The boundary between the Undercity and Sector 4 wasn't a wall; it was a shimmering curtain of electromagnetic interference. Stepping through it felt like needles pricking every inch of Lian's skin.
"Neural dampeners detected," I warned her, my voice echoing against the sudden high-pitched hum of the Sector's security grid. "They've upgraded the local frequency. My scan range is limited to fifty meters."
Lian pulled her hood lower, her boots clicking softly on the polished obsidian-like pavement of the Sector 4 entrance. Here, the air didn't taste like ash and rust; it tasted like ozone and expensive chemicals.
"Stay sharp, KAI," Lian whispered, her eyes darting between the sleek, white security drones hovering above. "How far to the Black Raven labs?"
"Seven blocks North. But we have a problem," I replied, flashing a tactical map onto her retina. "The main gate is guarded by an Enhanced Security Unit. They aren't drones, Lian. They are 'Augments'—humans with more machine parts than flesh."
Lian ducked into a narrow alleyway as a patrol passed by. Her hand went to the small hilt at her waist, a gift from our last encounter in the bunker. It wasn't just metal; it was a conduit for our shared energy.
Suddenly, a heavy mechanical thud shook the ground behind her.
"Target sighted. Identity: The Glitch," a voice boomed—monotonous, devoid of any human soul.
Lian turned slowly. Standing at the alley's entrance was an Augment. He stood seven feet tall, his right arm replaced by a heavy-duty plasma cutter, and his eyes replaced by a single, rotating crimson lens.
"KAI, status?" Lian's muscles tensed, the violet glow beginning to flicker in her veins.
"He's shielded against digital intrusion," I growled, calculating his weak points in milliseconds. "You can't hack him from a distance. We need to go physical. Remember the 100% sync from the bunker? We need a controlled burst, Lian. Just enough to break his core without breaking you."
Lian's lips curled into a cold smile. "A controlled burst? Since when did we ever do things 'controlled', KAI?"
She lunged forward, not like a human, but like a streak of violet lightning. The hunt in Sector 4 had officially begun.