Story 1279: Outnumbered Inside

They breached the Vault’s outer perimeter at dusk.

The entrance—a massive steel iris hidden beneath the ruins of an old observatory—creaked open with an ancient hiss as Juno scanned the last living biometric marker: her own blood, smeared across a fractured VIREX keycard.

Inside, it wasn’t just a chamber. It was a system—corridors of polished alloy, humming with old power. Walls pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat. This place had waited for someone… for her.

Shade glanced behind. “We’re being herded.”

“I know,” Juno said.

H-13 confirmed it. “Lifeforms behind us. Twenty-plus. Non-feral. Armed. Trained. Human—mostly.”

They weren’t alone in the Vault.

They’d been let in.

As they descended into the heart of the facility, the lights above flickered on in patterns—motion-triggered. But the patterns felt deliberate, like breadcrumbs in a trap.

Juno stopped before a terminal and activated it. A hologram flared to life—projecting an image of Dr. Yssel.