The metal corridor sloped downward into the undergut of Neon Spine — pipes hissing, neon leaking through vents, the air sharp with ozone.
Rave led point.
Kai stayed glued to her side.
I walked beside Lira, steps slightly off-beat.
Because the instinct I'd lost —
the reflex to sidestep danger —
was missing.
My rhythm felt wrong.
Incomplete.
Lira noticed every stagger.
Every mistimed shift of weight.
Every reflex I failed to catch.
But unlike Rave and Kai…
Lira didn't panic.
She studied it.
Calculated it.
Weaponized it.
Boots echoed behind us — Dominion troops fanning out through the Spine.
Voices barked orders.
"Target party heading into Sector Spine-6!"
"General Calder wants visual confirmation!"
"Keep stun rounds loaded — he glows!"
Kai whispered, shaking, "Bro… they sound CLOSE—"
"They are," Rave muttered, tightening her grip on her blade.
Lira suddenly grabbed my wrist.
"K-17. Walk with me. NOW."
I followed her into a broken side corridor full of old pipes and half-dead neon cables.
The moment we were out of earshot, she pressed me against the wall.
Not violently —
strategically.
"Do you understand what you've lost?" she whispered.
"Yes."
"Say it."
"My sidestep reflex. The instinct to dodge right."
Her eyes sharpened.
"And that's exactly how we're going to survive."
Rave blinked.
"What?"
Kai squeaked.
"How is THAT helpful?!"
Lira didn't look away from me.
"It isn't helpful to him."
Her voice dropped lower.
"But it's useful to me."
She traced a fast, sharp map in dust with her boot.
"Dominion soldiers expect evasive movement patterns from Sun-Class anomalies."
She pointed at me.
"You not dodging — is unpredictable."
Kai's jaw dropped.
"Oh—OH—wait—
they'll AIM assuming he dodges—
but he WON'T—
so they'll MISS—"
"Exactly," Lira said.
Rave frowned.
"So we're making his weakness look like a tactic?"
"We're making it a trap," Lira said.
"And we're springing it on their best shooters."
I stared at her.
"You want me to let them shoot at me?"
She stepped even closer.
"No. I want you to move exactly the wrong way…
at exactly the right time."
Her finger tapped the center of my chest plating.
"My timing.
My call.
My decision."
The fractures under her touch pulsed.
My voice came low.
"You're insane."
She smirked.
"Tactically gifted. Same thing."
Rave groaned.
"This better work."
Kai whispered, "This better work or bro's gonna get ventilated—"
Lira raised her fist — signal.
"Positions. Now."
Dominion boots thundered into the adjacent hall.
"Sector Spine-6 clear— hold—
movement detected!"
They spread out quickly —
five soldiers in full armor, rifles high, scanning.
Lira positioned me dead center in the corridor.
Completely exposed.
Zero cover.
"Lira…" Kai whispered, horrified.
"THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DIE."
"Relax," she said.
"He's not people."
Then she looked at me —
eyes sharp, lips tense.
"When they fire, don't dodge," she whispered.
"You'll want to.
Your body will try to.
You will FAIL if you listen to instinct."
I nodded.
"Listen to me. Only me."
I nodded again.
She stepped back into shadow.
Rave perched above on a pipe.
Kai hid behind her.
And then—
A Dominion soldier turned the corner.
"TARGET ACQUIRED!"
Lira's voice cut the air like a blade:
"HOLD."
I held.
Three rifles fired at once.
Shock-rounds streaked toward me—
fast, blue, lethal—
And for the first time in my life…
I didn't dodge.
Because I couldn't.
The instinct was missing.
But Lira's plan was perfect.
The soldiers had aimed where a Sun-Class anomaly should have moved.
Their shots cracked the wall behind me instead—
missing by inches.
The look on their faces was priceless.
"What—?!
Why didn't he—
How did he—"
Lira raised her hand:
"NOW!"
I surged forward.
A glowing fist slammed into the first soldier's chestplate.
Metal crumpled.
He flew back.
Rave dropped from the pipe, gutting a second soldier with brutal precision.
Kai — shaking, terrified — threw a loose power cell.
It clattered under a third soldier's boot.
"DON'T STEP—" Rave yelled.
He stepped.
BOOM.
The blast knocked him into the railing.
Lira emerged from the shadows, shot the fourth soldier in the visor, and spun back behind cover.
The fifth soldier hesitated, panicking.
He screamed into his comm:
"HE'S NOT MOVING RIGHT— I CAN'T PREDICT—"
I grabbed him by the helmet and smashed him into the wall hard enough to leave a dent.
Silence.
Sparks.
Steam.
Breathing.
Rave exhaled.
"Holy shit."
Kai clapped wildly.
"LIRA YOU GOD-TIER GENIUS— I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING— EVERY INSULT— EVERY TIME I CALLED YOU SCARY— YOU ARE STILL SCARY BUT ALSO AMAZING—"
Lira ignored him.
She came straight to me.
Her hand pressed against my chest plate—
right over the fractures.
"You did it," she whispered.
"You trusted me."
I nodded.
Her voice softened.
"And I'll keep you alive as long as you let me."
My shadow twitched.
The Beast inside me stirred.
But her hand held me steady.
A cold voice echoed from the upper catwalks:
"Interesting…"
Shk—shk—shk.
Voss Calder sharpened his glove against a steel beam, sparks falling like embers.
"So the anomaly is finally using his tactician… good."
He smiled down at us.
"Makes the hunt more interesting."
His voice dropped to a hungry whisper.
"Let's see how you handle the next rhythm."
Lira's fingers curled tighter against my chest.
"K-17…" she whispered.
"Run."
I stood straighter.
"No."
She looked up — startled.
"We move," I said.
"But we don't run."
Rave grinned, wicked.
Kai gulped.
And above us, Voss's smile widened.
The Neon Spine was becoming a battlefield.
And for the first time…
We weren't prey.