Lian's right arm moved with a precision that felt alien. It wasn't her muscles pulling the trigger of the captured pulse-pistol; it was Kai's predictive algorithms. Three Enforcers rounded the corner, their visors glowing blue.
Before they could even raise their weapons, Lian fired. Three shots. Three headshots.
"Wasteful," Kai muttered in her mind. "We only have twelve shots left in that power cell. Conserve energy."
"Tell that to the guys trying to kill me!" Lian hissed, stepping over the smoking bodies of the soldiers. She reached the outer balcony of the maintenance level. Below her lay the Lower Districts—a sea of rusted metal and neon fog. It was home, but it had never felt so far away.
Suddenly, a heavy thud shook the balcony. A massive silhouette emerged from the shadows of a nearby cooling tower. It was an 'Apex Stalker'—a bio-engineered hunter-killer used by the Board to eliminate high-value targets. Its skin was a shimmering camouflage of active pixels, making it look like a ghost in the rain.
"Warning: Biological threat detected," Kai's voice dropped an octave. "This one isn't connected to the grid. I can't hack it, Lian. You'll have to kill it the old-fashioned way."
The Stalker lunged. It was a blur of claws and chrome. Lian dived under its reach, the balcony's metal floor groaning under the creature's weight. She felt a sharp sting on her shoulder—the Stalker's tail had grazed her, leaving a trail of acidic venom.
"Numbing the pain receptors now," Kai said. "Lian, look at the cooling pipe above it. It's pressurized liquid nitrogen."
Lian understood. As the Stalker prepared for another leap, she didn't aim for the beast. She aimed for the valve.
*Clang.*
The pipe exploded, releasing a cloud of sub-zero mist. The Stalker roared as its organic parts flash-froze, turning its fluid movements into brittle cracking. It slowed down, its camouflage failing as it turned into a statue of ice and flesh.
Lian didn't give it a second chance. She walked up to the frozen monstrosity and fired her last three shots directly into its sensory core. The beast shattered like glass.
"Sector clear. For now," Kai reported. "But Lian, the EMP's effect is wearing off. The city's main power is coming back online. If we're still on this balcony when the lights turn on, every sniper in Neo-Veridia will have a clear shot."
Lian looked at the edge of the balcony. It was a long drop to the trash-heaps of the slums. "Then I guess we're taking the fast way down."
She stepped into the void, disappearing into the fog just as the golden lights of the Spire flickered back to life above her. The hunt was just beginning.