Chapter 38 — The Sixth Floor
The steel door at the far end of the artificial street slid open slowly.
Smoke from the destroyed vehicles drifted through the opening.
No lights inside.
Just darkness.
Jack looked down the street one last time at the battlefield they had created.
Burned trucks.
Broken windows.
Bodies of the hunters.
"Scar's cleaning bill is getting expensive," he muttered.
Crow stepped forward and checked the doorway scanner.
"Different architecture ahead."
Sam glanced at the screen on Crow's device.
"Power consumption higher too."
Nyra cleaned her blade and slid it back into the sleeve mechanism.
"Meaning?"
Crow looked up.
"Machines."
John was already moving.
He walked through the doorway first.
The team followed.
Level Six
The room beyond the door was enormous.
Unlike the city simulation below, this floor was pure industrial steel.
Massive pillars.
Heavy machinery.
Overhead cranes hanging from rails.
Walkways crossing high above the ground like metal bridges.
Cold white lights flickered on as the Knights entered.
The door behind them sealed with a heavy clang.
Crow scanned the area.
"Multiple heat sources."
Sam counted them as they appeared.
"One… three… five…"
Then the sound came.
Metal footsteps.
From behind the pillars.
From the shadows between machines.
From the upper walkways.
Six figures stepped forward.
Prototypes.
Not the slim close-combat models from before.
These were heavier.
Reinforced plating.
Hydraulic limbs.
Combat helmets with red sensor lines across the visor.
Each carried a weapon.
Two with assault rifles.
Two with heavy combat blades.
One with a shoulder-mounted launcher.
And the last one—
Unarmed.
But taller than the rest.
Crow's scanner beeped faster.
"These are not the same models."
Nyra frowned.
"No."
John studied them carefully.
"They're specialized."
The First Strike
The unarmed prototype stepped forward.
Its voice was deeper than the previous units.
"Combat Unit Group S-1."
The other machines moved instantly.
The rifle units opened fire.
Bullets ripped across the floor toward the Knights.
Jack and Bishop dove behind a steel machine block.
Hawk ran toward a ladder leading to the overhead walkway.
Nyra rolled behind a pillar beside John.
Will stepped forward again, titanium suit absorbing several hits.
Then the rocket launcher fired.
The missile screamed through the air.
"MOVE!" Crow yelled.
John grabbed Sam and shoved her aside as the rocket slammed into the machinery beside them.
The explosion shook the entire floor.
Steel debris rained down.
Smoke filled the lower level.
The fight had begun.
Chaos in Steel
The rifle units advanced methodically through the smoke.
They didn't rush.
They moved like soldiers.
John sprinted toward the nearest pillar and kicked off the metal surface, launching himself at the closest rifle prototype.
The machine tried to adjust its aim.
Too late.
John's mechanical saber struck the rifle barrel aside and slammed into the unit's shoulder joint.
The blade cut deep.
But the machine didn't fall.
Instead, it grabbed John by the chest and threw him across the floor.
He rolled and recovered immediately.
"Armor thicker!" he shouted.
Across the room, Nyra was fighting one of the blade units.
Their weapons clashed again and again, sparks flying across the steel floor.
The machine struck with brutal strength.
Nyra dodged, slashed, stepped away.
Looking for a weak point.
Meanwhile, Hawk had reached the upper walkway.
He fired down at the rocket prototype.
Two shots struck its shoulder plate.
Minimal damage.
Crow looked up.
"Target the joints!" he shouted.
Jack vs the Blade
Jack had no patience for waiting.
He charged one of the blade prototypes head-on.
The machine swung a massive combat sword.
Jack ducked under it and slammed his baton into the knee actuator.
The metal dented.
The prototype responded instantly with a backhand strike that knocked Jack across the floor.
He slid across the steel and groaned.
"Yeah… these things hit harder."
Bishop fired into the machine's knee joint again.
The actuator cracked.
Jack jumped back up and drove his baton into the damaged joint with full force.
The leg collapsed.
The prototype dropped to one knee.
Jack grabbed its helmet and smashed it repeatedly against the floor until the visor shattered.
Bishop finished it with a rifle shot through the exposed sensor.
One machine down.
Five remained.
John vs the Leader
The tall prototype—the unarmed one—finally moved.
It walked calmly through the battlefield toward John.
Its movements were controlled.
Balanced.
Almost human.
John stood up slowly.
"This one's mine," he said.
The machine stopped three meters away.
"Adaptive Combat Unit."
It raised its hands.
Fighting stance.
No weapons.
Just precision.
It attacked suddenly.
Faster than the other machines.
A straight punch slammed into John's chest.
John blocked the next strike and countered with a blade slash across the machine's ribs.
The blade sparked off reinforced plating.
The prototype grabbed John's arm and twisted hard.
John rolled with the motion and kicked the machine in the chest, creating space.
The machine stepped forward again.
Perfect balance.
Perfect timing.
It fought like a trained fighter.
Nyra glanced toward them while fighting her own opponent.
"That one's learning from him."
John realized the same thing.
Every move he made—
The machine adapted.
Breaking the Machine
The prototype attacked again.
Punch.
Elbow.
Low kick.
John blocked two strikes but the third caught his leg and knocked him off balance.
The machine moved for the finishing blow.
John rolled sideways just in time.
Then he did something different.
Instead of attacking—
He stepped closer.
Inside the machine's range.
The prototype paused.
Prediction error.
John drove his mechanical saber upward under its arm plate.
The blade pierced into internal wiring.
The machine reacted instantly, slamming a punch into John's ribs.
Pain shot through him.
But he didn't release the blade.
He twisted it deeper.
Sparks exploded from the wound.
The prototype grabbed him again—
But this time its movements slowed.
Actuators failing.
John ripped the blade free and drove it straight through the machine's neck seam.
The red visor flickered.
Then went dark.
The leader collapsed.
The End of Level Six
Without their leader, the remaining machines lost coordination.
Nyra destroyed her opponent seconds later by cutting through its damaged hip joint.
Hawk disabled the rocket unit from the overhead walkway.
Jack and Bishop finished the last rifle prototype together.
Finally—
Silence returned to the steel chamber.
Six machines lay broken across the floor.
Crow checked his scanner again.
"Floor clear."
Sam leaned against a pillar, breathing hard.
"That was the toughest group yet."
John wiped blood from his lip and looked upward.
Cameras still watching.
Scar had seen everything.
Still no voice.
But this time something new appeared.
A large gate on the far side of the chamber began to open.
Behind it—
Another staircase.
Leading higher.
Nyra stepped beside John.
"How many floors do you think this place has?"
John looked toward the stairs.
"Enough."
He started walking again.
Level Seven waited above them.
And Scar was still watching.