The Grid Nexus wasn't a place—it was a wound in the world.
Mira's scanners showed it as a jagged rift of energy beneath the ruins of a city that had never existed in their own timelines. The streets were cracked and suspended in midair, frozen mid-collapse, like the remains of a reality caught in a paused video.
And at the center of it all… the pulsing glow of the Grid itself.
Mira: "That's the Nexus Core. Once we get inside, we can anchor the relic in place and pull Rin out."
Kael: "And if we're too slow?"
Mira: "The Nexus folds in on itself. And Rin's gone forever."
The silence that followed was heavy. Ayla's grip tightened around her daggers, the metal biting into her gloves. She didn't care about the Nexus collapsing—she cared about Rin. The thought of losing him before he even knew how she felt clawed at her insides.
The Warden's Shadow
They weren't alone.
All along the suspended streets, shadows moved—dozens of the Warden's bone-armored soldiers, their runes glowing faintly in the dim light.
Thorne eyed them.
Thorne: "They know we're coming."
Kael: "Good. Saves us the trouble of sneaking in."
Mira shook her head.
Mira: "We can't just brute force this. The second we engage, the Warden will sense it. We need a distraction team."
Her gaze slid to Thorne and Ayla.
Mira: "You two draw them away. Kael and I will get the relic to the Core."
Rin's Voice
Just as Kael was about to agree, a faint voice brushed across their minds.
Rin (faint, strained): "Don't… come directly. The Warden… watches."
Ayla froze.
Ayla: "Rin?!"
Rin: "The runes… destroy the runes… he can't see without them…"
The voice faded like static. Mira's eyes widened.
Mira: "If that's true… we might have a way to blind his forces temporarily."
Kael stood, sword in hand.
Kael: "Then we make every strike count."
The Plan
They huddled together over a projection of the floating streets. Mira marked out paths.
Thorne and Ayla: Hit the western street, shatter every rune they see, keep the enemy chasing them.
Kael and Mira: Slip through the southern passage, reach the Core.
Kael glanced at Ayla.
Kael: "You okay running with Thorne?"
Ayla: "Please. I'll make it fun for him."
Thorne smirked.
Thorne: "Just try to keep up, sunshine."
Mira didn't miss the way Ayla's eyes flicked toward the Nexus Core one last time before turning away. She knew that look—Ayla wasn't thinking about the mission. She was thinking about Rin.
Into the Streets
The moment they split, chaos erupted.
Ayla and Thorne darted into the western route, their attacks quick and precise—every strike aimed at glowing runes, every shatter followed by a hiss of distorted light. The soldiers turned toward them, the majority abandoning their posts to give chase.
Meanwhile, Kael and Mira dashed toward the south, weaving between chunks of floating debris and fractured road. The Core loomed ahead, each pulse sending ripples of light through the broken city.
Kael's communicator buzzed. Ayla's voice came through, breathless but sharp.
Ayla: "Runes are breaking faster than I thought. You're clear—GO!"
Kael tightened his grip. They were nearly at the Core. Nearly at Rin. Nearly at the point of no return.
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