The Zenith Highway was the artery that cut straight through the entirety of Sector 01: a perfectly linear vacuum tunnel thirty meters wide, lined with mirrored composite plating that reflected every trace of light with cold, merciless precision. Through it thundered maglev trains at speeds exceeding five hundred kilometers per hour. Long and streamlined like living bullets, they carried far more than cargo. From the industrial zones into Artificial Paradise flowed containers of rare-earth elements, cryocapsules filled with elite-grown organs, and most importantly, reservoirs of pure Omni-Energy.
Everything for the gods who never descended below.
The trio pressed themselves against the outer wall of Technical шлюз 404. Wind from the passing trains slammed into them with enough force to steal breath from their lungs. Lyra crouched near the edge, checking the chronometer strapped to her wrist. Her face was tense, lips compressed into a razor-thin line.
"We jump exactly at marker 404," she shouted over the roaring air. "We'll have one and a half seconds while the maintenance gates are open. Miss the timing and we'll turn into molecular dust against the tunnel walls. No bones. No implants. Nothing."
Astra stood slightly behind her, one hand tightly gripping Kai's tactical harness. The boy looked pale, yet his mechanical eye burned with determination. The violet patterns across Astra's skin pulsed faster than usual.
Thanatos was already anticipating the chaos.
"Hold on tight," she said to Kai without taking her eyes off the approaching train. "Thanatos… don't fail me."
Inside her mind came a quiet, satisfied laugh.
"I never fail those who feed me, little Spark."
The massive armored doors of the шлюз slowly split apart with a deep hydraulic groan. A blast of overheated air burst through the opening, carrying the scent of ozone, burning metal, and static electricity.
The maglev was coming.
Its sleek nose sliced through the vacuum, leaving behind a perfectly shaped pocket of displaced air.
Astra stepped into the void first.
She did not simply jump.
She bent gravity itself around the three of them.
A cocoon of violet energy ignited in the air, dense and almost tangible, like a second layer of skin. For a single instant, the world flipped sideways. Gravity folded, obeying her will.
Instead of being hurled backward, they were sucked directly into the air pocket behind the train. Five hundred kilometers per hour struck them like a solid wall, but the cocoon softened the impact, transforming it into a violent yet controlled slam.
Their collision with the roof of the maglev exploded like thunder.
Metal buckled beneath them with a deep vibrating BOOM.
Astra landed on one knee, still gripping Kai with one arm while using the other to keep Lyra from being torn away by the wind. Her ears rang. Air screamed around them, trying to rip them from the train, but the violet field held firm.
"We're on board!" Kai shouted, rolling onto his back and immediately driving a hacking interface spike into the train's outer plating. His fingers danced across a virtual panel while the implants beneath his skin flashed blue. "Trying to suppress the weight sensors… Damn it! They've got active defenses! Guardian-Elite protocol!"
His expression darkened.
"They know we're up here!"
Hidden compartments along the roof opened with quiet mechanical clicks.
Security drones.
Four of them.
"Wasps."
Small, predatory machines built from matte-black composite armor, armed with twin-mounted machine guns already rotating toward the intruders. The air filled with the low hum of servomotors.
The first drone fired a short burst.
Bullets mixed with high-voltage discharges ripped across the rooftop half a meter from Lyra's boots. Sparks exploded in all directions like fireworks inside a steel coffin.
Lyra reacted instantly.
She raised the Whirlwind-M rifle and fired three precise shots.
Two rounds struck the nearest Wasp directly, tearing it apart in a burst of shattered plating and burning circuitry. The wreckage vanished into the darkness of the vacuum tunnel.
"They're calling reinforcements!" she yelled while reloading on the move. "Astra! Your turn!"
Astra rose to her full height.
Wind tore through her hair. The violet glow in her eyes became nearly blinding. Inside her, Thanatos strained against the edges of her mind, starving and ecstatic.
"Feed me," he whispered. "These little machines are only dust… but their energy…"
A low laugh echoed in her skull.
"Delicious."
She extended her hand.
A violet pulse erupted from her fingertips, twisting through the air before slamming into the remaining Wasps. The drones froze for a fraction of a second.
Then their bodies began melting from the inside out.
It looked as though miniature suns had ignited within their cores. Molten metal dripped across the rooftop as the ruined drones collapsed in smoking heaps.
Kai never looked away from the interface.
"Sensors suppressed!" he shouted. "But we've got maybe four minutes until the next station. Full inspection checkpoint there. We need inside the train before they activate total isolation protocol!"
Lyra crawled closer, gripping the roof rails against the storm of wind.
"Astra…" she said carefully. "Are you okay?"
Astra nodded.
But in her glowing eyes burned the very hunger she had tried so desperately to deny.
"I'm fine," she answered quietly. "And we're not just breaking into Paradise anymore."
The violet aura around her flickered like living fire.
"We're bringing its end with us."
The train continued racing through the endless darkness of the vacuum tunnel.
Ahead, beyond thousands of tons of metal and glass, Artificial Paradise shimmered like a golden mirage: the city of gods.
And behind them, deep within the Sleeping Sector, the countdown to the Harvest continued ticking without mercy.
Dust and sparks.
That was how new gods were born.
And how they fell.