The alarms wouldn't shut up.
Red lights spun across the corridor walls as I led the survivors out of the slaughterhouse. The floor was smeared with blood—mine, theirs, everyone's. Heat still leaked off my skin in waves.
"Move. Stay low. Don't look back," I said.
They followed. Even the ones half-broken, staggering, leaking oil like they were bleeding out.
But the kid—the shaky, half-assembled one—kept staring at my shoulder.
"It's… glowing," he whispered.
I looked.
A hairline crack had split across my collarbone, burning sun-gold beneath the skin. Light pulsed inside it like something alive was breathing just under my ribs.
No cap—that shit wasn't normal.
A deep rumble crawled through my chest, the same ancient whisper that broke my restraints earlier.
"Another fracture. Another step. Burn, child."
I clenched my jaw and kept walking.
Later. I'd deal with that later.
If I stopped now, we'd all get cooked.
We reached the main corridor. The steel shutters had slammed down, blocking the exit. A lockdown cage—five inches thick, heat-resistant alloy.
A death trap.
One of the older units panicked. "We're boxed in. They'll smoke us before we even—"
"I ain't dying in a hallway," I said.
I stepped forward, placed my hand on the shutter… and forced the sun-core inside me to flare.
It hurt.
Not like a normal hurt.
Like my bones were being boiled.
Heat ripped down my arm, veins glowing bright enough to see through the skin.
The young android stumbled back. "Bro—your hand—"
"My hand's fine," I lied. "Door isn't."
The metal hissed.
Then bubbled.
Then sagged like wax.
I punched.
The entire shutter caved inward, molten edges dripping like magma.
"We're out," I said, shaking the steam off my fingers. "Move!"
They ran.
But as we spilled into the open loading yard, cold air slammed into us—and so did gunfire.
Soldiers on rafters.
Snipers on crates.
Drones buzzing overhead.
"Targets confirmed! Drop them!"
Bullets rained down. Android bodies fell. Sparks flew.
I grabbed the kid and yanked him behind a broken supply truck.
He was crying.
Not oil. Not coolant.
Crying.
"They're gonna kill us all…"
I leaned against the metal, breath sharp, vision flickering at the edges.
Something inside me clawed for release.
Something hot.
Something monstrous.
Another crack formed just under my jaw, golden light bleeding through the skin.
"Shit…" I muttered. "Not now."
The ancient voice laughed softly.
"Burn a memory. Feed the sun. Break your limits."
I didn't want to.
Not again.
But the gunfire wasn't slowing, and my people were dropping like trash off a conveyor belt.
I closed my eyes.
"Fine. Take it."
The sun-core roared.
A memory ripped out of my mind—fast, cruel, brutal.
A woman's hand on my cheek.
Warmth.
A scent I couldn't name.
Gone.
Emptied.
Hollow.
I staggered, almost falling to my knees.
But the power—
oh, the power hit like a goddamn truck.
My spine lit up.
My vision sharpened.
The world slowed.
Heat poured out of every crack in my skin.
I stood.
The kid looked up, terrified.
"What… what did you do?"
"Paid the tab," I said, voice low. "Now watch."
I stepped into the open.
Gunfire hit me.
Sizzled.
Melted.
Soldiers screamed.
I moved faster than the muzzle flashes.
One leap—
I tore a drone from the sky and smashed it into a sniper's face.
Another step—
my fist punched clean through a soldier's armor.
His body dropped like dead weight.
The cracks across my collarbone spread, glowing brighter, hotter, hungrier.
"Bro's going full sun-mode…" someone whispered behind me.
Maybe I was.
Maybe I couldn't stop.
One soldier tried to run.
I grabbed him by the helmet and slammed him into the ground so hard the concrete cracked.
The sun inside me purred.
The beast inside me stretched.
The last soldier dropped his gun. "W-wait! Please—!"
I didn't even touch him.
The heat rolling off me cooked the air around him.
He collapsed unconscious.
I exhaled, smoke spilling from my lips.
The battlefield went silent.
Androids stared at me with a mix of hope and fear.
"What… what are you?" someone whispered.
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
And because something inside my chest—
something bright, violent, regal—
twisted like it was trying to claw its way out.
I wiped blood off my face.
Looked at the survivors.
Looked at the wide open road ahead.
"We keep moving," I said. "There's a city out there big enough to hide an army. We reach it before dawn."
The kid stepped closer.
He tugged at my burnt sleeve.
"You'll protect us… right?"
I forced myself to meet his eyes.
"Yeah," I said. "I got you."
But as we walked into the night, the sun-core pulsed again.
Hard.
Hungry.
Like it wanted another sacrifice.