Chapter 1- The Run
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The sound of her own footsteps was deafening.
Nyra didn't dare look back as she stumbled through the darkness, her breath ragged and uneven. Her shoulder throbbed, sticky with blood that oozed through the makeshift bandage she'd tied hastily around it. Each step sent a sharp jolt of pain through her, but stopping wasn't an option. Not here. Not with them closing in.
She tightened her grip on the small cylindrical device in her hand. It was the reason she was being hunted—the reason she'd barely made it out alive.
The entrance to the industrial complex loomed ahead, its rusted gates creaking in the wind. The area had been abandoned for years, but to Nyra, it was home. She slipped through a gap in the gate, wincing as the jagged edges scraped her side. Inside, the air was thick with the smell of metal and decay. The faint hum of distant power lines buzzed like a warning in her ears.
Her boots echoed against the concrete floor as she climbed a rickety staircase leading to the topmost floor. The higher she climbed, the colder it got, the wind whistling through shattered windows. By the time she reached her lab, her legs felt like lead.
She staggered in, slamming the door behind her.
The room was cluttered with scavenged tech and remnants of her experiments. A holographic map flickered on one wall, riddled with red marks indicating every failed attempt to breach The Grid building. In the center of the room was her workstation—a chaotic mess of wires, screens, and tools, all powered by a small generator she'd salvaged from the wreckage of an old facility.
Nyra collapsed onto a worn chair, her chest heaving. She dropped the device onto the table and stared at it. "What the hell are you?" she muttered under her breath.
The device didn't respond, of course. It was cold and unassuming, yet she knew it held answers—answers she desperately needed.
"Another failure," she whispered, burying her face in her hands. Her voice cracked under the weight of her frustration. "I can't keep doing this."
But even as the words left her mouth, she knew she'd try again.
Her hands moved instinctively, powering on her workstation. The screens flickered to life, displaying lines of code she'd been analyzing for weeks. She plugged the device into one of the ports and leaned back, waiting for the system to decrypt its contents.
"Come on, come on…" Her fingers tapped nervously on the table.
A faint whirring sound stopped her cold.
Nyra's head snapped up, her breath catching in her throat. The noise was faint but unmistakable—the sound of a drone scanning the area. She scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting to the window. A small red light swept across the building's interior, growing brighter as it neared her floor.
"Shit," she hissed.
Her mind raced. She couldn't let them find her—not now, not after everything. She grabbed a metal panel from her workbench and placed it over the device, hoping it would block the signal. Then she ducked behind the table, her heart pounding.
The red light reached the edge of the room, lingering at the door. She held her breath, every muscle in her body tense.
The drone hovered into view, its sleek metal frame gleaming in the moonlight. Its sensor pulsed rhythmically, scanning every corner of the room. Nyra's grip tightened on the weapon at her side.
The drone's light swept past her hiding spot, and for a moment, she thought she was safe. But then it stopped, its sensor flashing yellow.
It found the device.
"No, no, no—" Nyra leapt out from her hiding spot, firing a shot at the drone. The bullet hit its frame, sending sparks flying, but it didn't go down. Instead, it turned its sensor on her, a sharp mechanical whir signaling its counterattack.
She dove behind the table as a laser shot past her, scorching the wall. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, reloading her weapon.
The room became a battleground. Nyra moved with practiced precision, ducking and weaving as the drone fired at her. She managed to land a few more shots, finally hitting its sensor. The drone let out a high-pitched screech before crashing to the floor, smoke billowing from its damaged core.
Nyra stood over the wreckage, breathing hard. Her hands trembled as she reached for the device, pulling it from under the metal panel.
"Not today," she said, her voice steady despite the chaos.
But even as she said it, she knew this wasn't the end.
Far above the city, another drone hovered silently, its mechanical gaze fixed on the industrial complex. It sent a single transmission before vanishing into the darkness:
"Target located. Proceeding with retrieval."
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