Chapter 5: The First Pursuit

Ahead, the corridor branched into multiple paths, each one veiled in shadow. Kiryu hesitated, his mind racing to map out his options. The maintenance pathways were a maze, a web of forgotten routes and unmonitored zones, but they weren’t entirely safe. Rumors spoke of constructs that patrolled these hidden corridors, silent sentinels tasked with eliminating intruders.

Kiryu leaned against the wall, taking a moment to catch his breath. His thoughts turned to Silas’s cryptic warnings. The fragments of truth he had uncovered were tantalizing, but they raised more questions than answers. What was the System’s true purpose? And why had it deemed humanity’s memories a threat?

A faint, rhythmic clicking sound broke his reverie. His pulse quickened as the sound grew louder, accompanied by the soft whir of servomotors. He stepped back, his gaze darting to the nearest corridor. The sound was unmistakable—a construct was closing in.

Kiryu bolted down the leftmost path, his footsteps pounding against the floor. The tunnel stretched on endlessly, its walls flickering with faint streams of corrupted code. Behind him, the clicking grew louder, more insistent. He didn’t dare look back.

The corridor opened into a wide chamber, its ceiling lined with tangled conduits and exposed wiring. In the center, a terminal flickered erratically, casting sporadic light across the room. Kiryu skidded to a halt, his eyes scanning for an exit. There was none. The chamber was a dead end.

His heart sank as the construct emerged from the tunnel, its silhouette framed by the faint glow of the flickering terminal. It was humanoid in shape, but its movements were too precise, too mechanical. Its blank face tilted slightly as if assessing him, and its hands extended, revealing sharp, blade-like appendages.

Kiryu’s mind raced. He couldn’t fight the construct directly; it was faster, stronger, and relentless. His only chance was to outthink it. He glanced at the terminal, a desperate idea forming in his mind.

He sprinted toward the console, his fingers flying over the interface. The screen displayed a chaotic array of commands, its system riddled with errors. Kiryu exploited the instability, inputting a sequence that would overload the room’s power grid. The construct advanced, its blade-arms gleaming in the flickering light.

“Come on, come on,” Kiryu muttered, his fingers trembling as he completed the override. The terminal’s hum grew louder, the room vibrating with escalating energy. At the last second, Kiryu dove behind a nearby conduit as the system overloaded.

A blinding flash erupted, followed by a deafening crackle of electricity. The construct convulsed, its frame jerking violently as arcs of energy coursed through its body. It collapsed to the floor, its movements stilled, the glow in its lifeless eyes fading to darkness.

Kiryu didn’t wait to see if the construct would reactivate. He scrambled to his feet, his ears still ringing from the explosion, and bolted back down the corridor. The overload had bought him precious time, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before the System dispatched more enforcers.

As he navigated the tunnels, Kiryu’s mind raced to piece together the fragments of information he had gathered. The System’s actions weren’t random; they were calculated, designed to suppress any hint of dissent. But why? What was it hiding that made defiance so dangerous?

He reached another junction and hesitated, his instincts guiding him toward the path on the right. This corridor was narrower, its walls lined with rows of dormant servers. Kiryu slowed his pace, his breath heavy, and pressed himself against the wall. The servers emitted a faint hum, their lights blinking in rhythmic patterns. It was a small comfort, a sign that he had found a less-traveled route.

The quiet was short-lived. Kiryu’s steps faltered as a low rumble reverberated through the corridor. The servers flickered, their lights dimming before surging back to life. He froze, his senses heightened. The sound wasn’t mechanical; it was something else, something alive.

A shadow moved at the edge of his vision, darting between the servers with unnatural speed. Kiryu turned sharply, his eyes scanning the dimly lit corridor. The construct had been a known threat, but this… this was different.

Before he could react, a sleek, quadrupedal figure emerged from the shadows. Its body was a seamless blend of metal and organic material, its movements unnervingly fluid. The creature’s head tilted as it studied him, its glowing eyes narrowing. Kiryu’s blood ran cold.

The creature lunged.

Kiryu dove to the side, the creature’s claws raking the wall where he had stood moments before. He scrambled to his feet, his heart pounding as he backed away. The creature moved with predatory precision, its every step deliberate and unrelenting.

His mind raced for a solution. The data crystal was his only advantage, but it was useless if he couldn’t access a secure terminal. He needed to buy time, to create a distraction.

Kiryu reached into his pocket and retrieved a small, outdated device—a pulse emitter Silas had given him as a last resort. He activated it, the device emitting a high-pitched whine that grew in intensity. The creature hesitated, its movements faltering as the sound disrupted its sensors.

Seizing the opportunity, Kiryu turned and sprinted down the corridor, the emitter’s whine echoing behind him. He didn’t know how long it would hold the creature at bay, but it was enough to give him a head start.

The corridor opened into another chamber, this one larger and more chaotic. Conduits hung from the ceiling like vines, and streams of corrupted data cascaded across the walls. In the center stood a terminal, its interface flickering erratically. Kiryu’s eyes widened with recognition. This was it—a relay node, a direct connection to Paradoxium’s core systems.

He approached the terminal cautiously, his hands trembling as he accessed the interface. The screen flared to life, displaying a dizzying array of commands. Kiryu inserted the data crystal, its glow merging with the terminal’s chaotic light.

The system resisted, its firewalls reacting violently to the intrusion. Kiryu gritted his teeth, his fingers flying over the controls as he bypassed layer after layer of security. The relay node held the answers he needed, but the System wasn’t going to make it easy.

Behind him, the faint sound of claws scraping against metal sent a shiver down his spine. The creature had recovered.

“Not now,” Kiryu muttered, his focus unwavering as he worked. The terminal displayed a series of decrypted files, their contents flashing across the screen. Images, data logs, fragments of forgotten history—it was all there. But before he could process the information, a warning flashed: System Override Imminent.