Maya didn't waste a second.
The moment the blackout lifted, she dragged Jack's arm across her shoulder and pulled him upright. His legs were unsteady, trembling from the surge that still echoed beneath his skin like dying thunder.
"Stay with me," she whispered.
Jack nodded weakly.
His eyes—still mostly brown, thank god—darted across the room in panic.
Rafael was already at the door, gun raised.
"Hallway is clear," he said. "For now."
"For now" meant nothing when Mantis was involved.
Maya tightened her grip on Jack.
He winced in pain from his ribs, but didn't complain.
"Rafael," she said quietly, "get ahead and watch the corners."
Rafael nodded and slipped into the corridor with the efficiency of someone who'd spent years keeping others alive.
Maya turned Jack's face toward hers.
"Jack," she said softly, "look at me."
He did.
His eyes were tired.
Afraid.
Fighting something inside him that shouldn't exist.
"I won't let her near you," Maya said.
His voice cracked. "I know."
No.
He didn't know.
Not truly.
But he would.
The Walk to Reinforced Wing C
The reinforced wing—Wing C—was the safest place in Astra. Steel plating, internal dampeners, blackout-resistant power grids, and enough lock protocols to trap even a phantom.
It wasn't meant to hold a person.
It was meant to hold a weapon.
Jack stumbled as they walked, gripping Maya's arm harder than he meant to. Heat radiated from his skin.
The Alpha surge wasn't over.
Maya felt her chest tighten.
"Slow breaths," she murmured.
He tried.
Failed.
Tried again.
"I can feel it," he whispered. "Under my skin. Like electricity. Like something—someone—pulling strings."
Maya's jaw clenched.
"Don't listen to it."
"It's not a voice," he said. "It's an instinct."
Maya wanted to break the world for doing this to him.
They turned a corner.
Two Astra security officers stood guard outside the reinforced wing's entry lock.
"Agent Rios," one said. "Director Ward ordered full internal lockdown in this section. We'll need confirmation of your escort."
"She's with me," Rafael said, showing his badge.
"And Jack Williams is under protective hold. He enters Wing C under my authority."
The guards didn't argue.
Only stepped aside.
Maya tapped her badge.
The steel door unlocked with a heavy clunk.
As it slid open, Jack winced again.
"What is it?" Maya asked.
He exhaled shakily. "Pressure. Same as earlier."
Another surge.
Rafael cursed under his breath. "This is happening too fast."
"Move," Maya said.
They guided Jack inside the reinforced wing.
The door slammed shut behind them with metallic finality.
The wing was cold.
Sterile.
Walls lined with shock-dampening panels.
Reinforced doors.
Emergency supplies.
A central medical unit.
It felt less like a safe room and more like a cage.
Jack swallowed hard.
"I hate this place."
"I know," Maya whispered.
"But you're safe here."
He looked up at her.
"Am I?"
Maya nodded.
"Because I'm here."
His breathing steadied—just a little.
Rafael stood near the control panel, checking the locks.
"We should contact Ward," he said. "If Mantis breached the west grid, she's still inside Astra."
Maya nodded. "Do it."
Rafael tapped the console.
Static.
A hollow, chilling silence.
"…Maya?" Rafael whispered.
Maya froze. "Try a different channel."
Static again.
Rafael's face drained of color.
"She jammed communications."
Maya didn't move.
Her heart slowed.
Her fingers tightened around Jack's arm.
"That means she's close," she said quietly.
Jack's breathing quickened.
"Maya—"
She put a hand to his cheek, forcing him to meet her eyes.
"Hey. Look at me. Don't think. Stay focused. Stay with me."
He nodded shakily.
Then a sound echoed through the ventilation shaft.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap…
Maya went ice-cold.
Rafael lifted his weapon. "South vent."
Maya positioned herself between Jack and the sound, knife held low and ready.
"Jack," she whispered without looking back, "get behind me."
He obeyed.
The tapping continued.
Slow.
Mocking.
Echoing down the metal vents like a predator's laugh.
Rafael stepped closer to the vent, aiming upward.
"Maya," he said.
She answered with a whisper barely audible.
"I know."
A shadow moved behind the vents.
Too smooth.
Too fast.
Maya's breath tightened in her chest.
She knew that movement.
The world's deadliest huntress.
Mantis.
Everything went still.
Even the air.
Rafael didn't dare breathe.
Maya didn't blink.
Jack pressed against the wall, gripping his hair, trembling as the surge flared inside him.
Then—
A soft, distorted voice echoed through the vents.
"Knock, knock…"
Maya stiffened.
Jack's blood ran cold.
Rafael cursed. "She's playing."
Maya whispered, "She always plays."
Another metallic knock from the vent.
Then a whisper, sweet as poison:
"Alpha… let me in."
Jack gasped.
Maya stepped forward in front of him, knife raised.
"Come down here," she snarled. "I dare you."
A soft laugh.
Then—
Nothing.
Silence swallowed the room.
Rafael scanned every corner. "She could be anywhere. She could drop in at any angle."
Maya nodded.
She kept her body angled between Jack and the vents.
Jack whispered, "Maya… the pressure in my head—"
She spun toward him instantly.
"Stay with me," she said.
"This surge—something's waking up."
"Don't let it," she said harshly.
He shook his head. "I can't—"
"Yes," she said, gripping his jaw. "You can."
"Maya—"
And then the vent above them exploded open.
The Attack
A blur dropped from the ceiling.
Rafael shouted, "MAYA!"
Maya reacted with pure instinct—
shoving Jack aside,
rolling across the floor,
knife slicing the air where the figure landed.
But it wasn't Mantis.
It was a humanoid shape—metallic, sleek, with glowing blue joints.
A Helix drone.
A prototype.
Jack saw it and his heart seized.
"We saw those in the lab footage," he whispered. "The Gamma prototypes…"
Rafael fired three rounds.
All ricocheted.
Maya dove under its swinging arm and slashed upward.
Her blade sparked uselessly off its armor.
"Rafael! It's reinforced!" she yelled.
"No shit!" he shouted, firing again.
The drone turned—
—and lunged at Jack.
Jack stumbled backward, heart exploding in his chest.
"MAYA!"
She sprinted—
but the drone moved faster.
"MANTIS IS CONTROLLING IT!" Rafael yelled.
The drone pinned Jack against the wall with terrifying strength.
Jack gasped as its cold metal face leaned toward him, scanning him.
Maya reached them—
—and stabbed her knife into the drone's neck joint.
Sparks flew.
The drone jerked.
Then slammed Maya across the room.
She crashed into the reinforced wall with a cry.
"MAYA!" Jack screamed.
Rafael fired again, yelling, "MOVE, JACK!"
But Jack couldn't move.
Couldn't think.
The drone's cold hand wrapped around his throat.
He choked.
"M-Maya—!"
Maya forced herself up, blood dripping from her lip.
She ran—
But Jack's eyes suddenly widened.
His heartbeat spiked.
His vision tunneled.
And something inside him snapped.
His body moved.
Not like Jack.
Not like Alpha.
Like something new.
Something between.
He grabbed the drone's wrist —
and crushed it.
Metal screamed.
The drone jerked.
Rafael stared. "Holy—Jack?!"
Jack didn't hear him.
He slammed the drone into the steel wall with enough force to dent it.
Maya froze.
She had never seen strength like this.
Not even from enhanced soldiers.
"Jack," she whispered urgently, "Jack, stop—"
But he wasn't in control.
Not fully.
His eyes flicked silver again.
Brighter.
Sharper.
Predatory.
Maya swallowed.
No.
Not now.
Not like this.
She sprinted toward him and grabbed his face with both hands.
"JACK!" she shouted.
His eyes flickered wildly.
"Look at me! LOOK AT ME!"
The silver hesitated.
"Maya…" he gasped, voice foreign and broken. "Help me—"
The drone lunged behind him.
Maya moved faster.
She shoved Jack aside—
—and the drone's arm slashed across her abdomen.
She choked in pain, dropping to her knees.
"MAYA!" Jack screamed.
He turned—
And the surge exploded fully now.
He moved faster than the drone.
Faster than Maya.
He ripped its head off with his bare hands.
The metallic skull hit the floor with a hollow clang.
The drone collapsed.
Silence filled the room.
Jack stood there.
Chest heaving.
Hands shaking.
Eyes glowing faintly.
"Maya…" he whispered. "I didn't—didn't mean to—"
But Maya wasn't looking at the drone.
She was looking at him.
Her breath caught.
His hands dripped with machine oil and sparks.
His eyes were a storm of silver and brown.
His posture—half defensive, half animal—looked nothing like the boy she knew.
He looked—
Awake.
Jack stared at his trembling hands.
"What's happening to me…?"
Maya stepped forward despite the pain in her stomach.
"You saved me."
"I hurt the drone—"
"You saved me," she repeated, firmer.
He looked at her, eyes still swirling with fear and something darker.
"I'm losing control, Maya."
Her voice softened.
"You're fighting it."
He shook his head.
"I don't know if I can."
Maya touched his cheek gently despite her bleeding side.
"Yes," she whispered. "You can."
He leaned into her touch.
The silver faded.
Brown returned.
He collapsed into her arms.
Rafael exhaled shakily. "We need a med team. Now."
"I know," Maya whispered.
She held Jack close, blood dripping down her own side.
But she didn't care.
Not about the wound.
Not about the drone.
Not about Mantis's threat.
She only cared that Jack was still breathing.
Still fighting.
Still here.
"Maya…" Jack whispered weakly.
"Yes?"
"Don't leave."
Her heart clenched.
She brushed a shaking hand through his hair.
"I won't," she whispered back.
Outside Wing C, hidden in the vents—
green eyes blinked.
Watching.
Smiling.
Mantis whispered:
"Oh, Maya… you're making this so much more fun."