Overdrive hit my system and yelled YOLO.
My HUD exploded into white light as the system surged.
OVERDRIVE ACTIVE
Duration: five minutes
Battery consumption: doubled
Strength plus twenty percent
Speed plus twenty percent
Combat rating went through the roof
Warning: structural stress expected
I didn't need a warning. I could feel it.
Every muscle fibre. Every servo. Every artificial nerve. All of it ignited.
The Sentry dragged me down another inch. Then another.
It had me pinned. It had predicted everything.
Except this.
I didn't push it off me. I launched.
My body whipped upward faster than my mind could brace, my repaired arm slamming into the Sentry's chest with a crack that shook the corridor. The machine flew back in a blur of limbs and plating, smashing into the far wall hard enough to crater the metal.
Cadence let out a corrupted squeal. "Iris… output level… I can't keep up... impossible… recalibrating…"
"You're welcome."
I didn't wait.
The Sentry was already pulling itself out of the indentation, processors scrambling to update its understanding of reality. Its head snapped toward me, lenses widening with mechanical confusion.
It took one step.
I crossed the hallway in a single stride and hit it again.
This time its jaw twisted sideways, servos snapping audibly. The machine staggered, arms flailing for balance. Before it recovered, I grabbed it by the front plating and threw it straight down the hall.
It travelled ten meters before skidding across the floor, tearing visible grooves in the metal.
Battery: ninety percent.
Timer: four minutes, thirty-one seconds
Good.
The Sentry rose.
Slower now. More cautious. Almost wary.
Cadence whispered, half in awe and half in static, "Your speed is exceeding predicted limits. It cannot match your reaction time."
"It can try."
"It is likely attempting to reformulate strategy."
"It won't get the chance."
I sprinted.
The corridor blurred. My feet barely touched the ground. The wind pressure in the enclosed hall vibrated against my face.
The Sentry tried to dodge.
Tried.
I rammed into it shoulder-first, sending us both crashing into a pile of old crates. Metal shards exploded everywhere. I slammed my fist into its chest again and again, each strike caving the alloy deeper.
The machine jerked violently, trying to retaliate with wild, desperate swings. One claw glanced off my shoulder. I barely felt it. My body moved like a weapon drawn too fast to see.
Battery: eighty-seven percent.
Timer: three minutes, fifty-two seconds
Cadence's voice wavered. "Warning. Physical strain high. Internal pressures exceeding ninety-five percent threshold."
"I'll complain later."
"Iris, structural limits..."
The Sentry grabbed my throat.
It lifted me off the ground with a roar of servos straining under broken logic. Overdrive or not, the grip was still strong. My feet kicked against nothing.
My HUD flashed damage warnings.
Cadence shrieked, voice glitching. "Critical vector! Counterstrike required!"
"I 'm working on it!"
I braced both hands on the Sentry's arm, pushed with my entire body, and felt the metal strain beneath my palms. The Sentry hissed. It tried to reinforce its stance.
Too late.
My enhanced strength kicked in all at once, and the limb gave out. The metal split down the middle with a hideous tearing sound.
The Sentry screamed in static as its severed arm clattered to the floor.
I landed on my feet.
Battery: eighty-two percent.
Timer: three minutes, twenty-one seconds.
The machine staggered back, compensating with its remaining limbs. Its movements were still precise. Still controlled. Still deadly.
However, it was more desperate.
Cadence gasped. "You have shifted the balance of combat. Continue momentum."
"Oh, trust me, this is the fun part."
I charged again.
The Sentry ducked under the first punch, twisted around me and slashed with its remaining hand. The claws grazed my cheek, drawing sparks and heat. It spun low to sweep my legs.
Too slow.
I pivoted hard and kicked it square in the torso. The impact sounded like I'd just punted a vending machine full of sheet metal. The Model Nine shot backward across the floor, scraping a long, angry trench as it went. It didn't stop until it collided with a support beam hard enough to make the entire tower flinch. Dust rained down. Something groaned in the ceiling.
Cadence crackled, "Structural stability: decreasing."
"Yeah," I muttered. "It knows how to fall dramatically."
Pieces of its plating fell away. Hydraulics leaked. Optics flickered.
Still it stood.
Still it raised its remaining arm.
Cadence hissed, voice slipping into distortion. "Iris… its predictive algorithms remain active. It can still match your pattern…"
"Then I'll break the pattern."
"How."
"Improvise."
I ran straight toward it again, but at the last second I dropped low, slid beneath its guard, and locked both hands onto its knee joints. With a twist powered by overdrive, I tore both legs out from under it.
The Sentry collapsed in a violently sparking heap.
Battery: seventy-eight percent.
Timer: two minutes, fifty seconds
Cadence's voice warbled. "Mobility compromised. Finish it."
I stepped forward.
The Sentry clawed at the floor, dragging itself upright with its single remaining limb. It turned toward me, lenses dimming but defiant.
"I get it," I said softly. "You don't quit."
The machine lunged anyway, trying one last strike.
I caught its wrist mid-air, squeezed until the joint snapped, then ripped its final arm clean off.
The Sentry crashed to the ground, body twitching.
Not dead.
Not offline.
Just beaten.
Cadence whispered, voice trembling. "Iris… system registering victory."
I stepped closer and placed my boot on the Sentry's chest.
"Stay down."
I tore the central processing core out of its torso.
The machine went still.
Battery: seventy-five percent.
Timer: two minutes, eleven seconds
Overdrive still active.
Cadence's voice wavered dangerously. "Iris… the interference… it isn't decreasing with the Sentry disabled…"
"isn't it?"
"No. The signal persists. Strong. Amplifying. Something else is transmitting."
"Of course it is, its never that simple."
My HUD flickered again. Cadence glitched.
"Iris… we must move… now…"
"Where."
"Up."
I looked toward the stairwell.
Dust shook loose from the ceiling.
The tower trembled again.
Something above was talking, watching.