“Targeting pack, new directive. Do not eliminate. Capture. The Archivist has a dead man’s switch. The schematics are rigged to self-destruct if his heart stops. We need him alive. Repeat, alive . Disable and extract.”
“Contact. Human, singular. Sublevel 3, section Bravo-6. Bio-signature 82% match.” Kael’s heart, the real one in his chest, beat a slow, deliberate rhythm. He zoomed in. The figure wore a heavy coat, a respirator mask, and a hood. One hand tapped a keyboard. The other held a small, metallic case – the schematics.
They fled back through the rusting corridors, a nightmare swarm of metal and purpose. Behind them, the Archivist’s substation crumbled into silence. Kael withdrew his consciousness from the pack, the familiar weight of his own body returning like a lead blanket. He sat up, gasping, sweat cold on his face.
He wasn’t fast enough.
Kael felt a cold surge of panic. The pack was built to kill, not to capture. Scarab’s cannon would atomize him. Firefly’s charges were for doors, not limbs. Peaseblossom’s railgun could pin a fly to a wall at 500 meters, but it had only one setting: lethal.
“Targeting pack, new directive. Do not eliminate. Capture. The Archivist has a dead man’s switch. The schematics are rigged to self-destruct if his heart stops. We need him alive. Repeat, alive . Disable and extract.”
“Contact. Human, singular. Sublevel 3, section Bravo-6. Bio-signature 82% match.” Kael’s heart, the real one in his chest, beat a slow, deliberate rhythm. He zoomed in. The figure wore a heavy coat, a respirator mask, and a hood. One hand tapped a keyboard. The other held a small, metallic case – the schematics. targeting pack
They fled back through the rusting corridors, a nightmare swarm of metal and purpose. Behind them, the Archivist’s substation crumbled into silence. Kael withdrew his consciousness from the pack, the familiar weight of his own body returning like a lead blanket. He sat up, gasping, sweat cold on his face. “Targeting pack, new directive
He wasn’t fast enough.
Kael felt a cold surge of panic. The pack was built to kill, not to capture. Scarab’s cannon would atomize him. Firefly’s charges were for doors, not limbs. Peaseblossom’s railgun could pin a fly to a wall at 500 meters, but it had only one setting: lethal. The Archivist has a dead man’s switch