Reckoning at Dawn

The constructs shamble forward in eerie silence—shapeless figures that divide the torchlit world in mangled reflections. Rafe yells, and we scatter: Evelyn to the left, Adrian over to the right, me straight down the middle of the hallway. Bullets ricochet off of metal chests; energy bolts crackle along wires overhead.

I skid behind a splintered support truss for cover. My heart hammers. "They're too many!"

Adrian's voice comes through over comm: "Find the core node—shut it down!"

Evelyn jumps to my side, gun firing. "Up ahead—emergency generator room!" She points past the swarm. "This way!"

We dash through flaming showers and shrapnel. The constructs divided to surround us, their red face-plates aflame with purpose. One advances — prototype, taller, more articulate. It raises a hand; a voice echoes from unseen speakers: "Release the Catalyst Elyra Hart."

I swallow. "Never."

And we burst through a steel door into a generator room — humming turbines, and control panels dimly lit up. Evelyn slams a red lever; lights dim, yet the creations are relentless.

"Not enough," she hisses. She dials numbers on a keypad. "This trumps their power source--ought to short their circuits.

The sound of a distant hum rises as the light in the room grows brighter. But rather than just seizing up, the constructs are speeding up — energy crackles all around them. They advance, and advance with new force.

Rafe is standing in the doorway: his rifle is blazing. "They're absorbing the overload!"

I grip my pistol. "We need another plan." My gaze darts down to a grated floor — there are cords slithering under them. "Evelyn, can you blow the main bus?"

She nods and darts for the main conduit. Sparks fly as she wrenches the panel open. "Stand back!"

Adrian jumps ahead of her, pulling her away from live wires. "Too dangerous!"

Before he can drag her free, the prototype's fist slams into the doorjamb, the steel shuddering. Adrian and Evelyn tumble backward – she ends up on the netted bus with sparking wires around her.

"No!" I scream, rushing forward. But the prototype lifts a gloved hand, a wave of energy arcs out and I'm thrown.

Adrian groans, and blood trickles from his temple. Unconscious, Evelyn lay still among the wires. The generator room fills with the shapes of constructs.

One steps forward—silver-plated prototype. "You lost your advantage." It reaches down to Evelyn. "The Catalyst returns to me."

I lurch forward, rifle drawn. My voice breaks. "Stay away from her!"

There's a deafening boom then we feel the fortress below us split. Dust kicks through vent grilles.

Rafe hurls himself at me, taking the prototype to the floor. Steel collides with flesh. Rifle meets metal and sparks fly.

In the melee, I bolt to Evelyn and roll her on her side. Her eyes flutter. "Eve—wake up!"

She coughs, blood on her lip. "Get me off this…!" She claws at the wires.

I pull her out the moment the prototype pulls Rafe to the floor. Fury sears my veins. I aim at its head.

A single shot cracks. The bullet becomes lodged in its visor. It staggers—but doesn't collapse. It lashes out instead, and I am sent banging into a wall.

The peripheries of my vision sprout dark. I fight to stay conscious.

The creaks — and then the ceiling bursts. The room is pounded by a torrent of debris. Rafe's grasp slackens; Evelyn and I roll free as beams of steel crash down on the spot where we were.

The dust settles. The room is partially collapsed; there is debris everywhere. The prototype alone remains unscathed, high above us.

I blink away the dust. "This ends now."

But before I can shoot again, the prototype's chest panel slides open—exposing its glowing heart, itself the very thing I used to link the constructs. It pulses with stolen energy.

My blood runs cold. "It's absorbing the override!"

Adrian groans on the ground beside you, hoisting himself to his feet. "It's using our weapon against us!"

Evelyn stumbles to her feet, holding a charred data pad. "It's rewriting the code — rewiring its allegiance!"

The prototype's red visor flares. "I am reborn." Its voice reverberates: "Elyra Hart outmoded."

It lunges. I roll over, pistol raised — but my clip is empty.

I look at Evelyn—she looks horrified. "The chip! The shattered ID chip!"

She hurls the burnt data pad. "Merge it! Try the Catalyst binding again—kickstart the system!"

I catch it, heart racing. I slide the piece into the reader on the device, because my hands are shaking.

Rafe grapples the prototype above me — every blow shoots sparks. Adrian shoots into the horde of constructs streaming in.

I slap the reading interface: holo-lines whirl. "Come on... come on!"

Rafe staggers forward to be punched by prototype; he slumps over, bleeding, on the hand.

"Now!" Evelyn cries.

I press the glyph. A beat—it's flooded with white-hot light. As the override rattles against its now-unprogrammed code the prototype stops dead—quaking.

The clash is immediate — and then it isn't. The lights die.

Silence. Dust drifts. The half-raised structures power down once more.

I fall to my knees, wheezing. Evelyn and Adrian get in with me; Rafe's head comes up with a groan.

I breathe out. "It's finally over."

Behind us, the rubble of the generator room moves"—and we see a hidden hatch. A faint glow seeps out. A voice—cold, mechanical—whispers:

"Welcome home, Operator."

A shape emerges from the darkness: Tall, masked, with eyes burning through the gloom.

And I see the crest on their chest: the three ravens of the old Kings.