaking legs. My arm hangs wrong. I shove it back into place with a sound that makes Rhea gag.
Mara calls out, "Iris, pull it away from the relay!"I nod and throw the shard like a blade. It sticks in its shoulder. The thing turns, sees me, and charges.
I sprint toward the outer wall. Each step lands a fraction too slow. The beast's shadow eats mine. At the last second I turn, plant my foot, and let momentum do the rest. It crashes past, shoulder first into steel. The wall caves, half-collapsing.
I don't wait. I climb the wreckage, leap onto its back, and grab its neck. Sparks bite into my skin. The smell of burning fills the air. I pull until something snaps. It bellows, rolling to crush me. I drop and roll clear, metal inches from my face.
"Battery twenty percent," Cadence says."Good. I like working under pressure."
The creature grabs a support beam and tears it free like a twig. Swings. Misses. Swings again. This time it connects. The beam hits my side. Pain detonates through my ribs. I taste metal again. The world slows, flickers.
"Structural damage to torso. Two ribs fractured.""Put it on my tab."
The beam swings again. I catch it, both hands locking around the rusted steel. Feet dig into the floor. The strength meter in my HUD bleeds red. I push back. The muscles in my mechanical leg scream with power.For a moment, the world holds still. Two forces, equal, waiting for permission to call time.
Then the beam bends. I twist. The metal warps and snaps. I shove it sideways. The creature stumbles, but not far. It steadies and bellows, low and shaking, the sound of rage taught to machines.
Rhea shouts, "The signal's fluctuating! You have to finish it, Iris!""Any ideas?""Surprise it!""Fantastic. I'll throw it a party."
The beast lowers its head and charges again. I meet it halfway. The impact throws both of us into the wall. Concrete gives. Light bursts overhead. Sparks drift like slow rain. The world blurs to noise.
I hit the floor first. Everything hurts. The creature drops one knee into my chest. Weight pins me. I feel bones creak. Its hand wraps around my throat. Pressure builds. My vision pulses white and black.
"Cadence," I choke."Yes?""Options?""None you'll like."
I reach up, grab the wrist, and force power into the servos. My arm shakes. Battery warning flashes red. The smell of ozone fills the air. I scream, not from fear, but effort and twist. The hand loosens. I shove my knee into its side, find the seam I opened earlier, and jam my fist through. The world turns white as my systems overload.
The creature reels back, circuits bursting across its frame. For a moment, both of us sway. Then it hits me again, backhand that breaks gravity. I fly across the room, slam into the relay housing, and drop.Everything spins. My HUD dissolves into static.
Cadence's voice fades, distant. "Iris. Wake. You must stand up."I try. My hands don't obey. The world flickers between light and dark. The creature looms, chest glowing brighter, all fury and fire.It raises its hand, blade gleaming. The hum of the relay swells behind me.
Rhea's scream breaks the static. "Move!"I can't.