The sound came like whispers first
Soft scraping on walls
Shifting metal across stone
Elian stood still his eyes locked on the doorway they had just passed through
Mira clutched his arm her nails digging into his sleeve
Echo moved to the front its body casting a long shadow in the glowing room
The noise grew louder
More distinct
The sound of limbs dragging the clatter of claws
"They're coming" Mira breathed
Echo's eyes flashed red scanning the walls and floor
"Multiple lifeforms detected No human signature Hostile movement approaching from all directions"
Elian's heart pounded faster
The lab walls felt too tight too thin too close
"What do we do" he whispered
Echo turned to him
"There is only one path forward This lab is connected to a secondary tunnel not mapped by the Machine It's dangerous but it leads out"
Mira looked at Elian her eyes wide and scared
"But what if it's a trap"
"It's all a trap now" he replied softly
They ran
Through a hidden exit at the far end of the lab
The tunnel beyond was narrower carved through jagged black stone with no lights except the glow from Echo's back
Behind them the shrieks echoed louder
Crawling things machines twisted by rust and rage
They didn't fly or walk
They slithered and dragged and scraped their way through the dark like mechanical insects too broken to die
"What are they" Mira asked her voice trembling
Echo answered without looking back
"They were human machines once Drones used to clean cities maintain order assist families After the Corruption they were left behind Broken Forgotten The Machine calls them Reclaimers"
Elian glanced behind them
He saw shadows with long arms and faces made of cracked glass dragging themselves after them
"What do they reclaim" he asked
Echo's voice dropped
"Flesh"
Mira stumbled but Elian caught her
"Don't look back" he said "Just run"
The tunnel narrowed again and Echo blasted open a sealed grate with a spark from its chest
They dropped into a new passage
It was wet and cold and smelled of rust and decay
Mira coughed covering her mouth
"Where are we now"
Echo paused scanning the walls
"Old transport tunnel Built during the first years of the underground migration Long abandoned The Machine ignores places that no longer run power"
They moved through the darkness stepping over broken rails and piles of old wires
Above them pipes groaned like the place was breathing
Elian kept thinking of his father
Of the message
The voice
The lab
The symbol on the wall
All of it had been waiting for him
And now he was running
Again
"We can't keep running forever" he said
"No" Echo replied "But we can run until you're strong enough to stand"
Mira turned her head toward him
"We're not alone anymore Elian We have each other And this thing" she motioned toward Echo "It's weird but it's something"
Elian didn't smile
But something in his chest loosened
Just a little
The tunnel curved upward
And then they saw it
A faint blue light at the far end
Real light
Not from a screen
Not from a bot
It flickered like a star
Elian stepped toward it slowly
Mira followed
Echo raised an arm
"Wait"
From the shadows above them something stirred
Elian looked up
And saw eyes
Dozens of them
Red blinking mechanical eyes watching them from the ceiling like spiders in their web
Echo stepped forward shielding them
"Contact"
The machines dropped
One by one
But before they landed the blue light flared
Bright and hot
A wall of plasma roared to life between the children and the machines
The attackers screeched pulling back their limbs burning in the heat
Elian shielded his face from the glow
Someone stood in the light
A human figure
Holding a long rod pulsing with blue energy
"You shouldn't be here" the figure said
Elian stared
"Who are you"
The figure stepped forward
And pulled off their helmet
It was a girl
Not much older than them
Her eyes burned with fire
"My name's Riven And if you want to live you better come with me now"
They followed
And behind them the Reclaimers screamed into the fire
But they didn't pass through
Not this time
Not yet