INTERSTELLAR

The hideout's dim lighting flickered above her, grounding her back into reality. A dull ache pulsed behind her eyes—not just from exhaustion, but from something deeper. Something that had happened.

Then movements caught her attention. A presence nearby.

Echo leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, watching her with an unreadable expression.

"Didn't take you for a light sleeper now," he mused, but there was no teasing in his voice this time. Just observation. Calculation.

Liora pushed herself upright, her throat dry. "How long—"

"Few hours," Nyx cut in smoothly from his post by the door. "Had to drag you back here before you drew any more attention. You're welcome, by the way."

Before she could respond, the door creaked open. Blaze stepped in first, his energy sharper than usual. Cipher followed, his attention already on his Xen-Link, scrolling through lines of data.

And then, just like before, they all cramped into the room—closing in, circling her like a pack assessing an unknown variable. Liora almost rolled her eyes. They really had a habit of surrounding people like prey.

"We need to talk," Blaze said. "Now."

Cipher barely spared her a glance before tapping at his screen. "I started digging through old archives," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Couldn't find much, but there's still bits. Enough to suggest Blue Rose wasn't just an experiment—it was a project. One that was wiped."

Liora stiffened. That name again. Blue Rose. It wasn't just something the Ascended had whispered in fear. It was real.

Before she could dwell on it, Shade's voice crackled over the silence, sharp as he stared at his wrist device.

"Heads up. We've got an uninvited guest poking around Outer Districts."

Nyx arched a brow. "Ascended?"

"No. A bounty hunter. Independent. And from the looks of it, they're looking for someone."

A heavy silence settled in the room before all eyes turned to Liora.

Razor exhaled sharply. "We can't stay here." He turned, already moving. "We're taking her to Hollow Bastion. Tonight."

No one argued.

Liora sat in the back of a rusted transport vehicle, every bump in the road jarring her as the events of the past few hours pressed down on her.

The sound of both vehicles cut through the air, engines growling against the ever-present hum of surveillance drones above. Towering structures of steel and flickering neon signs cast a cold glow over the cracked streets.

The Outer Districts pulsed with life even in ruin—black market vendors peddling illegal tech, flickering holo-ads promising an escape that didn't exist, and the distant hum of machinery still clinging to function.

She pulled the leather jacket tighter around her shoulders, still unsure whose it was. Its owner—Flux—watched her quietly, a lit cigarette resting between his lips.

A sharp click buzzed through the vehicle comms. Shade's voice followed, hushed but firm. "Change routes. Now."

Razor, behind the wheel of the first vehicle, barely hesitated before veering onto a side road. The second vehicle, driven by Blaze, split away. Liora's breath quickened, her pulse thrumming in her ears.

"What is it?" Echo asked through comms, gripping whatever he could beside Razor.

"Not sure yet," Shade replied. "Someone's tailing your wheel."

Cipher's lips pressed into a thin line. "Must be the bounty hunter."

A chill ran down Liora's spine. She could feel it now—whoever they were, they weren't reckless. They weren't closing in, but they weren't backing off either.

Razor's jaw tightened. "Let's just circle around. We're not leading them back to Bastion."

As they sped through abandoned industrial zones, Liora felt something shift in the air—a familiar frequency she couldn't explain. The dashboard flickered, static crackling through the vehicle's comms.

Then, all at once, the outdated engine roared with renewed strength. Razor's vehicle surged forward as if reborn, its systems running smoother, faster.

"Uh—what the hell?" Blaze's voice rang through the comms, surprise laced with adrenaline as his vehicle responded with the same unnatural boost.

It gave them just enough of an advantage to break out of the hunter's range. The tension remained, but the threat had faded, swallowed by the labyrinth of the Outer Districts.

After what felt like an eternity, they passed through a hidden passage—an old maintenance tunnel barely distinguishable from the ruins around it.

The Hollow Bastion greeted them with bright neon and the hum of underground generators. The air was thick with the scent of rusted wires, oil, and faint traces of old incense.

It was massive—bigger than the temporary hideout. In another world, it might've been a forgotten mansion in the Sealed Enclaves.

Liora barely had a moment to breathe after stepping out of the vehicle before Razor's voice cut through the silence.

"Flux will help you get settled. Then we talk."