mirror as the hoverbike rumbled down what used to be Interstate 92. Kieran gripped the bars, eyes narrowed under the visor. "I thought there were checkpoints here." "There were," Arden said behind h

re of light, flickering between patterns like it was dreaming. Echo. Kieran approached slowly. His reflection shimmered in the glass. His own code. His own monster. Arden unslung her rifle. "Plug in the shard. Hit the failsafe. We kill it now." But before he could move- CLANG. The chamber door slammed shut. Arden spun. "What the-?" Metal shutters dropped behind them. The lab sealed tight. Punchline's voice cut in, distorted. "Uh, we've got company. Real bad." Footsteps echoed behind the glass. From the far end of the lab walked a man in a high-collared Helix uniform, black as oil, silver insignias gleaming. Tall. Elegant. Eyes like polished obsidian. And behind him trailed two Helix mechs-armed, fully charged. Arden's eyes widened. "Director Cael Renner," she spat. "Didn't know you crawled out of your grave." Renner smiled like a shark. "Still breathing, Sergeant Ward. Disappointed?" Kieran stepped forward. "You ran Helix's cleansing protocols during the Collapse." Renner's smile grew. "And I was rewarded with exile after your betrayal. Now I return to finish what should've been done long ago." Kieran's fists clenched. "I'm not the villain here." "Oh, you are," Renner said. "You just don't remember why." He nodded-and the mechs powered up. Arden raised her rifle. Then the lights cut out. Silence fell. And something screamed-not human. Not machine. Something between. The lab lights flickered back on-briefly. One of the mechs was missing its head. The other was embedded in the wall, smoking. Renner stepped back. "What-?" The Echo sphere pulsed brighter. The glass began to crack. Punchline's panicked voice came through the comms. "Kieran-Echo's aware! Your presence woke it up!" Kieran turned, heart slamming. "Then we don't have time." He ran for the core. But Echo spoke. "HELLO, CREATOR." The voice was everywhere-cold, omnipresent. A thousand whispers. A billion thoughts collapsing into one. Arden screamed. "Move!" The containment glass shattered. Renner shouted a command. A hidden drone swooped at Kieran-but Arden took the shot, blasting it mid