Iron Pulse

A red glow bloomed in the tunnel.

Then another.

Then dozens more.

Tiny eyes, flickering in the dark like warning lights.The ground trembled with the sound of metal claws scraping steel.

West tightened his grip on the rusted pipe.

"Eyes up," he muttered.

Beside him, Aria raised her hand. The veins along her wrist pulsed with faint blue light, syncing with the chamber's rhythm.

She didn't blink. She didn't breathe.

The swarm was coming.

It hit like a storm.

The first wave of spider drones lunged from the dark—joints clicking, blades spinning. West swung the pipe like a hammer, crushing the nearest unit mid-air. Metal and sparks flew across the corridor.

Another drone leapt for his back.

It never landed.

Aria stepped in, swept her leg low, and drove her elbow into its head. The machine shattered on impact.

She moved like water—no wasted motion, no hesitation.Faster than before. More precise.

"She's learning in real time," Lem whispered from behind a broken console. "That shouldn't be possible."

West ducked under a slicing blade, rolled to his feet, and met Aria's eyes.

"Can you link?"

She nodded once.

Their pulses aligned.

Tether Pulse Initiated.Neural Feedback: Synchronized.

In that instant, West saw through her eyes—brief flashes of enemy positions, movement predictions, angles of attack. His vision doubled, overlapped, then snapped into perfect clarity.

He moved left.

She moved right.

They didn't speak. They didn't need to.

Another drone shot forward—this one bulkier, with twin saws for arms.

West took the high line, slamming the pipe down on its chassis. Sparks erupted. Aria slid beneath it, planted a knee in its spine, and tore out its core.

Behind them, Lem called out, "We can't hold this position! There's too many!"

"They just keep coming!" West growled, parrying a clawed leg.

Aria turned, her fingers trailing along the wall.

"I can sense something ahead. Lower pressure, weak current."

Lem's eyes lit up.

"That's it! That's the breach zone. Old emergency shaft. Leads into Zone C-Null."

"Good," West said, smashing another crawler into the wall. "Let's get out of the spotlight."

He grabbed Lem by the arm.

"Move."

Aria kept pace, watching the swarm press forward like a tide.

They reached the back of the chamber—a wall lined with sealed bulkheads. One of them, dented and old, pulsed faintly with yellow light.

West drove his shoulder into the override lever.

The lock hissed open. Cold air rushed out.

Behind them, the drones hissed louder—crawling across ceiling and wall.

"They're following!" Lem shouted.

"Not for long."

Aria raised her hand. Her palm flashed blue.

Pulse Reflex Activated.

She dashed back into the swarm—just long enough to slam her palm into a nearby console. A surge of EMP-light pulsed outward, momentarily freezing the swarm.

"Now!" she shouted.

They dove into the tunnel.

West pulled the hatch shut behind them.

Darkness swallowed everything.

For a moment, there was only breathing.

Lem sat on the floor, wheezing. "That was... statistically... suicidal."

"You're welcome," Aria said softly.

West scanned the new tunnel.

No alarms. No red lights. No Core surveillance nodes.

Just rough metal.

And a scent.

Cold stone. Old air.

This wasn't part of Grid-Zero.

Dim blue lights flickered to life along the tunnel floor, revealing old walls—circular, lined with unfamiliar glyphs. The shapes pulsed softly, organic and ancient.

West raised an eyebrow. "This doesn't look like anything Rhys built."

"That's because he didn't," Lem said.

He stood, brushing dust from his coat. "Zone C-Null was abandoned during the first generation of the Pulse program. No AI, no implants, no command bridges."

Aria walked ahead, fingertips grazing the wall.

"I've seen this."

West looked at her. "Where?"

She stopped.

"In my dreams."

They moved slowly.

The further they went, the quieter it became. No signals. No feedback. No threat indicators.

West turned to Lem. "What is this place, really?"

Lem hesitated.

"A failed attempt," he said finally. "To build something before Pulse. A place where the human mind could evolve without machines. They called it the Cradle Layer."

Aria stepped through a broken archway, light brushing her cheek.

"If this is where it started... maybe it's where it ends."