Nyra's body slumped under the greenhouse arch. No movement. No sound. The blood down her temple looked black in the filtered light — thick and unmoving. She stared upward with parted lips like she'd tried to speak before it ended.
Jessy didn't breathe.
She wasn't postured like a fighter.She hadn't resisted.
She'd been caught off guard.By someone she trusted.
Then the comlink crackled:
"Subject Theta moved east. Agent Nyra is down. Greenhouse compromised."
And Mercer's voice followed, low and surgical:
"Jessy Grey. If you see movement, eliminate on sight. You are authorized."
Jessy stared at the words hovering inside his skull.
Eliminate… on sight?
He wasn't trained to kill.He wasn't even cleared for live ammo.
They were setting him up.
His hand twitched toward the pistol on his belt.
Suddenly—
A soft click echoed inside his mind. Not a sound. A sensation.
Like a muscle flexing where no muscle existed.
[ECHO FRAMEWORK ACTIVATED]Status: Stable. Partial Sync.Focus Strain Detected: 74%Directive Access: UNLOCKED
Jessy blinked.
A translucent arc hovered in his peripheral vision, like breath on a mirror. Not a full interface. More like… instinct dressed as light.
⚙ Units: 38Tactical Menu Opened▸ Deploy Distraction Device [10⚙]▸ Trigger Thermal Mist Event [22⚙]▸ Enable Short-Loop Audio Ping [15⚙]▸ System Note: "Direct kills discouraged. Control the field."
Jessy selected the thermal mist event.
The greenhouse's interior mapping slid into view.An overlay pinged a valve 9 meters to his left, near a nutrient vent.
He moved.
Low. Quiet. Fast.
🧩 Trap One: Mistline
He found the heating vent wrapped in vines, half-camouflaged by moss.
Inside: A pressure junction tied to the interior fogging cycles.
Jessy unspooled a wire from his toolkit — not part of the system, just something he'd picked up during gear checks. Loop, twist, brace.
Trigger in 45 seconds.
The valve creaked once, then began hissing.
A thin stream of white vapor snaked into the hallway.Within moments, the dome began to fog from within — visibility cut in half.
Mercer's line of sight just broke.
[Fog Layer Enabled]+6⚙ Units Gained: Tactical Efficiency Bonus
Jessy blinked again.
I'm gaining points for thinking?
He checked the shop. ⚙: 34 remaining.
Selected: Short-Loop Audio Ping [15⚙]
Location Suggested: Soil bed at east corner.
Jessy moved, dropping to his knees beside the planting trough. He buried the tiny ping speaker inside a torn field glove and packed soil around it.
The voice it used wasn't his.
Just a whisper.
"North breach… north breach…"
Set to loop every 20 seconds.
Not loud. Just enough to stir someone already on edge.
🧩 Trap Two: Echo Bait
[Echo Trigger Planted]Estimated Panic Curve: ModerateConfidence Disruption: +8%⚙ Units Remaining: 19
Jessy crawled backward into the shadow of a vent pipe.
Soil clung to his hands.Sweat painted his neck.His pulse had steadied.
He didn't feel strong.
He felt sharp.
In the haze now thickening the dome's edges, Jessy saw the faint outline of Mercer moving.
Fast. Mechanical.
He thinks he's alone.
He thinks I'm where he left me.
The greenhouse lights flickered again — amber to green.The building exhaled a long, low hiss.
Jessy watched it from under cover.
Then the system pulsed again:
[Instinct Layer Reinforcement Unlocked]"A single step is enough… if it's the right one."
Jessy didn't smile.
But for the first time since stepping into the dome, he felt like the one in control.
Mercer had the gun.
Jessy had the map.
And now the map was talking back