The abandoned tower's static-filled silence faded behind them as Kael and Aria rode a battered hoverbike through the city's sleeping veins. The countdown had begun—48 hours to complete Echo's trial—and Kael's mind ran faster than the engine beneath them.
Aria leaned forward, wind whipping her silver hair. "This Echo character... you believe him?"
Kael's eyes stayed fixed on the road. "Not entirely. But if he's telling the truth and can bypass the system, then he's the kind of wildcard we need."
"And if he's lying?"
"Then we flush him out."
They reached Rin's hideout just before dawn. Rin was already up, holograms circling her like digital fireflies. "You guys really woke up the city this time," she said, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "I tried scanning Echo's signal again. It's like chasing a ghost in a mirror."
"He's testing us," Kael said. "He wants to see if we're worth helping—or destroying."
Aria slumped into a chair. "So what's the trial?"
Kael opened his system menu. A new file had appeared:
[Trial of Echo – Phase One]
Objective: Extract Data Core from NoxCorp Sub-Level Facility
Location: Sector 9 – Hazard Class Alpha
Time Limit: 12 Hours
Reward: Echo's Trust (1/3)
Rin whistled. "NoxCorp? Seriously? That place is crawling with security drones and EMP fields."
"That's why we're going in fast and quiet," Kael said. "Rin, you'll guide us from here. Aria—full combat gear."
"Already on it," she said, cracking her knuckles. "Been dying to stab something high-tech."
---
By nightfall, Kael and Aria stood across the street from NoxCorp's towering black facility. The building pulsed with internal energy, like a mechanical heart beating in the dark. Red sentry lights swept the perimeter, and robotic guards marched with inhuman precision.
Rin's voice came through their comms. "Alright, I've looped their outer security feed. You've got three minutes before the internal sweep catches the gap. Go now."
Kael nodded, sprinting forward with Aria beside him. They slid through a maintenance hatch and dropped into the sub-level access corridor.
Inside, it smelled of ozone and oil. Steam hissed from pipes. The lights flickered overhead, casting eerie shadows.
[System Status: Stealth Mode Active – Detection Level 0%]
Kael tapped the floor with his hand. "Rin, which way?"
"Left. Then through the vent crawlspace. You're looking for Server Vault B-13."
They crawled through the tight passage, emerging behind a rotating turbine chamber. One mistake here, and they'd be sliced to ribbons.
Aria moved first—silent, swift—and deactivated the turbine with a spike chip. They slipped past it and reached a sealed vault door.
"Here," Kael said. "We're in."
The door opened with a hiss, revealing a glowing blue core inside a containment unit.
[Data Core Detected – Syncing with System…]
"Grab it," Aria whispered.
Kael pulled the core free—and alarms screamed.
[Alert: Intrusion Detected – Security Protocol Initiated]
"MOVE!" Rin shouted in their ears.
Kael and Aria sprinted back through the tunnel as drones descended from above, plasma rifles charging.
Kael turned mid-run and fired his pulse pistol, knocking one drone into a pipe. Aria slashed through another with a blink-fast strike. Sparks rained.
They dove through the maintenance hatch just as the system's failsafe sealed the tunnel behind them.
Panting, bruised, and alive—they made it.
[Trial Phase One – COMPLETE]
[Reward Unlocked: Echo's Trust (1/3)]
[Bonus Unlocked: Data Core Decipher Key]
Kael stood, watching the distant NoxCorp building flare with emergency lights.
"One down," he said.
Aria grinned. "Two to go."
---
Back at the base, Rin stared at the decrypted contents of the data core.
"This… this isn't just corporate research," she whispered. "This is a list of System Candidates. Hundreds of them. Tracked. Monitored. Some... terminated."
Kael's expression darkened.
"They've been watching all of us since the beginning."