The service entrance was a simple, unmarked steel door. As Nox approached, it slid open with a soft hiss. Inside, the corridor was dark, lit only by the faint, emergency lighting strips on the floor.
'This way,' a new message scrolled across his vision. This time, it was accompanied by a voice in his head, a young woman's voice, sharp and laced with a digital static. "He's got the main levels locked down with his Apostles. But he's forgotten about the sublevels. The old network hubs."
"Who are you?" Nox projected his thought.
"Call me Maya," the voice replied. "I was on the Player Council. The one Damien didn't kill. I uploaded my consciousness to the deep network before he could get to me. I've been a ghost in his system ever since."
Nox walked down the dark corridor. "Why are you helping me?"
"Because you're the first thing to come along that this System can't predict. You're a bug Damien can't delete. And I want to see you crash his whole damn server."
