The maintenance corridor was colder than the vault room.
Not physically.In the air.In the vibration.
As if the facility itself held its breath.
Alex supported Kayden's weight, guiding him through scattered pipes and abandoned equipment.Phineas darted ahead, flashlight trembling in his hand.
Behind them—
BOOOOOOM—
The vault door shuddered.
Dust drifted through the air like shaken snow.
Kayden flinched violently.
"It's awake—Alex, it's awake—Theta-seventeen is—"
APEX finished for him:
"Active.Locating Operator signature."
Alex tightened his grip.
"Then we keep moving."
Phineas pointed frantically ahead.
"Look—another turn—maybe it leads to an elevator—maybe to a broom closet—maybe to a giant hole where we die—LET'S FIND OUT!"
Kayden tried to laugh but only managed a broken breath.
The floor vibrated.
A slow, rhythmic tremor.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
BOOM.
A pause.
BOOM.
Alex felt it through his boots.
"Is that it… walking?"
APEX answered:
"Incorrect.It does not walk."
Kayden whispered:
"Then what—"
SCRAAAAAAAAAPE—
Metal tore somewhere behind them.A sound like claws dragging across a thousand nails.Like something sliding its body through spaces too small for it.
Kayden's pulse spiked.
"It's following our resonance—following me—"
Alex pulled him faster.
"I won't let it touch you."
But the tremor grew louder.
Phineas spun around—
—and froze.
"Guys," he whispered.
Alex looked.
Kayden looked.
APEX pulsed red warnings.
Behind them—far down the corridor—the shadows shifted.
Something massive scraped around the corner.Slow.Purposeful.
Theta-seventeen.
Not fully visible—just a silhouette of limbs,a twisted frame,something roughly human-shaped but wrong.
Kayden's breath fractured.
"Oh god—APEX—APEX what do I do—"
APEX's tone cracked with static:
"Operator—do not engage—danger level CRITICAL—Theta-seventeen is hostile—memory structure collapsed—motivations unknown—"
Alex stepped in front of Kayden.
"You're not getting near him."
Phineas lifted the flashlight like it was a holy relic.
"DON'T COME CLOSER YOU ELDRITCH LEGO SET—"
Theta-seventeen did not slow.
It dragged a claw across the wall,carving molten streaks into the metal.
And then—
The corridor lights flickered.
Once.Twice.
Kayden's entire body went cold.
"No—no—not now—not HER—"
The lights flickered again.
Then—
They went out.
Pitch black.
APEX whispered:
"Agent attention: confirmed."
Alex cursed under his breath.
"Why NOW—?! We're fighting two monsters—one cosmic, one mechanical—WHY DO THEY SYNC THEIR SCHEDULES—"
Phineas whispered:
"I'm gonna pass out, guys—"
A thin white slit opened in the darkness.
Just like before.
Silent.Precise.Wrong.
Kayden grabbed Alex's shirt, trembling.
"She's here…she's here again."
Alex steadied him.
"It's okay. You told her no once. You can do it again."
Kayden shook his head violently.
"It's not me she's coming for."
A beat.
Then—
Theta-seventeen shrieked.
Not an animal sound.Not a machine.
A resonance echo—inverted, broken,like listening to someone scream underwater.
And the Agent finally stepped through the slit of light.
Cold.Composed.Eyes reflecting the tunnel like polished obsidian.
She looked at Kayden first.
Evaluating.
Then—
she looked past him.
At Theta-seventeen.
Her expression—which was normally blank—changed.
Not emotion.
Recognition.
Alex felt it like a shockwave.
"Wait—she knows that thing?"
APEX answered:
"Correct."
Theta-seventeen scraped the wall again, shuddering.
The Agent stepped forward silently.
The air tightened.
The tunnel lights flickered in surrender.
"Theta-seventeen."She spoke its name like a surgeon identifying a tumor.
Theta-seventeen reacted instantly—jerking backward,shuddering like a malfunctioning puppet.
Kayden gasped.
"It's scared."
Alex blinked at him.
"Scared? That thing—??"
APEX confirmed:
"Theta-seventeen recognizes the Agent.It recalls termination protocols."
Phineas squeaked.
"Wait—she KILLED it before?!?"
SCREEEEE—!
Theta-seventeen shrieked again, backing into the wall.
The Agent raised one hand slowly.
"Containment breach: verified."
Kayden trembled.
He knew what came next.
Alex whispered:
"She's…she's not here for you this time."
Kayden nodded weakly.
"That almost makes it worse."
Theta-seventeen lunged—
Not toward Kayden—but sideways,trying to flee down a side corridor.
The Agent extended her hand fully.
A pulse of white light—soundless but absolute—shot through the air.
Theta-seventeen's body convulsed mid-motion,frozen in a suspended arc.
APEX analyzed in real time:
"Neurological override.Dimensional bind initiated.Target immobilized."
The Agent's voice remained quiet:
"Failure Unit.Unauthorized activation."
Theta-seventeen let out a final distorted cry—a glitching resonance that hit Kayden's nerves like a static shock.
Kayden gripped Alex's hand hard enough to shake.
"It's…it's like a broken version of me…"
The Agent glanced at him.
Just briefly.
"Incorrect."
Kayden blinked.
"It's not?"
The Agent returned her attention to the immobilized anomaly.
"It is a broken version of what you could have become."
Kayden's breath stopped.
The Agent flicked her hand sideways.
CRACK—
Theta-seventeen's body twisted violently—in a flash of white—and vanished.
Not teleported.
Erased.
Gone.
The white slit behind the Agent pulsed once,absorbing the remnants.
The Agent finally turned her gaze back to Kayden.
Alex stepped forward instantly.
"No.No more tests.No more appearances.Leave him alone."
The Agent's eyes didn't move to Alex.They stayed fixed on Kayden.
"You still resist."
Kayden swallowed hard.
"Yeah.I do."
The Agent studied him.
Then—with a tiny flick of light—the slit behind her narrowed.
Just a little.
A concession.
"Good."
And she stepped back into the light.
The slit closed.
The darkness returned.
Phineas collapsed onto the floor.
"I—I need ten minutes. Or a new religion."
Alex exhaled slowly.
"Kayden… are you okay?"
Kayden leaned into him, shaking.
"I think I just watched the Citadel kill something made… because of me."
APEX hummed gently:
"Correction.Because of what came before you."
Kayden breathed out.
Slow.Shaking.
"Then I don't want to become what came before."
Alex tightened his hold.
"Then you won't."
Outside, alarms shifted tone.
SRD wasn't done with them.
But Theta-seventeen was.
And the Agent—
—for now—had shown her hand.