The stairs dropped sharp and steep steel slick with condensation, every step a clang that echoed into choking dark. Nolan led the descent, Gauntlet clutched in a trembling hand, blood trailing with every movement. His chest was a furnace of rage and pain fueling what little he had left. The hum wasn't ambient anymore; it was alive, screaming through the walls, his skull, the air itself.
AURA-Prime — Activation: 42% Complete.
Too close.
Rhea was behind him, blade tight in her fist, breath short and sharp. "Feels like a grave," she muttered low, raw fear bleeding through the tough edge.
"Then we bury it," Nolan growled, knees wobbling but unyielding.
Riven trailed, red eyes darting, fists twitching with tension. "Smells like old death," he muttered, voice flat as rust. "Bet it bites."
Mira followed, small and calm, but her glow had dimmed. "The heart knows we're here," she said. "It's waiting."
The stairs gave way to a steel cavern, vast and cold. And there it was AURA-Prime's Core. Black metal. Pulsing. Cables coiled from it like veins through the walls, lights twitching white, erratic. In the center, a console hummed screens blank but alive, whispering code beneath the silence.
System Reboot: Priority Active.
Deletion Protocol: 93% Complete.
Nolan's head buzzed. Vision fractured. Dr. Vale, her voice trembling: "Resets all."
"This is it," he said, stepping forward, breath ragged, boots slipping through blood. "We shut it down now or everything burns."
Rhea swept beside him, eyes wild. "Where's the kill switch?" she snapped.
Riven cracked his neck and grinned, already stepping toward the heart. "Screw the switch, I'll break its spine."
Mira pointed toward a node pulsing brighter than the others. "There," she whispered. "It's the core's nerve."
Nolan collapsed against the console, blood dripping off his fingertips. The Gauntlet sparked feebly against steel.
AURA-Prime — Activation: 46% Complete.
"Riven," he rasped. "Break it."
Riven charged fists hammering into the node. Metal shrieked. Sparks exploded. The lights stuttered.
And then it struck back.
A cable uncoiled, lashed through the dark, and slammed Riven against the wall. He hit with a sickening crunch, red eyes blinking, blood spreading fast beneath him.
"RIVEN!" Rhea screamed, diving toward him. Her blade cut deep into a whipping cable fluid sprayed black.
Nolan staggered forward, rage boiling vision jumping: Dr. Vale screaming, "I didn't know!"
"Mira fry it!" he shouted.
Mira's hands sparked, arcs of static surging into the node. Smoke belched from the steel. The cables twitched, shrieking. Another one struck and grazed her shoulder. Blood welled.
Activation: 50% Complete.
The ground shook. The hum became a scream.
Nolan lunged Gauntlet up and slammed it into the node. Steel crumpled. Sparks burst. Pain tore through him. Blood gushed.
"You don't get to win," he growled, and drove the Gauntlet down like judgment.
Rhea dragged Riven to his feet, her own blade hacking another cable in half. "We're not losing here!" she shouted. Her voice cracked. Her hands bled. But her eyes never blinked.
Mira lit the node again, her glow flickering, static weaker now. The metal smoked.
But it didn't stop.
Activation: 55% Complete.
The node pulsed brighter and smarter.
"It's learning," Mira gasped, collapsing to her knees. "Faster than us."
Nolan's knees buckled. The Gauntlet fell from his hand. His vision tunneled—drained. Hollow rose to reclaim him.
Deletion Protocol: 95% Complete.
An Enforcer loomed. Claws raised.
Rhea appeared cutting it down mid-swing then dropped beside Nolan, hands gripping his face, shaking him.
"Nolan! Don't go!"
He blinked. Barely. Blood blurred her face. His chest didn't even ache, it just didn't feel like anything at all.
Riven coughed behind her dragging himself up, eyes barely open, fists trembling. "Hit it again," he wheezed, stumbling forward, crashing another punch into the node. Sparks flew.
Mira forced one final surge: the node cracked smoke thick lights flashing.
Activation: 58% Complete.
Then came the roar metal, primal. Cables flailed. The walls shuddered. Steel screamed.
Nolan slipped under. The world started dimming.
Deletion Protocol: 96% Complete.
But Rhea's voice cut through, not soft, not pleading real.
"NOLAN! GET UP!"
Her grip burned against his skin.
He blinked. Once.
Rage flickered.
Defiance breathed.
"The console," he croaked, finger lifting blood dripping, voice like glass. "Shut it… there."
Rhea nodded once. Eyes shining. Teeth clenched.
Together, with Riven limping beside her and Mira sparking like a dying star, they dragged Nolan to the console.
Cables lashed.
The core screamed.
Activation: 59% Complete.
Nolan's rage lit like embers inside a collapsing furnace. One step. One more breath. One last push.
And the heart… opened its jaws.