The corridor was narrow and low, forcing Maya and Selene into a crouched run as they fled the ruined hub. The air reeked of burning plastic, every breath heavy with smoke. Behind them, the metallic echo of armored boots pounded closer, relentless as a heartbeat.
Maya's hand clenched around the pistol, slick with sweat. Her chest burned with the effort of running, but she dared not slow down. If she faltered, Selene would drag her, and that would slow them both.
"Left, here," Selene hissed, pulling her through a side hatch. They slipped into a maintenance shaft lined with cables as thick as her arms. The dim emergency lights painted the space in pulses of red, each flash making the wires look like veins in a giant body.
The steel door slammed behind them, sealing with a hiss. For a moment, the sound of the Enforcers was muffled, distant. Maya slumped against the wall, gasping.
Selene pressed a finger to her lips. "No sound." Her eyes scanned the shaft, searching for another way through.
Maya forced her breathing quiet. The cables hummed faintly, a vibration she could feel through her spine. It was the same hum she'd felt at the console—the whisper beneath the static, like the whole tunnel was alive.
Her headset crackled, making her flinch. "…Maya? Still there?" Kieran's voice, faint but real.
Relief almost made her cry out, but she bit it back, whispering instead. "I'm here. Keep going, Kieran. You're almost through the arterial. The air should be thinner now, like it's pulling you forward."
"…yeah. Feels like the tunnel's breathing."
She shivered. Selene noticed, her brows tightening. But before either could say more, the pounding returned. The Enforcers had cut through.
Selene swore under her breath and pulled Maya onward. They moved fast, weaving through the web of wires. Sparks danced as Selene shoved a panel aside, revealing a drop into another shaft. "Down," she said.
Maya peered into the darkness, her stomach twisting. "How far?"
"Don't care. Move."
Selene leapt first, landing hard with a grunt. Maya followed, the fall slamming her knees, pain flashing white. She staggered but stayed upright.
Above them, the Enforcers' red visors glowed in the hatch, scanning, calculating. One dropped down after them, landing with the grace of a predator. Its weapon came up—too fast.
Selene fired first. The shot cracked through the shaft, ricocheting off metal. The Enforcer's visor sparked, cracked, but didn't shatter. It advanced.
Maya raised her pistol, hands trembling. She thought of Kieran's voice, of him stumbling alone in the dark. She couldn't fail here. She aimed for the crack Selene had made and squeezed.
The visor exploded in a burst of sparks, and the Enforcer crumpled, twitching.
"Good," Selene said curtly, already dragging her forward.
They ran again, boots splashing in shallow water as the shaft opened into a drainage tunnel. The sound of pursuit was unrelenting—more Enforcers dropping in, more shadows chasing.
The whispers rose with the hum of the wires. Not faint anymore, but loud enough that Maya could almost make out words. She pressed the headset closer, her pulse quickening.
But this time, the voice wasn't Kieran's.
It was something deeper, layered, resonant. A chorus threading through the static: Stay. Stay. Stay.
Maya stumbled, her breath catching. Selene grabbed her arm, hauling her forward. "Don't listen. It's not for us."
But it was. She could feel it crawling into her bones, like the tunnels wanted her to stop, to listen, to obey.
The Enforcers were closing. The subnet was speaking. Kieran was still out there.
And Maya was running out of choices.