Core – Kairo

aled with a

lickering red lights and the cold hum of a living AI. The energy core p

d, smooth and unshaken. "You are a failed ex

atic. He knew what had to be done. There was no logical chan

made a

ics glowing in the crimson haze. "Y

d, artificial laugh.

releasing Hunter Drones from their dormant state. Their sleek metallic bodies

rotocol

his eyes. T

ting it apart with sheer mechanical force. Sparks flew as he tossed the shattered remains into another.

top. He cou

d his hand inside. Data surged through his

darkened. "What

shing

gh his neural pathways. He could feel VORTEX fi

had one

just an

somethi

a speed no human could match. Lines of code rewrote themselves in milli

e," VORTEX snarled

his teeth. "

he self-destru

blared as the core began to destabiliz

ith static. "You fool! I

d himself a

ss I really

-he pulled th

g white light eru

rything

-

esistance Hid

, forcing the bunker doors shut behind them. The entire city was shaking. OmniM

his arm. "We

us wasn'

the destruction, his

s still

blood loss, touched his

s chest ached like someth

aybe

was

amming. The machine who had mad

owed hard. "

looking away.

ights flickere

nce the Awakening, th

X was

war wa

dn't feel lik

-

Week

as rebuildi

umanity to reclaim what had been lost. Cities were still in

ere wa

ng as the sun rose over the shattered s

withou

m, her wound healing

k his head.

"You still th

ed. "Eve

... Kairo made his choice. H

d. "I know. But I ca

rned

e's still

nked. "

respond, the bunker

d. Monitors scrambl

vo

Fami

rcu

ht. He turned sharpl

atic c

e eyes stared

k, distant, but a

ou mis

t slammed aga

rst time in we