The corridor shook as the construct crashed forward. A blur of metal and fractured light.
The Founder sidestepped at the last second, moving with surprising precision for someone his age. The construct's arm tore through the wall where his head had been moments before.
Palo winced.
"That thing is insane, how is he dodging that?!"
Silva pulled him and Ash farther back.
"He knows their timing. He built the prototypes. He's counting milliseconds."
Ash tried to step forward, but his knees buckled again.
The spark inside him flickered. Restless, warning, but too weak to interfere.
The Founder slid under another swing of the machine's arm, hand reaching for the panel behind its neck.
"Come on," he muttered under his breath.
"All retrieval units have the same override point… right here."
His fingers brushed cold metal,
The construct spun.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
Ash shouted:
"Founder, behind you!"
The machine's arm snapped forward and pinned the Founder against the wall. The metal plates groaned under the pressure.
The construct spoke, voice glitching:
"Creator… identified.
Authorization revoked."
Silva gasped.
"It recognizes him?!"
The Founder coughed, breath unsteady but eyes defiant.
"Of course it does.
And that's why I know one thing. "
His hand shot upward, gripping a small latch on the construct's shoulder.
"you still have a blind spot."
He twisted the latch sharply.
For a moment,
just one
the construct froze.
Its body spasmed, movements halting in stuttered jerks.
Palo's eyes widened.
"He did it! He found the override!"
The Founder stumbled away from the wall, breathing hard.
"No," he said.
"That wasn't the override.
That was a pause command."
Silva's face drained of color.
"A pause command lasts only—"
"Three seconds," the Founder finished, already running toward them.
The lights flickered.
The construct's head jerked as the pause began to fail.
Ash felt the spark inside him flare weakly,
urging him to move, urging him to act, but offering no power left to help.
"Go!" Silva yelled.
The Founder reached the emergency door panel.
"Silva, open it!"
She slammed her hand on the manual release
but nothing happened.
Palo panicked.
"Why isn't it opening?!"
Silva tore open the panel, sparks flickering from the exposed wires.
"Because the power to this section is fried.
I need thirty seconds to bypass"
A metallic screech cut her off.
The construct was already moving again.
Ash pushed forward.
"No,Silva doesn't have thirty seconds! The spark can't shield again. We have to..."
The spark inside him pulsed, faint but clear.
Ash understood.
Not fighting.
Not protecting.
Warning.
The construct didn't lunge at them.
It raised its head as if sensing something else.
Then its chest plate lit up with a faint reddish glow.
Silva's eyes widened.
"Oh no…
It's sending a signal."
The Founder's face hardened.
"That's a tracking beacon. It's calling other units."
Palo stared at him in horror.
"Other… you mean MORE of those things?!"
Ash's heart dropped.
"How many?"
The Founder didn't look away from the construct.
"If the beacon fully deploys," he said quietly,
"Every retrieval unit on this continent will know exactly where you are."
Silva's fingers trembled as she rewired the door.
"We can't stay here! I need more time, just a little more!"
The construct took a heavy step toward Ash.
Its voice, cracked and flickering, repeated:
"Fragment…
return."
Ash stepped forward, despite shaking limbs.
"No."
His voice didn't echo.
It didn't rise.
But it didn't waver.
"You want the fragment?" Ash said softly.
"Come and take it."
The spark inside him shivered
not in fear,
but in agreement.
The construct lunged.
Silva screamed:
"ASH!"
Ash didn't move.
He couldn't fight.
The spark couldn't shield.
But something else happened.
As the construct's hand reached for him,
its limbs jerked violently, like invisible strings had yanked it sideways.
It crashed against the opposite wall.
Palo blinked.
"What, WHAT JUST PUSHED IT?!"
Silva stared at her tablet, stunned.
"Oh my…
The signal! Something else intercepted the beacon."
Ash's breath caught.
"What do you mean?"
She held up the tablet.
"The construct's signal isn't going out.
It's being blocked."
The Founder's eyes narrowed.
"By what?"
Silva swallowed.
"Not what.
Whoever… or whatever… has the other fragment."
Ash's heartbeat stopped for a second.
The spark inside him pulsed
not weakly.
But hopefully.
The construct struggled back to its feet, damaged and glitching.
Silva whispered urgently:
"Ash…
someone else with a fragment just interfered to protect you."
The Founder took a step backward.
"That means they know you exist."
Ash felt his chest tighten.
"Silva… where is the signal coming from?"
She checked the coordinates.
Her breath hitched.
"Far north.
Moving fast.
And getting closer."
Ash stared down the dark hallway where the construct trembled, trying to recalibrate.
The spark inside him glowed like it already knew who was coming.