The sound came first.
A low-frequency, heavy hum that made the rusted structures tremble and the shards of glass in the half-ruined shacks of the lower tiers ring softly. It seeped into the bones, making teeth ache and the heart tighten into a knot.
It was the sound of the "Reapers" — heavy drop transports of the Corporation's Enforcers. They descended from the upper levels like black angels of death.
"It's started…" Kai exhaled, his voice breaking. He grabbed Astra's wrist sharply, his fingers ice-cold.
"They're purging the sector. Too many 'defects' have piled up in this district over the last cycle."
Astra jumped to her feet, tossing aside the unfinished drone. Her heart was pounding in her throat.
In the distance, above the labyrinth of pipes and suspended platforms, silhouettes had already appeared — massive, angular machines, black as the abyss below. From their bellies, accompanied by wailing sirens, black capsules began to fall. They slammed down with dull, heavy thuds, punching through fragile rooftops, embedding themselves into concrete and metal decks.
From the capsules, in perfect synchronization, emerged the ones most feared in Sector 01.
The Enforcers.
Tall, executioner-like cyborgs clad in black composite armor, stripped of almost everything human. Their faces were hidden behind sealed helmets with cold blue visors glowing with steady, merciless light. Their arms were weapons — integrated plasma cutters, heavy machine guns, and neural suppressors. They moved with mechanical precision, scanning the surroundings with red beams.
"CITIZENS OF SECTOR 01,"
a synthetic voice thundered through thousands of speakers. Calm, almost paternal — which made it even more terrifying.
"REMAIN CALM. A SCHEDULED GENETIC IMPROVEMENT IS IN PROGRESS. ALL CITIZENS WITH A STABILITY INDEX BELOW 0.4 ARE SUBJECT TO EXTRACTION AND REPROCESSING. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. THE CORPORATION CARES FOR YOU."
Astra saw them dragging an old woman out of a nearby housing block — the same one who sometimes shared synthetic bread with them. Two Enforcers hauled her away. She didn't scream — she just stared with empty eyes as the red indicator on her wrist blinked like a sentence.
Nearby, children cried as scanners marked their parents. One little boy reached toward his mother, but a neural suppressor discharged a weak pulse — and the child collapsed to his knees, trembling.
"We need to get to the basements," Kai pulled Astra toward a hatch in the platform floor. His prosthetic scraped against the metal.
"There are old filters down there. They won't find us right away—"
"No, Kai," Astra snapped, yanking her hand free. Her eyes burned.
"If we go down there, we'll be rats in a trap. They'll just seal the exits and flood it with gas. We need the Outer Ring. Old maintenance tunnels — we might slip through to the lower shell levels."
They ran across a narrow bridge between blocks. Below them echoed screams, short bursts of plasma fire, and the heavy mechanical footsteps of Enforcers. The air filled with the smell of ozone and burning flesh.
Suddenly, one of the Enforcers on a nearby platform snapped its head toward them. Its visor locked onto Astra. A red scanning beam swept across her body… and then froze.
A strange violet spark flickered across the cyborg's helmet — a color absent from any official System protocol. Violet. Deep. Almost alive.
"OBJECT 0-00,"
the Enforcer stated in a mechanical voice — but there was a slight, almost imperceptible pause.
"UNKNOWN ERROR. ANOMALY IN GENETIC CODE. PROTOCOL: IMMEDIATE TERMINATION. PRIORITY — ALPHA."
The Enforcer raised its heavy plasma rifle. The barrel began to glow with blinding white light.
Time slowed for Astra.
She heard her heartbeat pounding in her ears — one beat, then another. Saw Kai opening his mouth to shout. Saw the spark building in the weapon.
And then… another sound rose inside her.
The crack of shattered glass. A deep, rumbling voice that echoed not in her ears, but in her bones, in every cell of her body:
"Not yet, little spark…
Let me show them what a true ending looks like."
The voice was ancient. Hungry. And somehow… familiar.
"Astra, look out!" Kai shoved her with all his strength.
But it was too late.
The plasma shot erupted from the barrel with a deafening hiss. The world drowned in blinding white light. Heat scorched her skin, the air screamed.
Astra felt something inside her surge toward that light.
Something that refused to die.
Something that had only been waiting… to truly awaken.