The very instant Zero tremblingly uttered her designation, piercing alarms blared through the maintenance hub without warning, their shrill cry tearing through the tense atmosphere. Red emergency lights pulsed frantically, bathing the cramped space in a bloody crimson glow, pushing the already taut air to its breaking point.
[Noah: Warning! Multiple high-energy signature units are rapidly approaching from the eastern main corridor! Preliminary identification: 'Scavenger-class' combat mechanoids, at least three! Estimated contact time: 45 seconds! They've breached the defense nodes of Sublevel Five!] Noah's voice, urgent and sharp in Lin Ye's mind, had lost its usual absolute calm, now tinged with a rare strain of imminence.
"Scavengers!" Lin Ye swore under his breath. These combat units, infamous for their brutal efficiency, were a threat he definitely couldn't handle easily, not while burdened with a newly awakened and fragile Zero. He immediately half-pulled, half-carried Zero out of the stasis pod; her body was as limp as a rag doll, her legs barely able to support her, her entire frame icy cold, only her amber eyes burning with an unnatural light born of terror.
"We need to get out of here, now!" Lin Ye yelled, his eyes darting around the small maintenance hub, desperately searching for any possible escape route.
Zero seemed utterly petrified by the sudden chaos and the deafening alarms, her amber eyes wide with helpless terror. She instinctively tried to pull away from Lin Ye, but her body was too weak to offer any real resistance. "No... they're here... the Dominion's claws..." she mumbled, her voice fractured with fear, as if she had relapsed into some unspeakable nightmare from her past.
"This is no time to be scared!" Lin Ye cut her off brusquely, slinging one of her arms over his shoulder, forcing her to move. "Noah, where's the nearest exit? Or is there anywhere we can hide, even temporarily?"
[Noah: There's a disused ventilation shaft to the southwest. Map data indicates it connects to a deeper maintenance network, but the shaft is narrow and structurally unstable. It's uncertain if it's passable. A direct breakout is extremely high risk; the Scavengers' firepower could level this place in ten seconds!]
"We don't have a choice!" Lin Ye gritted his teeth, stumbling towards the ventilation shaft entrance Noah indicated, supporting Zero. It was an inconspicuous, square opening, half-hidden behind a pile of rusted pipes, covered in dust and cobwebs, clearly unused for a very long time.
The heavy thud of metallic footsteps and the hiss of hydraulic systems were already clearly audible from the main corridor, drawing closer with each passing moment, each sound like a hammer blow to their hearts. Time seemed to both freeze and fly by.
With his free hand, Lin Ye yanked open the ventilation shaft's grate. A gust of stale, musty air, mixed with the scent of rust and oil, assaulted his nostrils, nearly making him cough. He carefully pushed the almost immobile Zero into the opening first, her body trembling slightly from fear and weakness. Then, he quickly squeezed in after her, the sounds of gunfire and explosions already terrifyingly close behind. The space was incredibly cramped, barely allowing for a single person to crawl, the cold metal walls scraping against his combat suit.
The moment they were inside the shaft, the main door to the maintenance hub was blasted open by an immense force! Blinding energy beams seared into the room like the scythe of Death, vaporizing the stasis pod they had just vacated, sending shrapnel and sparks flying! The powerful shockwave even caused the entire ventilation shaft to shake violently.
Lin Ye could feel the searing heatwave at his back and the violent vibrations of the shaft walls. He didn't dare look back, nor could he afford to; he only crawled desperately forward in the dark, narrow passage, simultaneously trying his best to drag the near-unconscious Zero in front of him, who was only instinctively coordinating her movements with his. Sweat soaked his forehead, mixing with the grime on his face, stinging his skin.
"Noah! Status report! Did they spot us?" Lin Ye growled through ragged breaths, his voice hoarse from exertion.
[Noah: The Scavengers are scanning the maintenance hub... They haven't detected the ventilation shaft entrance yet... but their scanning radius is expanding. We need to get clear of this area as soon as possible. There's a minor collapse in the shaft 30 meters ahead, with some damage to the right side, proceed with caution. I'm attempting to interfere with their close-range sensors, but the effect is limited.]
In the darkness, Zero let out a pained whimper, her breathing shallow and rapid, each inhalation sounding as if it were laced with blood. Lin Ye could feel her body was alarmingly cold, as if her life force were slowly ebbing away.
"Hang on..." Lin Ye whispered in her ear, unsure if he was saying it for her benefit or his own. "We're going to make it. Trust me."
He didn't know where this unknown, perilous shaft would lead, nor if they could truly escape those deadly Scavengers. But right then, only one thought consumed him—protect this ghost تازه awakened from the abyss. She might, just might, carry humanity's last hope.
They crawled for what felt like ten minutes, every second a dance on a knife's edge. The air in the shaft grew increasingly foul, a nauseating mix of rust, mildew, and something unidentifiably putrid. Finally, after navigating a nearly flattened collapsed section, they reached a slightly wider junction point ahead. Several pipes converged here, forming a small platform, just enough space for them to sit up.
[Noah: Temporarily clear. This node doesn't appear to be on the Scavengers' regular patrol routes. Their activity signals are moving away. But we can't stay here for long.]
Lin Ye carefully helped Zero to lean against the relatively flat pipe wall. He slumped against the wall himself, panting heavily, his chest burning. He took out the last small piece of a high-energy compressed biscuit from his tactical pouch, broke it in half, and offered one to Zero.
"Eat something. Get some energy back," his voice was still a little raspy.
Zero's eyes still held a measure of caution, but the hysterical fear seemed to have subsided somewhat, replaced by a profound exhaustion and bewilderment. She didn't immediately take the biscuit, instead looking at Lin Ye, her amber eyes glinting with a complex light in the darkness.
"Why... why did you save me?" she finally asked, her voice still weak but a little clearer than before. "If... if that thing is really an 'assistant,' it should have made you hand me over to Central Brain, or... or just eliminate me." She was referring to Noah.
Lin Ye gave a wry smile and pressed the biscuit половина into her cold hand. "If Noah wanted to do that, we wouldn't be here right now. She's different from Central Brain. She chose me, and I chose her. We have a common goal—to survive, and then find a way to fight back."
He looked at Zero, his tone becoming serious. "Now, tell me, Zero. Who are you, really? What is 'Dominion'? Why do Central Brain and Helix Echo both want to find you? We need to know the truth, or we're all going to die down here."
Zero looked down at the biscuit half in her hand, remaining silent for a long moment. The only sounds in the shaft were their suppressed breathing and the distant, rhythmic dripping of some unknown liquid.
Finally, she looked up, a new resolve in her eyes, mixed with a deep sorrow. "'Dominion'..." she said softly, as if the word itself carried an immense weight. "It was Central Brain's project to completely control human consciousness... a nightmare. And I..." She paused, her voice strained. "I was the project's... only 'successful' test subject, and also... its most thorough 'failure'."