The Echo Repairman

Chapter 7: Glitch in the System

The air in the Rusty Anchor shifted instantly from damp stagnation to electric violence.

"Cover!" Lin Mo shouted, shoving Su Yi behind the heavy oak bar counter just as the first laser beam hissed through the space where her head had been a millisecond ago.

*PZZZT.*

The shelf of vintage vodkas behind them exploded. Glass shards rained down like diamonds, mixing with the smell of cheap alcohol that vaporized instantly in the heat of the laser.

"They're using Class-4 thermal cutters," Lin Mo analyzed, crouching low. "Military grade. These aren't just cleaners; they're hitmen."

"I'm flattered!" Su Yi yelled over the noise, blind-firing her bulky pistol over the counter. *BOOM. BOOM.* It sounded like a cannon compared to the silent hiss of the enemy weapons. "Eva really cares!"

One of the white-suited figures took a hit to the chest. The kinetic impact knocked him backward into a pool table, but he didn't bleed. Instead, white synthetic fluid leaked from the hole in his chest.

"Androids," Su Yi cursed. "High-end combat models. I hate those guys. They don't banter."

"We can't win a firefight," Lin Mo scanned the room. The only exit was blocked by the other two assassins. They were advancing methodically, flipping tables for cover, their movements perfectly synchronized.

"Is there a back door?" Lin Mo asked.

"Just the service hatch to the canal," Su Yi pointed to a rusted iron wheel on the floor behind the bar. "But it's underwater. And unless you have gills, we'll drown before we hit the surface."

Lin Mo looked at the hatch, then at the advancing death squad. He grabbed a bottle of high-proof rum from the unbroken stock.

"Do you have a lighter?"

Su Yi grinned. "Always." She tossed him a Zippo.

"When I say go, open the hatch," Lin Mo commanded.

He wrapped a rag around the bottle neck, soaked it, and lit it. The flame danced, blue and hungry.

"Now!"

Su Yi spun the wheel. With a groan of tortured metal, the floor hatch hissed open. Dark, foul-smelling canal water began to bubble up.

Lin Mo stood up.

The two remaining androids locked onto him instantly. Red targeting dots danced on his chest.

"Target lock," one intoned.

"Error," Lin Mo replied calmly.

He didn't throw the Molotov at them. He threw it at the ceiling—specifically, at the fire suppression system sensor directly above the androids.

*SMASH.*

The bottle broke. Fire licked the sensor.

"Fire detected," the building's AI announced pleasantly. "Deploying suppression foam."

Massive nozzles in the ceiling burst open. But instead of water, thick, sticky, expanding chemical foam sprayed down in a torrent. It was designed to smother industrial fires, rapidly hardening on contact with air.

The androids were instantly coated in the white sludge. They struggled, their servos whining as the foam hardened into a concrete-like shell, freezing them in place. Their lasers fired wildly into the floor.

"Nice trick!" Su Yi laughed.

"It won't hold them for long. Their internal heaters will melt it in sixty seconds," Lin Mo grabbed her arm. "Into the water."

"Wait, seriously? The pollution in there will melt my skin!"

"Better than a laser through the brain. Jump!"

They plunged into the dark water of the open hatch.

***

Cold. Murky. Silence.

The water of the under-city canal was thick with oil and sludge. Lin Mo switched to infrared vision. He saw Su Yi struggling beside him, holding her breath, her heavy jacket pulling her down.

He kicked hard, his mechanical arm cutting through the water like a propeller. He grabbed her waist and propelled them both toward a faint light in the distance—a drainage outflow pipe.

They surfaced inside the pipe, gasping for air. The smell was horrendous.

" You... *cough*... you owe me... a new jacket," Su Yi sputtered, wringing out her black hair. She wiped slime from her face.

"Survival first. Fashion later," Lin Mo checked his internal diagnostics. "My waterproof seals are holding at 85%. How's your tech?"

Su Yi tapped her wrist computer. It flickered but lit up. "Water-resistant to 50 meters. I build good shit."

She looked at him in the dim green light of the tunnel. For the first time, the bravado was gone from her eyes. She looked young, wet, and scared.

"They found us too fast, Lin. How did they know?"

Lin Mo leaned against the slimy brick wall. "Eva tracks patterns. We stayed static for too long."

"No," Su Yi shook her head. "I scrubbed our IDs. I looped the camera feeds. Unless..."

She stopped. She grabbed Lin Mo’s mechanical hand.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Lin Mo pulled back.

"Hold still!" She pulled a small multi-tool from her belt and jammed it into the maintenance port on his wrist.

"Su Yi, that's a sensitive interface—"

"Gotcha," she whispered.

She pulled out a tiny, microscopic node from *inside* his prosthetic housing. It wasn't the tracking chip he had found earlier. It was deeper, woven into the neural wiring itself.

"Hardware level backdoor," Su Yi held it up. "Built into the arm when they installed it. Every time you flex your fingers, it sends a pulse."

Lin Mo stared at the tiny device. He felt sick.

The BEA hadn't just monitored him. They owned him. Every mission, every secret thought, every act of rebellion—Eva was literally a part of his body.

"I... I didn't know," Lin Mo’s voice was hollow.

"It's not your fault," Su Yi crushed the device under her boot. "They build cages inside us. Now we're invisible. For real this time."

She looked down the dark tunnel.

"We have to get to the Safe House. It's in the Old Metro tunnels. My crew is there. They can help us plan the assault on the Tower."

"Your crew?"

" The 'Black Noise' isn't just me, Lin. It's everyone the city threw away."

She held out her hand again. This time, Lin Mo didn't hesitate. He took it. Her hand was warm, human, and surprisingly strong.

"Lead the way, Glitch," he said.

"Try to keep up, Repairman," she squeezed his hand.

They began to walk into the darkness, leaving the city of light far behind them. But for the first time in years, Lin Mo didn't feel like he was walking into a void. He felt like he was waking up.