The next movement came faster than Arty expected, but not from the distortion he had been watching.
One pulsed near the reinforced entrance, while another shifted along the side line, forcing his attention to split before either committed.
Arty held position inside the warehouse, hand still against the metal frame as the connection hummed beneath his palm.
They weren't rushing him, they were dividing his attention, which was worse.
"System," he said quietly, keeping his breathing controlled as the distortions tightened their spacing.
"Track simultaneous pressure."
The response came quickly.
[Multiple Contact Vectors Detected]
[Cluster Behaviour: Coordinated]
Of course it was coordinated.
The first had watched him shear one apart, and now the others were adjusting around that information.
Arty's jaw tightened slightly as one distortion slid closer to the channel he had shaped, while another held back near the side fencing.
One lure, one pressure point, maybe a third waiting beyond his current sweep.
He didn't like that thought, because it felt too likely.
"Show me the blind spots."
There was a short delay before the system answered.
[Sensor Confidence: Reduced Beyond Reinforced Field]
[Blind Zone Probability: Moderate]
Moderate meant yes.
Arty shifted his focus across the metal inside the warehouse, not moving anything yet, but mapping what he could reach without overextending.
His head still rang from the previous shear, a dull pressure behind the eyes that warned him not to force too much at once.
Low level, with limited output, smarter use was required.
The closest distortion crossed first, slipping into the narrowed lane with sudden speed and calculated aggression.
Arty reached for the mesh immediately, but the creature twisted before the metal rose fully.
It had seen the method.
Or understood enough of it.
The mesh caught air instead of limbs, scraping across concrete as the distortion veered sideways through the smallest remaining gap.
"Yeah," Arty muttered, adjusting without hesitation.
"You learned that bit."
He snapped the shelving inward, trying to close the angle before it broke into open space.
The creature braced against the movement, not resisting fully, but using the shifting metal to redirect itself toward the entrance.
Smart.
Too smart.
Arty pushed again, narrowing the path with more force than precision, and pain sparked behind his eyes as the connection dragged against his control.
The system flickered sharply.
[Structural Control Load: Elevated]
[Efficiency Loss Detected]
"I know," he said through clenched teeth.
The second distortion moved while he was occupied.
Not crossing the entrance.
The side line.
Arty felt it before he saw it, a pressure spike against the stabilised ground where he had already reinforced once before.
They had timed it, one to draw his focus, the other to test the weaker edge.
His grip tightened against the frame as he made the decision.
He released the first.
Not completely.
Just enough.
The creature at the entrance surged, sensing the opening, but Arty had already shifted his focus toward the side fencing.
The ground compacted hard under the second distortion, locking the soil beneath it before it could press through.
The response struck like a hammer through his awareness, too much and too far.
His vision dimmed at the edges, and for half a second the warehouse connection wavered.
The first creature used that moment, it burst past the shelving line, limbs snapping across concrete as it entered the entrance zone too close and too fast.
Arty didn't try to shear it, he couldn't afford the load, not yet.
Instead, he pulled the loose bracket from the floor and drove it across the creature's path at knee height.
The impact didn't kill it, but it disrupted the stride enough to throw its weight sideways.
That was all he needed.
He guided the momentum rather than stopping it, letting the creature's own speed carry it into the reinforced frame.
Metal met bone with a heavy crack.
The creature staggered.
Not down.
Not pinned.
But delayed.
Arty inhaled once, sharp and controlled, then used the frame itself as the second shear point.
Not mesh this time.
Frame and bracket.
Two lines.
One path.
The idea clicked faster now, not easy, but familiar enough that he didn't need to discover it again.
He drove the bracket inward while tightening the frame edge toward it.
The metal resisted.
His focus slipped.
The creature twisted, already trying to escape the compression line.
"No," Arty said quietly, forcing the word through the strain.
He adjusted the angle instead of increasing force, letting the bracket slide with the creature's movement before locking it across the converging path.
The frame tightened.
The bracket caught.
The shear formed.
This time it was rougher, uglier, and far less efficient than the first attempt, but it worked.
The creature convulsed as its structure collapsed between the two pressure points, movement breaking apart under the force it could no longer redirect.
[Shear Compression Applied]
[Efficiency: Reduced]
Arty stumbled backward as the feedback hit, one hand slamming against the interior wall to keep himself upright.
The second distortion withdrew from the side line immediately, not retreating, learning and adapting.
His breathing came heavier now, controlled but no longer easy, and the pressure behind his eyes sharpened into something closer to warning.
He had killed one, stopped another and nearly overloaded himself doing it.
The remaining distortions adjusted again beyond the perimeter, their positions shifting in tighter patterns that made the whole field feel less like a mob and more like a calculation.
[Cluster Behaviour Updated]
[Countermeasure Adaptation Detected]
Arty looked toward the boundary, sweat cooling at the back of his neck.
"Yeah," he said quietly, his voice rougher now.
"I noticed."
The system flickered again.
[Warning: Adaptive Reserve Points Depleted]
[Recommendation: Reduce simultaneous manipulation load]
That was almost funny.
He straightened slowly, keeping one hand braced against the wall as the anchor steadied him enough to remain standing.
He couldn't keep fighting this way, not if they kept splitting his attention, if every shear took that much out of him.
His gaze moved across the warehouse interior, tracking lines, angles, stored metal, and reinforced points with growing clarity.
The answer wasn't more force, it wasn't faster reaction, it was preparation, pre-set lines, stored tension a triggered compression.
Less thinking during the moment, less strain during the kill, Arty exhaled slowly as the idea formed.
"System," he said, his voice quiet but steadier now.
"Can I pre-load shear points?"
The pause that followed felt important.
Then…
[Function Concept Recognised]
[Manual Configuration Required]
[Efficiency Potential: High]
A faint smile touched Arty's expression despite the pain behind his eyes.
There it was, not a new power, a better use of the one he already had.
Outside the boundary, the remaining distortions pulsed again, repositioning with the careful patience of things that had learned the cost of rushing.
Inside the warehouse, Arty lifted his hand from the wall and looked toward the scattered metal around him.
"Alright," he said quietly, already choosing the first line.
"Let's build a trap they haven't seen yet."