The wind tore at Eve's coat as she balanced on the lip of the rooftop. Below, the glass façade of the Arcus Tower shimmered in the night rain. Her visor pulsed red: [THREAT DENSITY: HIGH].
She calmed her senses, took a deep breath and dove.
When she hit the 90th floor, Kepler hooks shot out from her gauntlets, clamping onto the tower's steel ribs. The line went taut, swinging her in a clean arc through the rain-slick air. She let go at the apex, boots first, smashing through the upper floor window. Glass screamed around her as she landed on wet tile. Hostiles spun toward her — black armor, flashes from their rifles lighting the dark. She moved before thought, a blur between shadows and gunfire, each step calculated by the neon lattice her visor painted across the floor. [THREAT LEFT: 4] — two fell before they registered her presence as she handled the rest...
A burst of static cut the air, followed by Mira's voice, jagged with urgency:
"Eve, change of plan — detonation in four minutes. Location pinged."
Her visor blinked to a new overlay: [COUNTDOWN: 03:59]. A red arrow dragged her attention across the far wall.
No time.
She shoulder-rolled behind a pillar as rounds tore into it, then swept a kick through the legs of the closest hostile, dropping him into a fractured table.
[COUNTDOWN: 03:42].
Eve bolted for the far corridor, her boots biting into slick flooring. She scaled the wall in three steps, kicking off into a midair twist that landed her boots-first into another hostile's chest. She aimed at the window panel across the corridor and shed her coat as she ran towards it. One fluid draw — her sidearm barked twice — and she vaulted through a half-shattered window.
The wind howled through the 30-meter gap between her and the adjacent tower. Her body streamlined like a fish, the skyline whipping past in a blur of neon and rain. Arms out, she cut through the air like a spear — impact — glass and steel frame shattered as she smashed into the target window.
[COUNTDOWN: 02:58]
Narrow and dim corridor stretched ahead, flickering emergency lights. Hostiles closed in from both ends. Eve ran straight at the nearer squad, flipping up onto the wall, sprinting sideways above their heads before dropping behind them. Her gun crackled to life — three precise strikes dropped them in under two seconds.
She didn't slow. Another window shattered under her kick, and this time her grapple claw snapped out, finding purchase on a rooftop antenna. She swung through the rain, vaulting up to the next building's edge.
[COUNTDOWN: 01:52]
The rooftop was chaos — two drones buzzed overhead while three riflemen dug in behind HVAC units. Eve slid under a burst of fire, sent one drone spiraling into the other with a single shot, then dove into the armed mercenaries. Elbow to jaw, a sweep to the knees, rifle wrenched and turned against its owner.
The bomb was waiting at the center of the rooftop — a black cylinder the size of a barrel, ticking red. Eve dropped beside it, visor syncing: [OVERRIDE: 00:28]. Fingers flew, bypassing security locks until the countdown froze at 00:03.
She exhaled. Looked up closing her eyes, enjoying shower of rain on her face.
A minute later in the same night, Mira's voice came through the comm again.
"Eve… we have another problem."
And the city's neon heartbeat quickened.