The corridor exploded with light.
Red.
Bright.
Blinding.
"MOVE!"
Lyra didn't wait this time.
She grabbed Elric's sleeve and yanked him forward as the first drone rounded the corner
Weapons already charging.
A blast tore through the narrow corridor...
Metal screamed...
The wall behind them shattered outward, debris scattering across the floor.
Pix screamed...
Not in fear.
In absolute delight.
"YES! FULL ALERT! LET'S GOOOO!"
Mii grabbed Elric again, pulling him along.
"Player, this is officially the WORST date!"
Elric stumbled...
Caught himself...
Barely.
"…Still not over," he shot back.
Kaida-9 turned mid-run...
Fired a heavy punch into the wall...
The structure collapsed inward...
Blocking half the corridor behind them.
The drones didn't stop.
Didn't slow.
They simply...
Adjusted.
One of them phased slightly...
Not fully...
But enough to pass through debris like it barely mattered.
Sera's voice cut through sharply.
"…They're adapting again."
Lyra cursed under her breath.
"Faster than before."
They burst out of the corridor...
Back into the open streets.
But...
Something was wrong.
The perfection was gone.
Lights flickered violently now.
Buildings shimmered like reflections in broken glass.
People...
Still walking...
But their movements looped.
One man repeated the same three steps.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Mii slowed for half a second.
"…That's REALLY creepy."
Elric didn't stop moving.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "…this place is breaking."
Pix skidded to a stop mid-run.
Eyes wide.
Breathing fast.
"…No."
A grin spread across her face.
"…WE'RE breaking it."
She slammed her hand onto a nearby console.
Everything responded.
The street lights burst into rapid flickers...
Holograms distorted...
Advertisements overlapped, voices speaking over each other in garbled noise.
And Elric...
Felt it again.
That pull.
That shift.
"…Pix," he said.
She looked back at him.
Wild.
Excited.
"…Push it," she said.
Lyra snapped instantly.
"DON'T..."
Too late.
Elric stepped forward.
The world bent.
A passing vehicle jerked sideways...
Not crashing...
Just… missing where it was supposed to be.
A drone fired...
The shot curved...
Not wildly...
Just enough to miss him.
Elric's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Okay."
Another step.
The ground shifted beneath the drones...
Panels sliding...
Throwing off their aim.
Kaida-9 took the opening.
Charged forward.
Crushed one mid-air...
It sparked...
Fell...
Gone.
Mii spun beside him, firing bursts of light.
"Player, you're doing the thing again!"
Pix was laughing now.
Not normal laughter.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
"YES... YES... THIS IS IT!"
Lyra grabbed her arm.
"STOP PUSHING IT!"
Pix yanked free.
"Why?! It's working!"
Sera's voice cut through...
Sharper than before.
"…No."
A beat.
"…It's escalating."
The sky flickered.
Not clouds.
Not weather.
Like a screen glitching.
A massive tear stretched across the air for a split second...
Revealing something behind it...
Lines.
Code.
Endless.
Then it snapped shut.
Silence...
For half a breath.
Then...
Everything surged.
Drones multiplied.
Not physically...
But visually...
Afterimages...
Predictions...
Possible positions.
Lyra's eyes widened.
"…They're countering probability."
Kaida-9 braced.
"…New threat level."
Elric exhaled slowly.
"…Okay."
He looked around.
At the broken city.
The flickering lights.
The collapsing illusion.
"…This might be a problem."
Pix grinned beside him.
"…Or an opportunity."
Mii grabbed his arm again.
"Player! Less thinking, more surviving!"
A drone appeared directly in front of him...
Too close...
Too fast...
Elric stepped...
Slipped...
Of course...
But this time...
He didn't just recover.
He redirected.
The slip turned into a pivot.
The drone's shot passed exactly where he would have been.
And slammed into another drone behind him.
Explosion.
Silence.
Elric blinked.
"…Okay."
A beat.
"…That one I did on purpose."
Sera stared.
"…Confirmed."
Lyra's voice dropped.
"…You're learning."
Above them—
A new sound.
Lower.
Heavier.
Not drones.
Something bigger was coming.
Pix looked up.
Still smiling...
But slower now.
"…Oh."
Mii followed her gaze.
"…That's not part of the date."
Elric sighed.
"…Yeah."
He rolled his shoulders slightly.
"…Step four," he muttered.
"…this gets worse."
The sky cracked again.
And this time...
It didn't fully close.