The Apex Sentinel groaned, a deep, metallic shriek that vibrated through the soles of Leo’s boots. Somewhere below deck, Brick’s "crowd control" had involved blowing the engine’s cooling pumps. The ship was beginning to list to the starboard side, and cold Atlantic seawater was already foaming at the edges of the cargo hold.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQdi7qFEkf
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxV0MHxg0mz
None of that mattered to Maya.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlysVXxTx9
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVyo9nCoVW
She moved with a terrifying, liquid grace. The pulse-staff hissed through the air, leaving trails of ionized blue light. Leo dove behind a heavy stack of pallets, the wood splintering into toothpicks as the staff’s energy discharge vaporized anything it touched.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsQBELMfwT
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLdCchby2S
"Maya, stop!" Leo yelled, his back against a steel pillar. "It’s me! It’s Leo! Remember Frankfurt? Remember the apartment on 4th Street?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCSMfSkcrx
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbBwqyboKP
"Data irrelevant," the mechanical voice replied.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOZBN1e6yU
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNURnTRrBo
She vaulted over the pallets, landing silently. She swung the staff in a wide arc. Leo parried with the barrel of his rifle—a desperate move. The energy surge cooked the electronics in his weapon instantly, melting the trigger assembly. He tossed the dead weight aside and drew his combat knife.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalW8obEqHz
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIBBXId9LO
"Thorne! I need an opening!" Leo shouted.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuSDyo0Ywj
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1rXDJSnP5
Thorne was busy holding off a squad of Vipers at the far end of the hold. "You’re on your own, Kid! Use your head or lose it!"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFl45GXDRYp
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡticNfRRO9J
Maya lunged. Leo didn't try to outrun her; he knew he couldn't. Instead, he waited until the very last millisecond, feeling the heat of the staff on his skin, and dropped to the deck. He kicked out, sweeping her feet.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96SludlPwU
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPy9Y3ULVL
In her machine-perfect world, no one fought like this. No one fought dirty. Her internal stabilizers compensated, but the sudden shift in gravity caused her to stumble against a shipping crate—a crate marked with the same childhood sticker Leo had seen a thousand times. A small, faded yellow sun. It was her old trunk, repurposed as a cargo bin by the Circle.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvGmWOuNhP
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCWi5uq8B7
Leo saw her pause. It was barely a flicker—a microsecond where her silver eyes dimmed.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbZpfzxeXp
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FlC5uhUg3
"Maya, look at the box," Leo pleaded, scrambling to his feet, ignoring the blood trickling from a cut on his forehead. "You hid your diary in the false bottom of that thing for three years. I'm the only one who knew. I never told Mom. I promised."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0FWFaHJuO
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu07OXM31oV
Maya’s head tilted. The silver light in her eyes began to strobe. “I... promised...” she echoed. Her voice wasn't digital anymore. It was small. Fragile.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8B84lML2Vg
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgJ292vKNQ
"Target... corrupted," a voice boomed over the ship's intercom. It was cold, refined, and ancient. The Director. "Protocol 9-Alpha. Reset the Revenant. Execute the intruder."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvMBpMCiMA
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dE60jICtQ
Maya screamed—a sound of pure electronic agony. She clutched her head, her pulse-staff clattering to the deck. The blue veins beneath her skin turned a violent, angry red.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhg7zBJQ8Q
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAYxc0UMGM
"She's fighting the chip!" Vance’s voice crackled over Leo's ear-piece. "Leo, her neural lace is overloading! If she doesn't finish the objective, the Director is going to fry her brain to keep her from being captured!"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8w7wuWT55
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXV58Xzp6H
"No!" Leo roared.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZtAucZTlu
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAHRj5gWqi
He rushed forward, not with a weapon, but with his bare hands. He tackled her, pinning her to the deck as the ship took a violent lurch to the side. Water was now six inches deep in the hold, swirling around them.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMk2khyFTt
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuufvBBkgD
"Maya, stay with me! Fight it!"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmrDpp2yY9
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcomaHtt4cE
Maya’s gauntleted hand flew up, grabbing Leo’s throat. Her superhuman strength began to crush his windpipe. Leo didn't strike back. He reached into his vest and pulled out the faded photograph—the one of them as kids. He pressed it against the glass of her faceplate.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNBaxRoDOU
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNsnxZc8VW
"Look... at... us," Leo wheezed, his vision blurring.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fmprmcIcF
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BJytTp4FA
Maya froze. Her grip loosened just enough for Leo to breathe. She looked at the photo. Her silver eyes flickered one last time before turning a dark, human brown.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTWhDtl0XZ
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1X7G14zUgX
"Leo?" she whispered. The word was a sob.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uvdhf9eWv
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wH2fy2Unf
But the moment was shattered. A red light on her temple began to blink rapidly.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8FwD3YIL3o
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejpQqQL4vN
"Warning," her suit’s computer announced. "Unauthorized neural activity. Self-destruct sequence initiated in T-minus sixty seconds."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo80bMoH2ga
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmBWLX8VQ6
"Thorne! The chip is slaved to the ship's reactor!" Vance shouted. "If Maya dies here, she takes the whole ship and the Icarus Core with her!"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCKj37n0aU
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHATQtII1Wv
Thorne appeared through the smoke, his face grim. "We have to go, Leo! Now! The ship is going down and the Director is purging the evidence!"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlWeA3TMMo2
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDQgx40N15
"I'm not leaving her!" Leo yelled, grabbing Maya’s hand and hauling her up. She was weak, her high-tech armor now a heavy cage.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MtrR4vggu
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj48qibkY5F
"Leo... go..." Maya gasped, the red light on her head blinking faster. "I can't... stop it. He's inside... my head..."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuUQqE9zjW
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HNgadwR3b
"Then we’ll take him out together," Leo said, his jaw set. "V.N.S.O. Honor Code, Maya. We fight until the end."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkyrXJm1CQ
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOWAtzXfHW
1234 copyright protection56ＰＥＮＡＮＡoz4rtQaM44 尼60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡts9ux7P0Fd