“You ready kid?” Captain Eddy softly asks Julz as the two of them huddle up by the door to floor thirty-seven.

“Yeah,” She whispers.

“I’ll be here in case things go sour,” He puts a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezes, “Stay focused and run like hell. Those fuckers are fast,”

The way Captain Eddy is glaring in Julz’s eyes makes her all the more anxious. He’s serious. And she will die if she gets caught- She’s nowhere near skilled enough to take one of these humanoids on.

“You sure you don't want a rifle?” He asks.

“I can’t run as fast with it in my hands. If I have to, I’ll use my pistol,”

“Alright,” He nods, “You’re going to need to get its attention first, and then haul ass to the waypoint,”

“Understood,” Julz says, shakily but with confidence.

“Baits on the hook?” Atari chuckles.

“We’re set,” Captain Eddy nods before putting his hand back on his gun, “Opening up,”

The door softly creaks open, just wide enough for Julz to slip through and she slowly makes her way through the crack that Eddy opened up. The red outline of the humanoid blips two halls down, and once she enters the floor she turns back to see Eddy pass her one last nod before he closes it again.

“You got this kid,” Eddy says over comms.

The room is silent, and Julz can barely hear the soft clang of metal footsteps down the hall. Her breath immediately grows shaky, and she tries to stabilize it by taking a deep breath in.

Stay calm, she tells herself before slowly walking down the hall to where another hall intersects. As she reaches the intersection, she hears the footsteps coming from the hall to her right and moves to look around the corner.

There it is, standing at the large window overlooking the fallen city. She hides behind the corner again and looks down the hall to where the waypoint is located, on the southern side of the building.

Julz exhales deeply before turning the corner to see the Humanoid already glaring at her.

Her heart drops, and she looks at the waypoint again as she prepares to sprint.

“Hmm,” It grunts as the steel plates in its face shift with its sounds, surprisingly feminine in its motion and frequency “A Zo’an… No more than Tier-five,”

Julz’s feet point down the hall and she readies herself with a slight crouch.

“Come back and fight me when you're stronger,” It says before turning to look back out the window.

This wasn't part of the plan, what do I do? She panics, her breath elevating as the calm attitude of the humanoid worries her even more. She feels lucky it’s ignored her, every bone in her body is telling her to leave it alone.

“Betty is nonchalant,” Prodigy chuckles.

“What now?” Thunder asks.

“Julz, you're going to have to give it a little… motivation,”

Without much thought, Julz quickly pulls her pistol from her thigh, switches the safety off and fires a shot at the Krix’s head.

The laser ricochets off its dome and goes through the ceiling- The Humanoid's head tilts from the impact.

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Not a dent or scratch can be seen as the humanoid turns to face her again. Its face is moving a lot more than earlier, seemingly aggravated.

“What is your goal here?” the humanoid asks as it steps forward, “Do you think that little plan you've hatched will work on me?”

“Uhh,” Julz panics, taking a step back but not running because she isn't sure if it’ll follow. It knows the plan? She worries, uncertain of how to react.

The Krix are often represented as lifeless machines but this isn't lifeless… Not entirely- She never guessed they’d be this smart.

Or feel this real.

“Name. What is yours?” It asks.

"Julz?" She stammers unconfidently, uncertain why she framed it as a question.

It's as if an authority figure is questioning her.

“Julz. I will humour this little plan of yours for now. But, afterwards- you will only see me again when you are tier-two. And when you do, I will kill you,”

The humanoid keeps walking towards her and she doesn't know what to say.

“I am K-T40,” It says before stopping in place and tilting its head at her… “This is when you run,”

Without hesitation, Julz turns and activates her powers- all of the time around her shifts as she notices the grains of dust in the air moving at quarter-speed. She runs down the hall in a flurry to the Southern window. Once I'm on the other side, I just need to get out of the way for Prodigy.

But, as she gets halfway through the hall, the humanoid bursts through the wall of the hallway, sending a ripple of fear into Julz as the small shards of wood float through the air.

Her heart jolts before she turns around to keep running and the Krix follows behind her. It’s fast, a part of her thinks it's fast enough to catch her- but, it’s letting her get away.

She takes a left turn down the intersection behind her and opts to wrap the long way around the floor to get to the waypoint.

She runs down the East hall, and the Krix burst through the wall again, cutting off her path. But, she keeps moving and decides to sprint through the room to her left. Using her shoulder and momentum, she bursts through the door, and draws her pistol, firing it at the wall to weaken it before smashing through.

She’s back in the central hall, and runs straight for the southern side of the building.

“Clever,” a voice says from the wall beside her before the humanoid fist smashes through the wall to punch Julz. Sending her flying through the walls and across the floor- All the way to the West side of the floor.

_HP: 37 (-63)

_MANA: 73% REMAINING

_DETAILS: 73/100

_NOTES: Fractured sternum, dislocated shoulder.

Julz groans aloud as she hunches over in pain, grabbing her shoulder and shifting it back in place before clutching her chest in a panic, unable to subdue the agony.

“You’re quick,” The machine says to her as it walks in her direction. “Maybe I should kill you now to save myself the trouble in the future,”

“Gah,” She grunts as she gets up on her knees.

The Krix stands over Julz as she tries to stand up, placing her hand on the Krix’s foot to the sensation of cold, steel.

“I have a shot,” Prodigy says, prompting Julz to glance south, where the destruction creates a new hallway, “Julz, get out of the way,”

“Negative,” Eddy orders, She needs to get to the South,”

“You’re going to get her killed,” Prodigy grows frustrated.

“So will you if you fire when she’s that close,” Eddy says sternly, “Julz can you get to the South?”

She activates her powers and launches from her kneeling position. Completely ignoring the pain with each shift of her arms, she runs full throttle towards the waypoint. She briefly glances behind to see the Krix’s outstretched hand nearly grab her belt but she’s ever so slightly quick enough to evade its grasp.

This gives her some extra distance, and before it can catch up she makes it to the waypoint- diving onto the ground to make way for Prodigy’s shot.

“Go now!” Julz yells.

“Firing,” Prodigy says.

The Humanoid catches up to Julz and it approaches. She raises her arms in hesitation before a bright blue light fills the entire floor. Before she can process what's just happened, the Krix’s shoulder erupts in a massive explosion and the shock wave pushes Julz a few meters off the waypoint.

_TARGET: A

_KRIX: HUMANOID (TIER THREE)

_HP: 74 (-26)

“Bombs away!” Atari calls out before another explosion erupts in the ground, and a large hole crumbles as the dust drowns Julz’s vision and lungs.

_TARGET: A

_KRIX: HUMANOID (TIER THREE)

_HP: 38 (-62)