The corridor Cadence wanted me to reach wasn't far. Twenty meters, she'd said. Easy. Simple. Practically a gentle morning jog if you ignored the massive military arm bolted into your shoulder and the murder-spider shadow creeping along the walls behind you.
My lungs burned. My legs burned. My everything burned.
Except the new left arm.
That thing didn't feel pain. It felt like stubborn industrial machinery welded to stubborn biological machinery and told to get along like cousins during a family meet.
Badly.
The Stalker skittered close behind, claws tapping a rhythm like it was counting down the seconds before I slowed enough for it to redecorate the hall with my spinal fluid. Every few steps it would vanish upward, then reappear on the opposite wall ten meters ahead, then drop behind me again. A game. A cruel one.
Battery: 43%.
Dropping.
My right arm throbbed with each step. The Model Forty arm pulled at my shoulder like it wanted to dig itself a nest inside my skeleton.
Cadence's voice flickered through static, stuttering between clarity and corrupted noise.
"Iris ... you ... must... reach... the... plata ... pla ... elevated corridor."
"I am reaching it."
"You ... sound ... winded."
"I'm being hunted by a wall-crawling nightmare, Cadence."
"Understood ... recalculating ... emotional tone… You are doing adequately."
"Adequately? Really reaching for the stars there."
"I am limited by system damage."
"Yeah. You and me both. You seen this arm ?"
The corridor narrowed. Pipes hung low overhead, perfect for something thin and fast to swing from. Like the Stalker.
Something metal shifted above me.
I didn't look.
I just moved faster.
Cadence sputtered again. "Th... the Stalker ... moving into intercept ... position"
"Of course it is."
"Prepare ... counter ... strike ... vector ..."
"Cadence. You're giving me IKEA instructions mid-death."
"Stay ... low ... and ... swing."
A hiss above.
I threw myself forward as the Stalker dropped, claws slicing through the air where my neck had been half a heartbeat earlier. The creature hit the floor, rolled, and lunged again, but I swung the Model Forty arm in a brutal, clumsy arc.
The heavy metal slammed into its shoulder with a crunch that echoed down the hall.
The Stalker screeched, skidding sideways into the wall hard enough to dent it.
Cadence let out what might have been a glitchy gasp.
"Acceptable strike."
"That was more than acceptable. That was instinct and panic."
"Instinct ... panic ... hybrid functionality noted."
"Not helping your case."
"It was not meant to."
The Stalker climbed the wall again, half-limping. Its right forelimb twitched at an odd angle, damaged from the impact. Good. I could use that.
Battery: 41%.
I reached the elevated corridor Cadence had ordered me toward. It slanted upward at a shallow angle, the floor reinforced with old metal plating. Better traction. Fewer cables overhead. Fewer ambush points.
Good.
But also bad.
Because now it had only one direction to approach me from.
Cadence's voice steadied, glitching only at the edges.
"Iris. Hold position halfway up the incline. Narrow fighting corridor. Reduced lateral mobility for the Stalker."
"So it can only murder me front-on. Great."
"That is correct."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"Your tone suggests otherwise."
I exhaled, planted my feet on the incline, raised the Model Forty arm into a ready stance, and waited.
The Stalker appeared at the bottom of the ramp.
Slow. Crawling. Deliberate.
Its eyes glowed with cold white light, flickering occasionally like corrupted data. Shoulder plating cracked. Right forelimb dragging slightly. But its movements were still too smooth for something that injured.
Cadence whispered, "It is assessing your posture. It is learning."
"It needs to learn I'm not dying today."
"That is unlikely."
"Cadence."
"Apologies. I meant: improbable. Statistically small. But non-zero."
"You're terrible at reassurance."
"I am damaged."
Fair.
The Stalker lunged up the ramp.
Fast.
I barely had time to swing. The heavy arm crashed against its raised claws, sparks spraying across my vision. The force of the impact knocked me backward several steps.
It kept coming.
The next strike came from above, too fast to fully block. Its claws scraped across the Model Forty plating, screeching like metal screaming. The blow rattled my bones. My shoulder joint burned.
Battery: 40%.
Cadence flared in my skull.
"Iris, brace ... brace ... brace"
The Stalker leapt high and crashed down on me with both forelimbs.
I caught the impact with the Model Forty arm, but the weight drove me to one knee. My ribs screamed. Sweat stung my eyes.
Cadence's voice fractured into three overlapping audio streams.
"Structural warning, yield threshold."
I shoved upward with a roar and slammed the heavy arm into the Stalker's abdomen. The hit connected. Hard.
The machine flew backward down the ramp, limbs flailing for purchase. It struck the floor below with a metallic crack and rolled.
I pressed back against the wall, breathing hard.
Battery: 38%.
Not good.
Cadence's voice softened, still glitching.
"Iris… your vitals are... trending poorly."
"My vitals have been trending poorly since the desert."
"Correct. But now worse."
"Thanks."
"I am ... attempting reassurance."
"That was reassurance?"
"Under heavy corruption, yes."
I forced myself to step forward again. One foot. Then the next.
The Stalker stood at the base of the incline again.
A little slower.
But its eyes still burned white.
This thing wasn't giving up. And neither was I.
It scraped its claws slowly across the floor, sparks dancing in the dark, like it was etching a message into the metal:
I'm not done.
Cadence whispered urgently,
"Iris. When it charges again, sidestep left, strike at elbow joint ... then retreat three steps."
"Three steps exactly?"
"Yes."
"Because of strategy or because your processing is fried?"
"Both."
The Stalker sprinted.
It closed half the distance in a blink.
I slid left, swung the heavy arm at its stretched limb, and felt metal give beneath the strike. The joint sparked violently. The entire limb twitched, nearly detached.
The Stalker slammed into me anyway.
Not with its claws.
With its entire body.
I flew back into the wall, the impact knocking the breath out of me. My vision went white for a moment.
Battery: 36%.
My legs shook as I tried to stand. My ribs screamed. My mechanical shoulder cracked ominously.
Cadence's voice shimmered like she was underwater.
"Iris… you must… fall back… it is recalculating…"
"Cadence… why is it so persistent…"
"It is prioritising target acquisition. You are the target."
"Really. Never would have guessed."
She didn't answer.
Because the Stalker was already moving again.
I stumbled up the incline, the machine chasing me at a crawling sprint, claws digging deep grooves into the metal. The incline curved slightly—Cadence had been right. It was harder for the Stalker to maintain momentum here.
Not impossible.
Just slower.
But I was slower too.
Battery: 34%.
Cadence whispered,
"The next chamber… ahead… it has… environmental potential… but you must reach it…"
"How far?"
"Thirty meters."
"That's forever."
"Yes."
"You're not helping."
"I physically cannot."
The Stalker lunged again. I turned and swung, catching it across the head and sending it tumbling into the wall. It screeched, not pain, but recalibration, before scrambling upright and charging again.
I ran.
We burst into a wider chamber half-filled with dead consoles and fallen lighting rigs.
The Stalker leapt through the debris behind me, metal flashing between shadows.
Cadence gasped sharply in my ear.
"Iris .. the chamber ahead ... left side ... nanite vault ... the signal ... connected ... I know ... where ... to go"
"Then guide me!"
"I ... I ... I... I will but not ... not while it is right behind us"
"I know!"
The Stalker crashed into my back and sent me rolling across the floor skidding through dust and shattered equipment.
My shoulder nearly dislocated. My ribs gave a wet, sick sound.
Battery: 32%.
I forced myself up.
The Stalker stalked forward again, limping heavily, half its body twitching, but its eyes still shining with cold, merciless focus.
Cadence whispered, breaking, glitching, faltering.
"Iris… we cannot fight it head-on much longer…"
"I know."
"We must reach… the vault… the nanites… or you will not survive…"
I gripped the heavy arm.
Stared down the flickering white eyes.
And took a step back.
The Stalker mirrored me.
Waiting for the next move.
Cadence whispered, faint as a failing signal,
"Iris… run…"