The remaining Steel Hounds fled.
They dropped their weapons as they ran — plasma sawed-offs, crude neuro-shockers, even trophy implants freshly ripped from corpses. Their heavy boots thundered against the wet concrete of the collector as they disappeared into side tunnels, howling in terror.
The smell of fear, machine oil, and charred flesh lingered long after they were gone.
Astra stood in the middle of the shattered shelter, breathing heavily.
Though she no longer truly needed to breathe.
There wasn't a single scratch on her right fist — only dark, oily stains mixed with something organic, already drying. Violet sparks danced between her fingers for a few seconds more… then faded, leaving behind a faint tingling.
She stared at her hand as if seeing it for the first time.
"Astra…" came Kai's weak, fractured voice.
He lay against the wall, clutching his side with both hands. His face was gray with pain, a thin line of blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. His mechanical eye spun erratically, struggling to focus. In his human eye swirled fear, pain… and something close to awe.
"You just… punched through Steel Hound composite armor with your bare hands. That's impossible. Even the Corporation's 'Sixes' — their elite cyborg units — can't do that without heavy exoskeletons and amplifiers. And you… you just…"
He trailed off, unable to finish.
Astra walked over slowly and crouched beside him. Her movements were still too smooth, too precise — as if gravity had become more of a suggestion than a rule.
"I don't feel like it was me, Kai," she said quietly. Her voice sounded almost normal, but that second, ancient undertone still trembled beneath it.
"It's like I'm just a shell. A thin layer of skin stretched over something… enormous. It looks through my eyes, breathes through my lungs… and it likes the taste of steel. It likes it when they break."
She reached out and gently touched his shoulder.
Kai flinched involuntarily — her fingers were ice-cold.
"I didn't want you to see this. Not so soon."
Kai tried to smile, but it twisted into a pained grimace.
"I always knew you were different. But this… this isn't a 'defect' anymore. This is something else entirely."
Astra helped him to his feet. He leaned on her, trying not to show how much it hurt.
Together, they stepped out of the collector and into the maze of the lower tiers of Sector 01.
The city continued its usual rotten life.
Neon signs flickered and crackled, reflecting in puddles of machine oil and chemical waste. Sirens wailed somewhere in the distance, heavy patrols marched, people screamed.
But when Astra walked through the narrow slum alleys… everything changed.
Stray mutant dogs — hairless creatures covered in metallic growths — fell silent as she approached. They pressed themselves to the ground, tails tucked, retreating into the shadows with low whines.
Even the most aggressive among them felt the Beast.
Not mechanical. Not biological.
Something older.
Older than the Corporation.
Older than the Dead Moon.
Older than the first line of code the System ever wrote.
Astra moved forward, and the city's neon glow now seemed like a toy to her.
Fragile.
As if all these towering holograms, rusted pipes, and steel structures could crumble at the slightest touch of her hand.
Inside her, Thanatos was silent.
But it was the silence of a fed predator, savoring the aftertaste of fresh prey. Astra felt its satisfaction — warm, almost gentle, like a heavy hand resting on the back of her head.
It wasn't rushing her.
It was waiting.
"This is only the beginning," she said quietly, looking toward the distant silhouette of the Dead Moon, which now seemed closer, brighter… more alive.
"The System doesn't forgive errors like this. Raiders are nothing. Now the real forces will come. High-tier Enforcers. Maybe even Omega Sentinels. They'll hunt the anomaly they can't classify."
Kai, still leaning on her, nodded.
"Then we move. To the Outer Ring. There are abandoned tunnels, black-market implant hubs… places where the System goes blind. If we reach them, we'll have time… to figure out what's happening to you."
Astra stopped in the middle of a narrow alley.
The violet glow from her eyes reflected in a dirty puddle at her feet.
"I'm not sure I want to 'figure it out,' Kai. Part of me wants to run. Part of me wants to hide. And part of me…"
she clenched her fist, violet sparks flickering between her fingers,
"…wants them all to come. I want to see how much more steel I can break before they realize the rules have changed."
She turned to him.
In her gaze — fear… and something darker. Something almost exhilarated.
"I'm becoming a beast, Kai. A neon beast in their glass world. And I don't know if I'll be able to stop when the real hunt begins."
Kai looked at her for a long moment, then slowly nodded.
"Then I'll stay with you. To remind you who you were before the Abyss answered your call. And if I have to… I'll help you not lose yourself completely."
Astra said nothing.
She simply kept walking forward, deeper into the neon labyrinth.
And behind her, the shadows seemed just a little deeper… a little more alive than they should have been.
Inside her, Thanatos smiled quietly.
The hunt had only just begun.