They hid inside an abandoned subway shaft — dark, cold, metal echoing every breath.Phineas paced the narrow platform, replaying Kayden's combat reflexes in his head.Alex sat beside Kayden, gripping his sleeve like a lifeline.
Kayden stared at his own hands.
Hands that had moved too fast.Too precise.Too lethal.
APEX hovered weakly beside him, light cracked and glitching.
"Commander… system integrity compromised…Partial sync caused neural stress…I'm… recovering…"
Kayden didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His mind was still replaying the moment he wasn't in control.
Phineas finally broke the silence.
"We can't let APEX force a sync again. Not without preparation. You almost—"He stopped himself, breathing hard."You almost stopped being you."
Alex pulled Kayden closer."He's still him. He's still Kayden. Don't say it like that."
Phineas looked at Alex, then at Kayden — and softened.
"I know. I just… we're running out of time."
Time answered him.
BZZZT—A sharp, unnatural crackle shot through the dark.
APEX glowed bright white, like something had hijacked it.
"Kayden—!" Alex panicked, pulling him back.
Then:
A voice.
Broken.Distorted.Strained through interference that shouldn't exist in a dead subway tunnel.
"—Kay… Kayden— do you read me—?"
Alex's breath stopped.
Phineas's tablet rebooted on its own.
Kayden froze.
"Hale…?"
Static rumbled like a wounded machine.
"Kayden… listen— I don't know how long I can—keep this line open— They're— they're overriding every channel—"
Phineas's eyes widened."SRD channels?! But we're underground— cut off— how is he even—"
Hale's voice cut through again — sharper, more desperate.
"Kayden. They're coming for you."
The temperature in the tunnel dropped.
Alex whispered, "No… not SRD— right? He doesn't mean SRD— right? Right?!"
Phineas rubbed his arms, dread creeping up his spine.
"No.If it was SRD, Hale wouldn't sound like this."
Kayden stepped forward, gripping the dead emergency intercom like he could hold the voice in place.
"Hale. Who's coming?"
Static exploded violently.
"—Not SRD.Not anomaly.Something worse.The Citadel's internal recovery team is mobilizing."
Alex went pale.
Phineas staggered back.
APEX flickered in fright.
"Commander… Citadel Recovery Teams…are not reconnaissance units…They are… extraction units."
Hale's voice cracked painfully.
"Kayden, do NOT let them reach you.They don't observe.They don't negotiate.They TAKE."
Alex grabbed Kayden's arm tightly, knuckles white.
Phineas whispered, horrified,"No… no, no, no— if the Recovery Teams deploy, that means Kayden is now a priority asset."
More static.
Metal groaned overhead like the city itself was reacting.
Hale's voice returned — strained, breathless, unnatural:
"They're locking me out of every system—I'm diverting power—buying seconds— not minutes—"
Kayden's throat tightened.
"Hale— where are you right now?"
Silence.
A long, painful silence.
Then Hale spoke — not like an agent.
Like a man breaking.
"I'm already compromised.They're coming for me too."
Alex covered his mouth.
Phineas whispered, "Hale…"
Hale continued, voice trembling:
"Kayden… I don't have much left.You need to hear this."
Kayden braced himself.
Hale's final message came through like a dying heartbeat:
"Run.Not from SRD.Not from the anomalies.Run from THEM."
Kayden's chest tightened.
"Hale— don't you go anywhere.Don't you disappear on me.Do you hear me?"**
But Hale's voice was fading.
Not because of distance.
Because someone — or something — was shutting him down.
"Kayden… I'm proud of you.And I'm sorry."
The line erupted in a final burst of static—
Then nothing.
APEX dimmed.
Alex shook in silence.
Phineas looked like he'd been punched in the lungs.
Kayden…
Kayden stood completely still.
Expression calm.Eyes burning.
He whispered the words Hale couldn't finish:
"They're coming."
APEX flickered one last time:
"Commander…Citadel Recovery Team ETA:13 minutes."
Alex froze.
Phineas swore under his breath.
And Kayden finally spoke the only words that could cut through the terror settling around them:
"Then we don't wait for them."