Chapter 3: Night Ambush

The streets had emptied by midnight, but I still felt watched. Virage Corp had reckless eyes, a serpent coiled behind every corner. With Iris's help, I had unearthed their Shadow Balance project – a global network of Astral transfers. Powerful players came out at night to move money.

The system prompt glowed insistent: Complete the Shadow Balance task to earn Astral. I steeled myself and double-checked my gear: the EMP rifle humming silently at my back, grenades under my jacket, and Iris's interface loaded with every system node I could think to probe.

We parked the moped two blocks from a Virage outpost rumored to house the mainframe. The plan was infiltration at peak night hours, an inside job.

"On my mark," I whispered to Iris. "We head in."

With practiced ease, Iris slipped ahead through an open service entrance I'd earlier scouted. The door clicked shut behind her; I followed. Cool white lights hummed to life in the corridor. A guard slid into view. I froze, but Iris was already on it. A white-charged EMP missile sailed above my head, bursting behind the guard's helmet. Sparks and smoke. Not lethal, just short enough to fry nerves. The guard collapsed, twitching.

No alarm. My relief was short-lived. An intercom crackled: "Guard down at corridor six," one voice said. Whatever I had heard was the wrong channel – sub-corridor. Heart pounding, I urged Iris ahead. I was on my own now.

Hallways twisted. At last we came to the central server room. Iris's white-blue outline flickered by my shoulder: scanning the encrypted lock. In seconds, green light. It opened.

Inside, the servers glowed ominous crimson. I breathed in the cool, recycled air. The task: upload a malicious script. As I approached the terminal, another figure emerged from darkness. A man in tactical gear, iron-plated. My chest tightened, instincts shouting. I barely had time to drop before rifle rounds hammered the floor.

"Damn!" I hissed, scrabbling away. The bullet ricocheted, and I lunged behind a rack. My heart tore at my chest. The sentry stamped forward, aiming at shadows.

"Iris – distracting!" I growled. Without hesitation, she launched a sharp-smoke grenade toward the intruder. Thick white cloud exploded, filling the server room with burnt ozone.

I seized my chance. My rifle roared, the pulsing bolt slamming into the guard's visor. He went down with a grunt. I sprinted across the floor in the haze and dove behind a computer array.

The room hummed. Another squad began shouting, tactical boots bounding in. My ears rang, adrenaline flooded—this was bigger than a solo intrusion. They came from behind. My cover shattered as a second wave poured in. One guard slid to a knee outside my array, firearm ready. I cocked a bolt, aimed with shaking hands.

Just as I squeezed, a hand clamped onto my shoulder. I spun – iris, out of nowhere, pushing me aside as bullets tore through the steel behind me. She grabbed an ARM rail by its base and crashed it into the attacker's helmet. Green ooze and a cry. Wrenched back to reality, I shouted with rage.

"We need to go!" I yelled at Iris. She responded with two command notes: Yes, Master!

No hesitation. Planting the virus file into the mainframe took mere seconds: my fingertips blurred over keys, Iris assailing the counter-hackers that tried to intervene through my visor. Digital code streamed like fireworks across our sight. The system recognized it with a "Task complete, reward: 5 Astral, 2000 Credon."

Victory, despite all.

We scrambled out through the corridor, emergency sirens belting out red light and alarm. I ran faster than I have in years. Iris at my side, we reached the roof exit. Below us, armed guards poured into the building. The sirens wailed like banshees.

"Iris – get me out of here."

"As you command."

She raised a silent shout – a black drone whirred from the cargo hold, light as a shadowhawk. Wheels screeched on gravel as it bolted. I jumped on. She circled above like a protective hawk.

The moped was a couple blocks south. Gritty stone roofs whipped past as our escape route. We ducked into backstreets. One alley was blocked; another held a group of heavy mercenaries searching faces. Yet again, luck and quick thinking saved us.

I calmed my breath as we secured distance. We made it. The adrenaline was fading into a humming ache. On the screen of my HUD, Iris's gentle purr of calm allowed me to feel that she cared, albeit silently: You performed admirably, Master. But I knew I was lucky too.

Damon Vale, alone and breathing in the pre-dawn air – but not soundlessly. The system counted our spoils: 5 Astral, 2000 Credon. Astral coin worth ten times a Credon folded into my data purse; Credon simply poured in. My eyes almost dimmed at those numbers. 2000 Credon alone could buy half this district's loyalty. My ribcage felt like it might burst.

I swallowed a laugh of triumph. And fear. We had danced with bigger predators tonight. I reached out to rub my temple – and my hand found Iris's shoulder.

"We should lie low," I finally said. "Iris, you okay?"

She simply nodded, voice clipped but concerned: "Yes, Master. We succeeded. You are safe." Less a comfort, more a flat assurance. But to me it meant something. In the quiet that followed, I realized we made a good team – terror and servant, master and knight.

As the city awoke, I vowed I would never let her be at risk for me. Not ever.