Chapter 232: Steel and Shadows
Location: Trial Chamber – Beneath the Tavoran Mountain Range
The first android moved faster than expected—fluid, silent, efficient. It lunged straight for Damien with blade-like fingers extended, aiming directly for his throat.
He dodged, twisted low, and slammed his elbow into the machine's midsection, only for it to barely register the blow. Steel met steel as the android countered with unnatural precision. Nora flanked to the side, her EMP blade crackling, and carved into its flank. Sparks erupted—but not enough damage to take it down.
"These aren't standard prototypes!" she shouted, backing off. "They're learning as they fight!"
Cyrus hurled a proximity mine under the second android's feet and dove behind a fallen column. The detonation rattled the chamber, flinging debris everywhere. When the smoke cleared, the android's lower half had been obliterated, but its upper body still crawled forward—clutching a serrated internal blade.
"Creepy little bastard," Cyrus muttered and crushed the skull with a steel pipe.
The third machine, taller and more armored, activated a shimmering field around it. Damien watched as his bullets flattened against the barrier, dissipating like water on glass.
"Tactical AI shielding," he growled. "Only one way through—overload."
Nora's eyes flashed with strategy. "Draw it toward the core column. Its power's linked to that control system."
Cyrus smirked. "I like where this is going."
As Damien distracted the bot, dodging its vicious plasma strikes, Nora sprinted toward the pillar and began rewiring its power matrix. The AI's voice returned—fragmented this time.
"Unauthorized access... Memory bridge unstable... Collapse imminent."
"Good," she muttered. "Then collapse already."
The android lunged at Damien, managing to slice across his side—just a graze, but it drew blood. Damien winced, turned, and activated a magnetic pulse from his suit's bracer, briefly stunning the machine. That was all the time they needed.
"NOW!" Nora yelled.
A blast of energy surged from the pillar. The android's shield sputtered and vanished. Damien launched forward with a fierce war cry, driving his combat blade straight through the machine's core. It shrieked—a sound more human than expected—and went still.
The room fell silent, broken only by the fading sparks and labored breathing.
Cyrus looked around. "So... that's what Echo Protocol wanted? A combat test?"
Damien stared at the flickering pillar. "No. That was just the entry fee. Whatever's next... it's personal."
A final data stream trickled across the hologram: coordinates. A remote site deep in Tavara's desert, long sealed off by the military.
Nora frowned. "Project Resonance?"
Cyrus scoffed. "That's a myth. Ghost base. No records."
Damien's eyes narrowed. "Then we're going ghost hunting."
As the lights of the chamber died and a hidden exit revealed itself in the floor, the trio prepared for the next phase. The Architect was leading them somewhere. And the answers—about Damien, about his family, and the deeper war brewing behind the scenes—were waiting at the end.
One thing was clear: This wasn't just about survival anymore. It was about legacy.