Chapter 10: Countdown to Oblivion

The rhythmic pulse of the core throbbed like a heartbeat—cold, mechanical, and unnervingly precise. Ryo stood at the edge of the towering crystalline structure, the glow reflecting off his face in fractured patterns. The hum in the air resonated deep within his chest, vibrating through his bones. Every second that passed felt like sand slipping through his fingers.

Two hours and forty-three minutes. The override would activate soon.

Aya was already at the nearest terminal, her fingers moving in a blur across the interface. Streams of encrypted data scrolled down the screen as she tried to find a way into the core’s control system. "I can’t believe how deep this thing goes," she muttered. "It’s built to withstand almost anything."

"Almost?" Elena asked, peering over Aya’s shoulder.

"If we hit the right code sequence, we can trigger a shutdown," Aya said, biting her lip. "But there’s no guarantee it’ll work."

Kalem paced along the far side of the room, restless and silent. He had been unnervingly quiet since they entered the core chamber, his gaze flickering between the glowing pillar and the tunnels they had come from—like a man expecting an ambush.

Ryo adjusted the Tear in Time at his side, his mind racing. This was it. They had one chance to shut everything down and prevent the override. But something gnawed at him—a creeping sense that the hardest part hadn’t hit them yet.

"How much time do you need?" Ryo asked Aya, stepping beside her.

Aya shook her head without looking up. "If the encryption keeps throwing this many barriers, at least thirty minutes. Maybe more."

"We don’t have thirty minutes," Elena muttered, glancing toward the entrance. "We’re sitting ducks down here."

Kalem crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. "She’s right. It’s only a matter of time before the system detects we’re in the core. Thorne’s people will come."

Ryo’s hand hovered over his sidearm, a cold weight settling in his chest. "Then we need to buy time."

Elena shot him a wary glance. "You’re not seriously thinking of splitting up again, are you?"

"If they find us before Aya finishes the hack, it’s over," Ryo said, his voice steady. "We need to create a distraction. Keep them focused on the relay stations while Aya works."

Kalem tilted his head, a slow grin spreading across his face. "You’re getting the hang of this, Nakamura."

Elena groaned. "Why do all your plans involve one of us almost getting killed?"

Ryo gave her a small, lopsided grin. "Because the alternative is all of us getting killed."

Aya paused her typing and looked at the team, her expression grim. "If I can access the central node, I can trigger a controlled shutdown. But it’ll need manual input from two locations—here at the core, and from one of the secondary relays in the sector."

"That’s... inconvenient," Elena muttered. "How far is the relay?"

Aya pulled up a sector map on her screen. "It’s about two kilometers from here, near the old transport hub. Someone will need to get there and input the code while I handle things on this end."

"I’ll go," Elena said without hesitation, strapping her gear tighter. "I’ve had enough sitting around. Besides," she added with a glance at Ryo, "you’ve got a habit of getting lost in your own head when things get tense."

Ryo gave her a thin smile. "I’ll pretend that’s a compliment."

"You can pretend all you want," Elena shot back.

Aya’s voice cut through their banter. "You’ll have fifteen minutes, max, from the time you enter the relay station to punch in the code."

"And if the code fails?" Elena asked.

Aya didn’t answer, but her expression said everything.

Elena slung her weapon over her shoulder, casting a quick glance at Kalem. "You coming, or are you just here to watch?"

Kalem gave a lazy shrug but followed her to the door. "You’re lucky I’m curious."

"Yeah, that’s one word for it," Elena muttered as they slipped through the entrance, vanishing into the dark tunnels beyond.

The heavy door hissed shut behind them, and the room fell into uneasy silence.

Ryo turned to Aya. "How risky is this?"

Aya didn’t look up from her terminal. "Risky enough that if they don’t make it, the whole plan falls apart."

Ryo exhaled slowly. No room for failure. No second chances.

Barely ten minutes had passed when the first warning lights flared to life across the control room. Aya’s fingers froze over the terminal as the walls shuddered, alarms blaring in mechanical tones.

"They’re here," she whispered, her face pale.

The entrance door groaned under pressure as something pounded against it—once, twice, and then a deafening blast rocked the chamber. The steel buckled inward, and a cloud of dust filled the air as drones armed with plasma rifles surged into the room.

"Get down!" Ryo shouted, drawing his weapon.

Aya ducked behind a console as Ryo opened fire. Plasma bursts crackled through the air, tearing through wires and shattering control panels. Sparks rained down from above as Ryo dodged between terminals, returning fire with sharp, precise shots.

"We need more time!" Aya shouted from her cover, typing furiously even as debris scattered around her. "I’m almost through the encryption!"

Ryo ducked behind a fallen server, his heart hammering. "No pressure, right?"

Meanwhile, two kilometers away, Elena and Kalem sprinted through the empty streets toward the secondary relay station. The old transport hub loomed ahead, a maze of rusted tracks and abandoned platforms swallowed by weeds and graffiti.

Elena panted as they reached the relay entrance, her breath fogging in the cold night air. "I really hope this is worth it."

Kalem flashed her a grin. "We’re about to find out."

Inside the station, the relay hummed with latent energy, its screens flickering faintly. Elena approached the central terminal, pulling out the code Aya had transmitted to her interface.

"Fifteen minutes," she muttered under her breath. "No screw-ups."

As she typed the sequence, the hum of the relay shifted, growing louder—angrier. The screens began to glitch, flashing between lines of code and distorted images.

Kalem glanced around, his posture tense. "Something’s not right."

"I noticed," Elena growled, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

Suddenly, the screen froze, a red error message flashing across it: "Code Rejected: Unauthorized Input Detected."

Elena’s stomach dropped. "What the hell—"

Back in the core chamber, Aya’s console beeped. "I’ve got it!" she shouted triumphantly. "The shutdown sequence is ready!"

Before Ryo could respond, the door to the relay burst open, and Kalem stepped through, a plasma weapon in hand.

Ryo’s heart stopped. "Kalem?"

The smirk on Kalem’s face was all the confirmation Ryo needed. "You really thought I was on your side?" he sneered. "The Continuum promised me freedom. Real freedom—not your broken version."

Ryo’s grip tightened on his weapon. "What did you do?"

"I locked the relay sequence," Kalem said with a shrug. "Even if you shut down the core, the override will still activate. The system belongs to us now."