Thick plumes of hot steam billowing from a ruptured coolant pipe formed a white curtain that was nearly impossible to see through. Inside the violently vibrating maintenance corridor, the air grew more oppressive by the second, its temperature rising drastically as the thermal activity of the quantum reactor at the facility's base intensified, preparing to explode. Kael pressed his back against the cold metal wall, struggling to steady his ragged breathing amid the hiss of steam and the clatter of shrill mechanical claws skittering across the steel floor.
The two remnant-destroyer drones were still moving through the fog, gliding low with red optical sensors scanning every inch of the narrow space. The hum of their electromagnetic motors scraped against the walls, creating a resonance that stabbed at Kael's eardrums. He knew staying in one place too long would be suicide; with their advanced thermal-scanning capabilities, the units would need only a short time to detect the heat radiating from his human body behind the cable distribution box.
Kael cast a quick glance at the wall panel to his right. Through a gap where the steam had thinned slightly, he spotted an emergency maintenance door marked with a yellow line running across it—a technical evacuation route leading outside the central archive tower complex. The problem was that the door was mechanically locked by the central security system, and its manual release button was directly across the corridor, in an open area currently being swept by the attacking drone's optical sensors.
*Time keeps ticking,* Kael thought, glancing at the digital countdown on the wall, which had now reached the final eight minutes.
He had to create a distraction to draw the attention of both killing machines. Slowly and with extreme care, Kael reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a damaged optical crystal he'd picked up earlier from the underground archive. The crystal still held a small residual electrical charge at low voltage within its core.
Without a sound, he threw it far into the opposite corner of the corridor from where he was hiding.
*Clank!*
The crystal striking the metal wall rang sharply through the corridor's silence. Instantly, both remnant-destroyer drones spun in unison toward the source of the sound. Their red optical sensors glowed brighter, and within seconds, a barrage of high-energy plasma fire rained down on the corner, melting the floor and producing blinding sparks.
Taking advantage of the brief moment when the hunters' attention was concentrated on the decoy, Kael leaped out of his hiding place. He sprinted through the steam, closing the distance to the opposite wall and slamming his body down in front of the emergency control panel for the evacuation door.
Without wasting a moment, Kael tore off the panel's plastic cover with the small tactical knife at his waist, then manually connected the exposed circuit wires inside to trigger a short-circuit bypass that forced the mechanical lock open.
*"Warning: Unauthorized manual access detected,"* the facility's security system droned loudly through the emergency speakers.
At the same time, one of the drones realized the trick. It whipped around, aiming the muzzle of its plasma weapon directly at Kael's back as he worked to join the wires.
*Zzzzt!*
The plasma beam hissed past, scorching the edge of Kael's coat hood and burning a deep hole in the steel wall beside his head. Kael ignored the searing heat scorching the skin of his neck; he kept twisting and pressing the wires together until a sharp mechanical click rang out.
*Click!*
The indicator light above the emergency door abruptly changed from glowing red to bright green. The evacuation door's steel plate slid open roughly, releasing a gust of cold air from outside the facility.
Without a second thought, Kael threw himself into the dark evacuation tunnel beyond the door just as the second drone fired a follow-up shot that struck the doorframe, scattering hot metal fragments through the air. Kael pulled the emergency closure lever from inside, slammed the steel door shut, and permanently locked it from the enemy's reach.
He gasped for breath inside the steep evacuation tunnel, sliding down onto the floor while clutching the arm splashed by searing plasma. The pain pulsed violently, but he could still move his fingers. At the end of the tunnel, natural white light from the sky over Zona Kosong seemed to welcome him back—a desperate exit carrying him away from the reactor's blast center, which was now counting down the final seconds before its destruction.
With the last of his strength, Kael crawled forward through the tunnel, fleeing the shadows of death toward the next chapter of his seemingly endless escape.