Chapter 4: Echoes of Duty
The route to the southern node was long, narrow, and haunted. As they moved in silence, Nathan’s thoughts returned—unwelcome memories of national service drills, of running through urban training centers built to simulate chaos. But nothing compared to the real thing.
Jax walked ahead, leading them through shifting corridors. He moved like a soldier. Nathan recognized it—the constant scan, the hand near the weapon, the way he always kept his back near a wall.
“You ever serve?” Nathan asked.
“Before the Eyes? Yeah,” Jax replied. “Didn’t save anyone then either.”
Lina motioned for silence as a drone passed overhead. They froze in the dark.
When it moved on, they slipped forward and reached a wide chamber filled with humming cores.
“This is it,” Jax whispered. “That one in the center—we overload it, and we fry their vision across this entire grid.”
Nathan set the charges. Time slowed. His breath became thunder. And then—
“Clear!”
They ran. As they climbed out through a maintenance shaft, a muffled blast rocked the chamber below. The ground trembled.
Above, distant drones screamed in confusion. Then—silence.
“One node down,” Jax muttered. “A hundred more to go.”
“And Vera?” Nathan asked.
“She felt that,” Lina said grimly. “Trust me.”
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