Days passed slowly in the small hut. Leo rested. He ate. He slept. He stared at the wall. The ghost trails were faint smudges. The silence inside his head was deep and heavy, like thick fog. ⌈ SANITY: 2% ⌋ wasn't pain anymore. It was emptiness. A quiet waiting.
Mia went to Research every morning. She came back looking tired. Sometimes frustrated.
"They want me to make the light stronger," she told Leo one evening, sitting on her cot. "Bigger. Brighter. They point things at me. Machines. Ask questions. It feels... pushy."
Leo watched her. Her face was worried. "Hurts?" he rasped.
"Not hurts," Mia said, frowning. "Just... draining. Like running too fast. And sometimes... it doesn't come when they want. Only when I feel scared. Or... when I think about you." She looked down at her hands. "They don't like that. Commander Vance watches sometimes. He looks... hungry."
Leo felt a cold prickle, not in his head, but in his gut. Vance saw power. Power he wanted to control. Like Silvana did. Just differently.
Protect Mia. The small spark flickered in the fog.
***
Sergeant Brennan brought food. He checked on them. His face was serious. "Things are tense," he said, handing Leo a water jug. "Scouts report movement outside the shield. Not monsters. Something else. Fast. Silent. Like shadows."
"Agents?" Mia asked, her voice small.
"Maybe," Brennan grunted. "Vance is doubling patrols. Bolting down everything." He looked at Leo. "You stay put. Stay quiet." He looked at Mia. "You be careful at Research."
He left. Leo felt the cold prickle again. The quiet waiting felt heavier.
***
Mia came back from Research late. Very late. Her face was pale. Her hands shook.
"What happened?" Leo forced the words out, sharper than usual.
"They... they tried something new," Mia whispered, sinking onto her cot. "A machine. Like a cage of wires. They said it would 'focus' my power. Make it stronger on command." She wrapped her arms around herself. "It hurt, Leo. It felt like... pulling. Like Silvana tried to do. But colder. Sharper. I screamed. The light exploded. Broke the machine. Hurt one of the techs." Tears welled in her eyes. "Vance was there. He didn't care about the tech. He just said... 'More control needed. Try again tomorrow.'"
Anger, hot and sudden, cut through Leo's fog. Protect Mia. The spark flared. He pushed himself up, swaying. He took a shaky step towards the door. He had to... do something. Stop them.
"Leo, no!" Mia jumped up, grabbing his arm. "You can't! You're too weak! Vance will lock you up for good!" She pulled him back, gently but firmly. "Sit. Please."
Leo sagged back onto his cot. The anger faded, leaving the cold fog, heavier than ever. He was useless. Broken. He couldn't protect her. ⌈ SANITY: 2% ⌋ mocked him.
Mia knelt beside him. "We need a plan, Leo. Not fighting. Not yet. A smart plan."
***
That night, Leo couldn't sleep. The fog felt suffocating. He listened to Mia breathe. Steady. Stronger than him now. Protect Mia. But how?
A sound cut through the quiet. Not outside. Inside his head. Faint. Like a whisper, but not words. A feeling. Cold. Sharp. Watching.
He sat up, heart pounding. The ghost trails flickered wildly for a second. ⌈ SANITY: 2% ⌋ The number pulsed. Was it breaking? Was the beast waking up?
The feeling faded. But the sense of being watched stayed.
***
Morning came. Mia got ready for Research. She looked scared but determined. "I'll be careful," she promised Leo. "I won't let them push too hard."
Leo just nodded. He felt cold. The watched feeling was back.
Mia left with the guard.
Leo sat alone. The fog pressed in. The silence screamed. He looked at his trembling hands. Useless hands. He closed his eyes. Think. Plan. For Mia.
But thinking was hard. Thoughts moved slow, like stones in mud. *Power... light... Vance wants it... Agents outside... danger... protect Mia... how?
The watched feeling grew stronger. Ice on his skin. He opened his eyes.
Nothing in the hut. Just the bare walls. The empty cot. The locked door.
Then... a flicker. On the wall opposite. Like a shadow, but wrong. Too sharp. Too still. It wasn't on the wall. It was in the air. A patch of deeper darkness. Shaped... almost like a person.
Leo froze. His breath caught. ⌈ OBSERVE: FAILED - TARGET NOT FULLY MANIFESTED ⌋
The shadow-figure didn't move. But Leo felt its empty eyes on him. Cold. Hungry. Like the Agent in the white room.
System.
The shadow flickered. Vanished.
The watched feeling vanished with it. But the cold fear stayed. They were here. Inside Bastion. Watching. Waiting.
***
Mia came back early. Her face was tight with fear. "Leo! Something's wrong at Research! The machines... they went crazy! Screaming alarms! Vance pulled everyone out! Sealed the building! He looked... scared!"
Leo grabbed her arm. "Agents," he rasped, the word thick. "Inside. Watching."
Mia's eyes went wide. "Inside? How?"
Before Leo could answer, alarms blared outside. Not the medical beeps. Big, loud, wailing alarms. The kind that meant attack.
Brennan slammed the hut door open, his face grim. "Get down! Now! Both of you! Under the cots!"
"What's happening?" Mia cried, pulling Leo to the floor.
"Swarm!" Brennan yelled, already turning to leave. "Drones! Hundreds of them! Small. Fast. Like metal insects! Boring through the shield in weak spots! They're inside!"
He ran out, locking the door behind him. The wailing alarms filled the air. Outside, shouts. Laser fire. Screams.
Leo and Mia huddled under Leo's cot. The ground vibrated with explosions. The air smelled like ozone and burning metal.
"They found us," Mia whispered, trembling. "The Agents sent the drones."
Leo listened. His broken mind, useless for editing, was strangely clear now. Clear with fear. He could hear the battle. The drones were fast. Hard to hit. They zipped through the air. Laser fire missed. People yelled directions. Panic.
Protect Mia. The spark flared bright. Not with power. With thought. The drones. Fast. Small. Hard to see. Hard to hit. Like...
Like the rats. The Void Scavengers on the first day. The big man hit them with a pipe. Slow weapon. Worked.
"Brennan!" Leo croaked, hoping the sergeant was near the door. "Pipes! Nets! Slow weapons! Not lasers!"
Silence for a second. Then Brennan's voice, muffled through the door. "What?!"
"Pipes! Nets! Like... big bugs!" Leo yelled, his voice rough. "Lasers too fast! Miss!"
More silence. Then Brennan shouting orders further away. "GRAB THE PHYSICAL STUFF! PIPES! CLUBS! NET GUNS! FORGET THE LASERS ON THE SMALL ONES! THEY'RE TOO QUICK!"
The sounds of battle changed. Less sizzling lasers. More thuds and clangs and shouts of "GOT ONE!" and "NET IT!"
It was working. A little.
But the drones kept coming. The sounds of fighting got closer to the hut. Laser fire hit the outer wall. ZZZT! The metal sizzled.
Mia gasped. "They're coming here!"
Leo pushed her further back under the cot. He looked around wildly. No weapon. Nothing. Just his broken self. ⌈ SANITY: 2% ⌋ Useless.
A high-pitched whine sounded right outside the door. A drill? Metal screeched. The lock glowed red-hot.
"They're cutting in!" Mia screamed.
The door burst open! Not kicked. Cut apart by tiny, buzzing saws on three small, floating drones. They looked like metal beetles, glowing red eyes scanning the hut. They zipped inside, whirring loudly.
⌈ OBSERVE: SEEKER DRONE (TIER-1) - HP: 15/15 ⌋- Recon/breach unit. Low damage, high speed.
They ignored Leo under the cot. Their red eyes locked onto Mia.
"TARGET CONFIRMED: MIA CHEN. ANOMALY. SUBDUE," a flat, electronic voice chirped from one drone.
They shot towards Mia!
"NO!" Leo lunged out from under the cot, throwing himself in front of her. A drone slammed into his chest. It felt like a hammer blow. ⌈ HP: 88/110 ⌋ He gasped, wind knocked out.
"LEO!" Mia screamed. She scrambled out from under the cot. White light flared from her hands! Not a big blast. A bright pulse, like a flashbang.
⌈ WHITE LIGHT PULSE! ⌋
The light filled the small hut. The drones shrieked electronically. Their red eyes flickered out. They wobbled in the air, stunned, circuits fried by the burst of pure energy. They crashed to the floor, sparking.
Mia stared at her hands, panting. The light faded. "I... I did it!"
Leo pushed himself up, wheezing. He saw the sparking drones. Mia's light worked! But the door was open. More buzzing sounds came from outside. More drones coming.
"Close door!" Leo gasped, pointing.
Mia ran to the shattered door. She tried to pull the broken pieces shut. Too heavy. Too broken.
Shadows filled the doorway. Not drones this time.
Two figures. Tall. Smooth grey suits. Empty black eyes. System Agents.
⌈ SYSTEM AGENT (ENFORCER) - LVL ?? - THREAT: EXTREME ⌋
They stepped into the hut. Cold air washed over Leo and Mia. The lead Agent raised its empty hand. Leo felt the terrible mind-squeeze pressure start to build.
"ANOMALIES LOCATED," it stated flatly. "CONTAIN."
Mia backed up, raising her hands. White light flickered around them, weak. She was tired. Scared. "Stay back!"
The Agent ignored her. Its black eyes fixed on Leo. The pressure intensified. ⌈ SANITY: 2% ⌋ Leo felt the fragile ice of his mind start to crack. Images flashed – the Fracture screaming, Silvana's violet eyes, falling rocks. He clutched his head. *
No! Not now!
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Mia screamed. She threw her hands forward. A beam of bright white light shot out, hitting the Agent square in the chest!
The Agent stumbled back a step! Its smooth grey suit flickered. ⌈ SYSTEM INTEGRITY COMPROMISED! ⌋ flashed briefly. The mind-squeeze pressure vanished.
But the Agent wasn't hurt. Just annoyed. It raised its hand again, aiming at Mia. The other Agent moved to flank her.
Leo saw it. Mia was strong. Her light hurt them. But she was one. Against two. And she was tired. He was broken. Useless. Protect Mia. How?
His gaze fell on the sparking Seeker Drones on the floor. Their little saws were still spinning weakly. ⌈ OBSERVE: DAMAGED SEEKER DRONE - CIRCUITS FRIED. SAW BLADES ACTIVE (UNCONTROLLED) ⌋
An idea. A stupid, desperate idea. No [Reality Editor]. Just... physics. And luck.
Leo lunged, not at the Agents, but towards the closest sparking drone. He grabbed its hot metal body, ignoring the burn on his palm. ⌈ HP: 80/110 ⌋ He spun, using all his weak strength, and threw the buzzing, sparking drone straight at the Agent threatening Mia!
The Agent saw it coming. It started to move. But Mia saw Leo's move. She didn't blast the Agent. She blasted the drone Leo threw!
⌈ WHITE LIGHT BLAST! ⌋
Her light hit the spinning drone mid-air. It didn't destroy it. It *supercharged* it! The drone exploded in a shower of white-hot sparks and spinning, red-hot saw blades!
The blast hit the Agent full in the face! It shrieked, a sound of tearing metal. Its head snapped back. ⌈ CRITICAL DAMAGE! SYSTEM AGENT DISABLED! ⌋ It crashed to the floor, twitching, its head a mess of sparking wires.
The other Agent paused, surprised. Its black eyes flicked from its fallen partner to Leo, then to Mia.
"NOW, MIA!" Leo yelled, pointing at the second Agent.
Mia didn't hesitate. She gathered the last of her strength. White light blazed from her hands, brighter than before! A solid beam of pure energy slammed into the second Agent!
⌈ WHITE LIGHT BEAM! ⌋
The Agent staggered, its suit flickering wildly. It raised its hand, trying to fight the light, but Mia pushed harder! The light intensified! With a final burst, the Agent was thrown backwards out of the hut, crashing into the wall outside! ⌈ SYSTEM AGENT NEUTRALIZED! ⌋
Silence fell in the hut. Mia slumped against the wall, breathing hard, the light fading from her hands. Leo leaned against the cot, his chest heaving. Two Agents down. By teamwork. Not by breaking reality. By being smart. By using what they had.
Boots pounded outside. Sergeant Brennan skidded to the shattered doorway, rifle ready. He saw the disabled Agent inside, the wrecked drone, the second Agent down outside. He saw Mia exhausted. Leo leaning, pale but alive.
"What in the hell...?" Brennan breathed, lowering his rifle slightly.
"We... handled it," Mia panted, giving Leo a weak, proud smile.
Brennan looked from the Agents to Leo and Mia. His expression changed. The suspicion was gone. Replaced by something else. Respect? Maybe. "Vance is gonna have kittens," he muttered. Then he raised his voice. "MEDIC! OVER HERE! NOW!"
As medics rushed in, Brennan knelt beside the disabled Agent inside the hut. He poked it with his rifle barrel. It sparked. Dead. He looked at its head, a mess of wires. Then he saw something. Half-buried in the sparking mess. A small, familiar shape. Black. Jagged.
He carefully reached in with a gloved hand and pulled it out. He wiped the grime off.
It was the ⌈ DATA FRAGMENT ⌋. Slightly scorched. But whole. Glowing faintly with a deep purple light.
Brennan stared at it. Then he looked quickly at Leo and Mia, busy with the medics. He slipped the fragment into his pocket, his face unreadable.
The fragment was back. Found in the wreckage of a System Agent. What did it mean? Brennan didn't know. But he knew one thing: Vance couldn't get it. Not yet.
The attack was over. The drones were destroyed. The Agents were down. But the quiet was gone. The storm had hit. Leo and Mia had survived it. Together. But the cost was high. And the fragment... it was back in play. Brennan touched the cool crystal in his pocket. The game had just changed again.
---