Shadows in the Zone

Tera crouched behind a rusted crate in the city's industrial zone, the night air thick with the oil-slick bite of machinery. The private lab's concrete walls loomed, its floodlights cutting through the haze of a sector where power flickered and streets drowned.

This wasn't Lisven University's clean halls, where Eliot was rigging their signal setup—this was raw, where a quantum relay waited, guarded and out of reach. Tera's goggles whirred, scanning for cameras, her fingers steady on a signal jammer. The relay was their key to the Pit, and she wasn't leaving without it.

Omega knelt beside her, short-cropped hair damp with mist, eyes locked on the lab's perimeter. "Security rotation's inconsistent," she said, voice low, honed from years of Returner raids. "Rivera's scouting the server room. We go silent, we're gone before they blink."

"Silent's a fantasy," Tera said, her sarcastic edge sharp. Omega's lips twitched, but her hands checked a lockpick's charge, steady as stone. Rivera, the new kid—twenty, maybe, a Returner for a month—moved with quick steps and eager glances, chasing the fight like it was oxygen. Tera didn't know her, didn't need to. The relay was the mission.

Back at Lisven, Eliot was wrestling with the signal setup, his dad's fate in the Pit driving him as hard as Tera's need to reach Luna. Her sister, caged in Li Xinyu's digital hell, was a spark in Tera's gut. Compassion for Luna had frayed over years of distance, but she was still her sister, end of day.

Her comms vibrated, a ping, probably her neighbor. No time to check. Tera could only hope her parents' meds held, their cracked apartment far from this zone's rot. Her focus stayed on the lab.

"Move," Omega said, slipping toward a service door, the lockpick's hum faint.

Tera followed, Rivera close. The industrial zone was a maze of shuttered factories and cracked pavement, the city's decay was evident from dried pipes and dim light that portrayed the are. A cracked screen en route had flashed a ration notice, same old story.

Lisven's academic bubble was a dream here, but the lab's private owners weren't fools, andsecurity was tight enough to sting thanks to Li's precaution. He didn't made it to the top by sheer fortune.

Rivera darted back, face flushed. "Server room's one floor up," she whispered, breathless. "Two guards, light gear. Cameras looped, but it's dicey."

"Nice work," Tera said, softer than planned. Rivera's quick nod sparked something—Luna's old fire, maybe. Tera buried it, gesturing forward.

They climbed a fire escape, metal groaning under Tera's boots. The lab was sterile, cold, servers humming like a distant storm. Sweat stung Tera's eyes as they reached the server room, Omega prying the door. The small team was an intentional choice, a double-edged sword if caught, it allowed them to move as a small unit, silently. The relay rack glowed faintly, a lifeline to the Pit.

Omega scanned the racks, hands fast through neon-blue quantum relays—elite-tier, locked to premium patents, high society's toys. She pried one free, its silver-blue core pulsing, rock-solid. "This," she said, tossing it to Tera. Tera caught it, sliding it into a metal container, its cold snap locking tight, built to shield the relay's circuits even if they had to bolt.

"Out," Tera said, voice hard.

They slipped through the lab, the hum steady, but Rivera's camera loop glitched, a faint chirp escalating to a shrill alarm. Tera's goggles scanned, her breath sharp with ash. Outside, a low whine rose, shadows shifting. Four spider-like drones hovered, red neural emitters glowing, their pulses rippling the air, scrambling thoughts. Tera's jammer sparked, barely holding, her head buzzing.

The flooded alley beckoned, escape, maybe, but the drones were locking on, and the zone was no sanctuary.