The city sounded different down here.
Above, it never stopped—engines, voices, alarms, life scraping against life.
Below, there was only a low hum. Slow. Deep. Like a giant breathing in its sleep.
Elyon stood still, letting his eyes adjust.
The place was wide and empty. Old tracks ran across the floor, half buried under dust and broken cables. Pillars rose into darkness, their tops lost in shadow. Small lights flickered along the walls, weak but steady, as if they had been waiting for someone to notice them again.
"This place is still alive," Elyon whispered.
The sound echoed far longer than it should have.
He took a careful step forward.
Nothing reacted.
No pressure in his chest.
No pull.
No warning.
For the first time in days, his head felt almost quiet.
Almost.
The band on his wrist stayed dim. Not asleep—but resting.
Elyon walked slowly, every sense alert. His boots crunched on old glass and gravel. The air smelled dry, untouched by rain or smoke.
"This is what hiding feels like," he said softly.
The words felt strange in his mouth.
He found signs of people—but not recent ones.
Old fire marks. Broken tools. A torn piece of cloth stuck under a rail. This place had been used before, long ago, then abandoned.
Probably because it was dangerous.
Elyon stopped near a broken control panel. Its screen was dark, but when he touched it—
It turned on.
He jumped back.
The screen flickered, then showed simple lines. No symbols this time. Just a single word:
STANDBY
Elyon's stomach tightened.
"No," he said. "Not you again."
The screen didn't change.
He waited.
Nothing happened.
Slowly, he exhaled.
"Okay," he said. "We're not doing this."
He turned away.
Behind him, the screen went dark again.
The band pulsed once.
Not sharp.
Not urgent.
Just aware.
Elyon walked deeper into the lower level until he found a small room built into the wall. It looked like an old maintenance shelter. The door was half open.
Inside, there was a bench, a locker, and a dead light panel.
Good enough.
He sat down heavily, back against the wall, and let himself breathe.
His hands shook again.
Not because he was scared.
Because he was tired.
"I didn't want to be special," he said quietly. "I just wanted to live."
No answer came.
But the quiet felt honest.
He closed his eyes.
Images came anyway.
The shadow.
The drones.
The way the world bent when he moved.
And Kael's words:
You win by lasting.
Elyon opened his eyes.
"Fine," he said. "I'll last."
Time passed slowly.
Too slowly.
Elyon ate the last of the dry food in his pocket and drank from a stale water pack. He kept his movements small. Careful. He didn't touch anything that hummed or glowed.
Still, the feeling returned.
Not danger.
Attention.
He felt it like a weight far above him, searching—not seeing him, but circling the idea of where he might be.
"They're still looking," Elyon muttered.
The band pulsed faintly.
—SEARCH GRID ACTIVE—
He closed his eyes and pressed his head back against the wall.
"Just… let me breathe."
The hum of the place deepened slightly, like it heard him.
The lights along the wall flickered.
Then steadied.
Elyon frowned.
"That wasn't you," he said slowly. "Was it?"
The band stayed quiet.
Something else was here.
Not watching.
Not hunting.
Waiting.
A sound echoed from deeper in the tunnel.
Not footsteps.
Metal shifting.
Elyon stood up slowly, heart racing. He didn't reach for power. He didn't reach for anything.
He listened.
The sound came again. Slow. Careful. Like something large moving gently so it wouldn't break.
"Hello?" Elyon called, voice low.
The echo returned twisted, stretched.
Then a voice answered.
Not mechanical.
Not calm.
Tired.
"You're not supposed to be here," it said.
Elyon's breath caught. "Neither are you."
A figure stepped into the light.
Human.
Barely.
The person wore layers of old gear patched together over years. One arm was fully mechanical. The other shook slightly. Their eyes glowed faintly—not bright, but damaged.
They looked at Elyon's wrist.
Then at his face.
Then they sighed.
"Oh," they said. "You're one of those."
Elyon swallowed. "One of what?"
The stranger studied him for a long moment.
"One of the ones who didn't run fast enough," they said.
"One of the ones the system noticed."
Elyon felt cold.
"You know about it," he said.
The stranger nodded once. "Yeah. And that's bad news for both of us."
"Why?"
Because footsteps echoed behind them.
Not close.
But coming.
The stranger's eyes widened. "You led them."
"I didn't mean to!" Elyon said.
"No one ever does," the stranger replied grimly. "But now you choose."
They turned and pointed down a dark tunnel.
"Run deeper," they said. "Or stand here and get taken."
The band pulsed.
Hard.
—CHOICE WINDOW: OPEN—
Elyon looked at the tunnel.
Then at the stranger.
Then at the darkness behind him.
The city above pressed closer.
The system waited.
And somewhere far away, something smiled without a face.
Elyon took a breath—
And chose.