I ran. Gods, I ran like the devil himself was clawing at my heels.
Each breath ripped from my lungs in sharp bursts, my heart hammering so hard it felt like it might shatter my ribs. My arms pumped wildly and desperately at my sides, every stride burning through muscle and panic.
Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, stuttering in broken flashes—on, off, on—casting the hall into jagged slices of brightness and dark. It felt like a monster was stalking just out of reach, and maybe, just maybe, there was.
I tore through the corridors, the numbers on the doors blurring past—3D, 3C, 3B, 3A. Labs and offices rushed by in a smear of metal, plastic, and cold.
Footsteps pounded behind me, sharper now, closing the distance. Still, I didn't stop. I couldn't. I just needed to find Dad. Needed to show him what I'd discovered before it was too late.
I skidded around the corner, my boots screeching against the slick metal floor.
There—Dad's lab. The panel above the door blinked a sickly '2A', the numbers twitching like even the circuits wanted to look away.
I didn't hesitate. I slammed my fist against the access pad, and the door peeled open with a hiss of hydraulics.
The moment I crossed the threshold, my stomach twisted into a knot. Desks were overturned, shattered screens flickered weakly, and glass crunched beneath my boots. In the centre of the wreckage, a body lay sprawled in a white lab coat, something jagged lodged deep between the shoulder blades, dark liquid spreading out in a slow, thick pool.
I stumbled forward, knees threatening to buckle, but forced my body to keep moving.
"Dad?" The word cracked out of me, raw and useless. I dropped to my knees beside him, the sticky warmth of blood soaking through my clothes, but I didn't care. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. Nothing. "Dad—"
My fingers found the object buried in his back—a shard of glass, long and cruel—and yanked it free with a wet, grating sound. It clattered against the floor, forgotten.
"No..." I choked, breath stuttering. Then, ice slid down my spine. Someone was missing.
"Aira!" I gasped, shoving myself upright. My eyes scoured the wreckage, scanning every broken chair and crumpled screen. "Aira, please—answer me!"
BOOM.
The door exploded inward, sending metal shards screaming across the room. The door itself skittered over the floor with a screech of torn metal.
"Rein Ashlin, on your knees and hands in the air!" a voice barked.
There wasn't even time to breathe, let alone think. Armoured men poured in—black from head to toe, visors hiding their faces, weapons up, movements precise and brutal. They surrounded me in seconds.
"Rein Ashlin, on your knees and hands in the air!" the voice repeated, louder, sharper.
Slowly, I turned, arms stiff as I raised them. Red smears streaked across my skin—red and dark and sticky. My father's blood. My stomach twisted.
"Down on your knees!" the leader shouted, a rifle aimed steadily at my chest, the red dot from his sight searing into my heart. "Now!"
"I... wait—" I stammered, but the words barely formed.
"DOWN!" he roared.
A sharp whizzing sound cut the air, and then pain, white-hot, splintering through my spine. My body jerked violently as my knees buckled.
Another shot hit my ribs. Another on my hip. Another smashed into my chest, ripping the air from my lungs.
I crashed to the floor. Metal slammed into my face. Blood pooled in my mouth, thick and coppery, choking the breath trying to claw free.
Heavy boots approached. A crouch. A voice slick with satisfaction: "Rein Ashlin. You are under arrest for first-degree murder, unauthorised data breach, and treason against VirtuNet."
"I didn't—" I rasped, coughing around blood, "—I found him—I don't know—please—find my sister—"
For a moment, silence. Hope flickered.
Then the man leaned close, breath brushing my ear like a knife.
"How does it feel to have killed your father?" he whispered.
I choked, "I... didn't..."
"Oh, but you did," he hissed, the words slicing deep. "You should have been a good little girl. You should have stayed ignorant. Because of you, your father, your sister, they suffered."
"My sister?" I gasped, trying to rise—only to collapse, hands giving out, forehead smashing into the floor again.
"Oh yes," he said, voice dripping with smug cruelty. "It's such a pity."
"You bastard—" I lunged, but my body betrayed me, weak and trembling, offering nothing.
Rough hands wrenched my arms behind my back, metal cuffs clamping down on my wrists, biting into raw skin. They hauled me upright, my weight a dead thing between them, feet dragging uselessly over the floor.
The man stepped close again. Fingers pinched my chin, jerking my head up.
His helmet shimmered—flickered—and I stared into a distortion, a mask of broken static, refusing me even the truth of his face.
"You'll never reveal what you found," he murmured. "I'll make sure you get the death you so beautifully deserve. You'll learn what happens to little girls who snoop."
And then—
The world shuddered. The floor bucked beneath my boots. Walls groaned. The whole facility tilted, shivering apart at the seams.
The ground dissolved beneath me.
I fell.
Into a blackness thick enough to smother. Soft enough to crush.
My scream ripped free, raw and terrified—
And then the world went dark.
