The descent into the central chamber felt endless.
The elevator was gone—destroyed when the Archive fractured—so Leon and Kiera followed the emergency shaft ladder, each step echoing through the hollow metallic spine of the complex. Beneath them, the light of the core pulsed like a heartbeat, steady and ominous.
Kiera’s breath came ragged, her armor scorched, one arm bound in a torn bandage. “Leon, your vitals are tanking,” she warned, glancing at her wrist display. “You shouldn’t even be standing.”
Leon’s voice was a rasp. “If I stop now, everything ends the same way it began—under their control.”
“Then at least let me carry you for once.”
He gave a tired smile. “You couldn’t handle me.”
“Try me.”
The faint humor between them was all that kept the exhaustion at bay. Below, the hum
