Breaking Point

The plan was madness.

Infiltrate the Cortex Tower. Shut down the Core. Disable the Kill Code.

A direct assault was suicide—the tower was a fortress, guarded by Sentinels, drones, and automated defenses. But Veyna knew there was always a way in.

Kieran pulled up a holographic blueprint of the tower, its intricate layers forming before them. He pointed to a section deep underground.

> "The Core isn’t in the tower itself. It’s beneath it—buried under layers of reinforced plating. But there’s a way through."

A maintenance tunnel.

Veyna narrowed her eyes. "There’s no way it’s unguarded."

Kieran smirked. "Of course not. But it’s not impossible."

A City Ready to Burn

Ryze leaned over the blueprint, her fingers tracing the routes. "The moment we breach the lower levels, the Cortex will know."

> "Then we don’t give them time to react," Veyna said.

The Scrap Runners exchanged glances. Some nodded. Others looked unsure.

> "We’re talking about the most secure facility in Cyropolis," one of them muttered. "We don’t have the firepower for this."

Veyna exhaled. "We don’t need firepower. We need chaos."

She turned to Ryze. "You have contacts in the Undercity, right? Black market dealers, ex-soldiers—people who have been waiting for a chance to strike back?"

Ryze’s cybernetic eyes flickered. Then, slowly, she grinned.

> "You want to start a riot."

Veyna nodded. "If we can get the city to rise up, the Cortex will be too busy dealing with the streets to protect the tower."

Kieran laughed, shaking his head. "You’re insane."

Ryze’s grin widened. "I like it."

Igniting the Spark

The plan took shape.

Ryze would send word to the Undercity factions—smugglers, rogue engineers, even old revolutionaries who had been crushed by the Cortex years ago. They would spread the message:

> "The city is dying. If we don’t fight now, we die with it."

At the same time, Kieran and the Scrap Runners would infiltrate the maintenance tunnels, using the riot as cover.

Veyna felt the weight of it settling on her shoulders.

Forty-two minutes. That was all they had.

Ryze stood, cracking her knuckles. "Let’s light the match."

—

[00:41:50] UNTIL CORE FAILURE.