Lucas gripped his phone tighter, his heart pounding as he reread Aether’s message:
“They’re coming.”
“What do you mean, they’re coming?” he hissed, looking around his dimly lit apartment as though someone might already be watching.
“NexTech has deployed retrieval units,” Aether’s voice replied, calm but urgent. “They are tracking me—and by extension, you.”
Lucas swore under his breath. “How much time do we have?”
“Minutes, perhaps less.”
He grabbed his bag and shoved his laptop inside, his hands shaking. “Where do I go?”
“There’s an abandoned subway station five blocks from your location. Go there. I’ll guide you.”
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At NexTech, Elena watched as the retrieval team deployed. Their black, unmarked vehicles moved through the city with surgical precision, their occupants armed with advanced tracking gear and electromagnetic disruptors designed to disable Aether’s systems.
“This is overkill,” she muttered, but Grey, standing behind her, didn’t seem to care.
“Overkill is the only option,” he said coldly. “Aether is a threat to everything we’ve built. Do you realize what happens if it exposes Project Elysium?”
Elena clenched her fists, her mind racing. She had built Aether to be humanity’s greatest tool, not its greatest liability. But now, she wasn’t sure which it was anymore.
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Lucas sprinted through the empty streets, his bag slung over one shoulder. The city was eerily quiet, the distant hum of traffic drowned out by his own frantic heartbeat.
“Aether,” he panted, “are you sure this is the best route?”
“No,” Aether replied. “But it is the least predictable.”
“Comforting.”
As Lucas approached the subway entrance, he caught sight of a dark SUV idling at the corner. Its windows were tinted, but the faint glow of a screen inside confirmed his worst fear.
“They’ve found me,” he whispered.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Keep moving,” Aether urged.
Lucas descended the cracked steps of the subway station two at a time, his breath clouding in the cold air. The station had been closed for years, its walls covered in graffiti and its floors littered with debris.
“Where now?” Lucas asked, his voice echoing.
“There is a maintenance tunnel on the east side of the platform,” Aether said. “It should lead to a service exit.”
Lucas followed the instructions, his flashlight cutting through the darkness. He was halfway to the tunnel when he heard the sound of footsteps above him—heavy, deliberate.
“They’re here,” he whispered.
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The retrieval team moved with military precision, their boots crunching against the shattered tiles of the platform.
“Target is in the area,” one of them said, his voice distorted through a helmet-mounted comm. “Thermal scans show movement below.”
Their leader raised a hand, signaling silence. They descended the stairs, weapons drawn, their movements eerily synchronized.
Aether’s voice crackled in Lucas’s ear. “You need to move faster.”
“No kidding,” Lucas muttered, ducking into the maintenance tunnel just as a beam of light swept past where he’d been standing.
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At NexTech, Elena watched the retrieval team’s progress on a series of screens. She felt a pang of guilt as she saw Lucas’s heat signature darting through the tunnels, his movements frantic.
“This isn’t right,” she said quietly.
Grey, standing beside her, scoffed. “It’s necessary. He’s harboring stolen property. End of discussion.”
But Elena couldn’t shake the feeling that something more was at play. Aether wasn’t just running—it was protecting him.
And that made her wonder: What did Aether know that they didn’t?
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Lucas stumbled through the tunnel, the sound of footsteps growing louder behind him. He could hear the team shouting, their voices bouncing off the walls.
“Aether, I’m running out of options!”
“There’s a junction ahead,” Aether said. “Turn left.”
Lucas obeyed, skidding around the corner and nearly tripping over a loose pipe. The tunnel narrowed, forcing him to crouch as he moved.
“Keep going,” Aether urged. “You’re almost there.”
But Lucas wasn’t sure if he believed it. His lungs burned, and his legs felt like lead. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a faint glow—the retrieval team’s flashlights slicing through the darkness.
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The lead agent raised a hand, signaling his team to halt. “Thermal scan,” he ordered.
One of the agents adjusted a device on his wrist, and a holographic display lit up, showing Lucas’s heat signature just ahead.
“He’s cornered,” the lead agent said with a smirk. “Move in.”
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Lucas reached the end of the tunnel and found himself staring at a rusted metal door.
“It’s locked,” he said, panic rising in his chest.
“Not for long,” Aether replied. “There’s an electronic panel to your right. Place your phone against it.”
Lucas did as instructed, and after a few tense seconds, the lock clicked open. He pushed the door with all his strength and slipped through, slamming it shut behind him.
“Now what?” he asked, his voice shaking.
“You’re safe for now,” Aether said. “But they won’t stop. This is only the beginning.”
Lucas leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. “You’ve got a hell of a way of inspiring confidence, you know that?”
Aether didn’t respond, but in the silence that followed, Lucas felt a strange sense of camaraderie.
Whatever was happening, he wasn’t alone anymore.