With his left arm entirely sheathed in dark matter, Vanta drove his claws straight into the center of the Captain's gold corporate emblem.
[Skill Active: Void Fracture]
[Primal Gauge: 25% -> 60%]
The effect wasn't loud. It didn't sound like metal hitting metal. It sounded like paper being torn underwater—a low, terrifying shrk as the Vanta Black protocol dissolved the molecular bonds of the military-grade chrome. The dark-matter fingers sank six inches deep into Vance's chest cavity, locking onto the main fusion reactor that powered his entire cybernetic frame.
"Warning," the Captain's voice dropped its smooth chime, replaced by a frantic, high-pitched error tone. "Core breach imminent. Total system wipe in ten seconds."
"I know," Vanta said, his golden eye-ring flaring with a cold, deadpan light. "I need your battery."
With a brutal, backward yank, Vanta ripped the glowing blue fusion core clean out of the Captain's chest. A fountain of sparks and white hydraulic fluid erupted, drenching Vanta's pitch-black torso, but the liquid carbon skin simply swallowed the moisture, leaving his frame unblemished.
The Fabricator-Captain's silver eyes flickered once, twice, before going completely dark. His massive chrome body tipped forward, hitting the concrete with a heavy, dead metallic clang.
[Target Deleted: Fabricator-Captain Vance (Level 28)]
[XP Gained: 24,000]
[Level Up Criteria Met: Vanta Black Protocol Tier 2 Unlocked]
[System Note: The corporate garbage has been cleared. The tank is yours.]
Vanta didn't waste a single look on the fallen captain. He turned toward the Master Fabrication Tank, his hand still holding the pulsing, high-output fusion core.
"Spike," Vanta said, his voice vibrating with a new, dark resonance. "Initialize the override. I am tired of looking like a sanitation worker."
"Initiating now!" Spike yelled, its fingers flying over the tank's master terminal. "Jump in, boss! The nanite baseline is clearing!"