The transport shuttle we stole was a garbage hauler.
A rusted, clunky beast of a ship that smelled like burned trash and chemical sludge. But it had one crucial advantage — it had the clearance codes to fly into the upper atmosphere without getting shot down.
"Approaching altitude: 10,000 feet," Glitch announced from the pilot's seat. He was typing on three different keyboards at once, his hands moving to fast to see clearly. "Going invisible. I'm faking our signal so we look like 'Waste Disposal Unit 7.'"
"If this fails?" I asked, checking the charge on my Shadow-Weave Suit.
"If this fails, the defense cannons up here will turn us into confetti in three seconds," Glitch replied cheerfully. "But relax. I got this."
"Comforting," I muttered, gripping the safety rail as the ship shuddered against the wind.
I looked at Sarah. She sat across from me, eyes closed, deep in meditation. She was saving every bit of strength she had. The higher we went, the closer we got to the network's core, and the more strain the System put on her mind.
"Visual," Glitch said.
The blast shutters on the cockpit window slid open.
I looked out, and my breath caught in my throat.
The Penitentiary — The Iron Cloud — was terrifying.
It wasn't a building. It was a massive floating fortress held up by gravity engines. It looked like a giant black needle hanging in the clouds, surrounded by a ring of docking arms. Searchlights swept the dark sky around it, and swarms of patrol drones buzzed around its hull like angry wasps.
It was a cage in the sky where no one could hear you scream.
"Docking in 3... 2... 1..."
CLUNK.
The shuttle shuddered as we latched onto the waste disposal port on the belly of the station. Metal grinding on metal echoed through the hull.
"We're in," Glitch whispered. "I'm staying on the ship to loop the security feeds. If the cameras see you, the alarms trip instantly. You two have exactly two hours before the shift change."
"Let's move," Sarah said, her eyes snapping open. They were glowing faintly blue.
We opened the airlock and dropped into the station.
We landed in a trash compactor room. Huge, dark, and filled with the roar of heavy machinery. The air was freezing and tasted like stale metal.
"Block 4 is the High-Security Wing," Sarah said, pulling up a holographic map on her wrist-comp. "That's where Maya is. It the deepest part of the prison."
We moved through the corridors. This place was nothing like the Server Farm. It wasn't clean and clinical. It was brutal. The walls were bare steel, scarred and dented. The lighting was harsh red — the color of a warning that never stopped.
"Patrol coming," I hissed.
I didn't hear them. I felt them. My Network Sense picked up the electrical signals of their gear moving toward us.
[SIGNAL: SHOCK-RIFLE — ACTIVE]
[SIGNAL: RIOT-HELMET — COMMS ON]
We ducked into a side alcove, pressing ourselves into the shadows. My Shadow-Weave Suit hummed, dampening my body heat so their sensors couldn't pick me up.
Two guards walked past. They were massive, wearing heavy riot gear that made them look like walking tanks.
"Did you hear about the riots in the Undercity?" one asked, his voice muffled by his helmet. "They say some Deviant shut down a Sub-Station. Which made malach furious."
"Just rumors," the other scoffed. "Probably just a glitch in the grid. Malachi will purge them soon enough. I heard they're letting the Warden use the Gravity Hammer if things get worse."
They passed.
We waited for their signals to fade before moving deeper.
We reached a security checkpoint. A laser grid blocked the hallway — beams of red light spaced inches apart.
"I can't hack this," Sarah whispered, scanning the panel. "It's hard-wired. It needs a handprint scan from authorized personnel. If I try to force the code, it locks down the whole block."
"Let me," I said.
I stepped up to the grid. I could feel the energy humming in the lasers. Angry and Volatile.
[Skill: Energy Siphon]
I didn't drain it. That would kill the lights and alert the guards. Instead, I tasted it. I felt the frequency of the lasers.
[Skill: Overcharge]
I placed my hand on the control panel. Instead of breaking it, I fed it power. Too much power. I pushed a surge of raw electricity into the fuse box.
ZZZRT.
The panel sparked. The fuse blew — silently. The lasers flickered and died. Not because they were hacked, but because the physical wire inside had melted.
"Subtle," Sarah noted, raising an eyebrow.
"It worked," I shrugged.
We entered the Cell Block.
It was a nightmare.
Hundreds of transparent cages were stacked vertically in a massive round room that stretched up for fifty stories. Inside each cage, a prisoner sat in zero-gravity, floating in the air. They looked like insects trapped in amber.
Some were missing limbs. Some had wires trailing from their skulls. All of them looked broken.
"Maya..." Sarah scanned the rows, her voice trembling. "Cell 409."
We ran along the catwalk, checking the numbers. 405... 406... 407...
"There!"
Cell 409.
Inside, a young woman floated. She looked like Sarah — same dark hair, same sharp jawline. But older than her years. Her skin was scarred. And her left arm was missing, replaced by a crude, rusted metal arm that looked painful just having it on.
Sarah gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "Oh god. What did they do to you?"
She rushed to the control panel. "I'm unlocking it."
[ACCESS DENIED]
[PRISONER CLASS: S-TIER]
[UNLOCK REQUIRES WARDEN AUTHORIZATION]
"It's locked," Sarah said, panic rising in her voice. Her fingers flew across the keys. "I can't force it without triggering the alarm. It needs a physical key or the Warden's handprint."
"Step aside," I said.
I grabbed the magnetic lock on the door, It was Heavy. Industrial steel.
[Skill: Energy Siphon]
I poured my will into the metal. I didn't hack the code. I drained the energy holding the magnetic seal shut. I sucked the magnetism right out of it.
CRACK.
The lock failed. The door hissed open. The zero-gravity field collapsed.
Maya dropped to the floor of the cell, gasping for air.
She looked up, her eyes wild and lost. She scrambled back into the corner. She raised her metal arm — it clicked and shifted, the fingers folding back to reveal a jagged blade hidden inside.
"Stay back!" she rasped, her voice raw from years of silence. "I won't give you the codes! Kill me! Just kill me!"
"Maya," Sarah stepped into the light, pulling back her hood. "Maya, look at me."
The girl froze. She stared at Sarah. Her blade-arm lowered slowly, trembling.
"Mom?" she whispered. "No. You're... you're a simulation. Another torture program. Malachi is playing games."
"I'm real," Sarah said, tears running down her face. "I came back. I'm sorry I took so long."
Maya reached out with her human hand. She touched Sarah's face.
"You're warm," she said, wonder in her voice.
Then she collapsed into Sarah's arms, sobbing. A harsh, ugly sound — grief and relief pouring out at the same time.
"We have to go," I said, checking the hallway. My Network Sense was screaming. "We triggered a silent alarm when I broke the seal. The energy spike was too big. They know we're here."
[ALERT: PRISON BREAK IN BLOCK 4]
[WARDEN DISPATCHED]
The lights in the cell block turned red. Sirens began to wail.
"The Warden?" Sarah went pale. She looked terrified. "Not a guard. The Warden."
From the ceiling of the massive room, a huge circular hatch opened.
Something dropped down.
It wasn't a robot. It was a man in a suit of power armor that looked like a walking tank. At least eight feet tall. He carried a gravity-hammer — a massive weapon that hummed with purple energy and bent the air around it. Debris floated toward it like the thing had its own gravity.
[BOSS: THE WARDEN]
[LEVEL: ?? (unknown)]
He landed on the catwalk with a crash that shook the entire station. Metal buckled under his boots.
"Visitors," the Warden boomed, his voice blasting from speakers on his armor. "I love visitors. They make such a satisfying crunch."
He raised the hammer. The purple light flared, pulling scrap and dust toward it like a black hole.
"Run!" I yelled.