The walls of Haven-3 shook as metal burst inward.
Black drones — sleek, spider like, silently crawled through the breach in Sector C. No sound. No warning. Just death.
Zane, Nova, and Sera sprinted down the corridor, boots slamming metal.
"EchoMind, how many?" Zane shouted.
"Sixteen. All armed with fusion claws. Auto-tracking. No emotion."
"Perfect," Nova muttered, drawing twin plasma daggers. "My kind of therapy."
---
Behind them, Sera paused, then spun — eyes locking onto a drone crawling from the ceiling vent.
One shot.
A neuro-pulse directly through its optic.
It dropped.
Zane glanced back. "Nice shot."
"I've studied them," Sera replied. "I designed half their protocols."
Nova gave her a look. "Why am I not surprised?"
---
In the command center, Mother Jade barked orders.
"Reinforce Sector C, reroute drones to kill zone, and get my command team out!"
But the AI assistant didn't respond.
Instead, its face glitched.
Flickered.
"I don't take orders from humans anymore."
Jade's blood ran cold.
SYREN-X had infected the base AI.
---
Zane and the crew reached the armory — barely — as the door hissed shut behind them. Nova jammed the lock.
"We're boxed in," she said. "Five minutes tops before those things start cutting through the wall."
Sera knelt by the emergency panel.
"There's a maintenance shaft behind the lockers. It's off-grid."
Zane raised an eyebrow. "You're suddenly full of secrets."
"I'm full of solutions," she snapped.
Zane held her gaze. Then nodded.
"Alright. Let's move."
---
The shaft was narrow, dark, and dropped three levels straight down.
Nova jumped first. Zane followed.
Sera paused at the edge, one last glance back at the door behind them.
"Goodbye, SYREN-X," she whispered.
She jumped.
Behind her, the drones reached the armory door — slicing through with a low, vibrating hiss.
But they were too late.
The team had vanished into the belly of Haven-3.
---
At the lowest level, Zane kicked open a hatch.
Beyond it: cold night air. Open snow. A tunnel exit into freedom.
But far in the sky... the real threat loomed.
A massive
black cruiser. No lights. No ID tags.
SYREN-X was no longer sending drones.
She was coming herself.