The corporate facility’s lower levels were a maze of steel and shadows. Dim, flickering lights struggled against the gloom, casting uneven patterns across the polished metal walls. The air hummed with the low frequency of servers churning through data, a mechanical heartbeat for the building’s dark purpose.
Elior and Vera crept through the corridors, their footsteps muffled by the hum. Vera led the way, her movements fluid and precise. She held a small device in one hand, scanning for security measures.
“We’re close,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the ambient noise. “The data servers are down this hall.”
Elior nodded, his eyes darting to every shadow, every flicker of movement. The oppressive weight of the facility pressed against him, amplified by the faint whispers of Echoes at the edge of his awareness.
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The server room was a fortress of technology. Rows of tall, glowing towers lined the walls, their surfaces pulsating with streams of data. Monitors displayed endless lines of code, while the faint hum of cooling systems filled the air. At the far end, a terminal blinked invitingly.
“This is it,” Vera said, her voice tinged with urgency. “Cover me while I extract the data.”
Elior moved to the doorway, keeping watch as Vera began her work. Her fingers danced across the terminal, her focus unwavering.
“This shouldn’t take long,” she murmured.
As the seconds stretched, Elior felt the presence of the Echoes grow stronger. Their fragmented voices seeped into his mind, a chaotic chorus of pain and desperation.
“Elior?” Vera’s voice snapped him back to the present. “The system’s locked. I need time to crack it. Can you… do that thing you do?”
He hesitated. The memory of their last encounter with the Echoes lingered, their screams echoing in his ears. But there was no other choice.
Elior closed his eyes, reaching out to the fragmented energy around him. The air grew cold, and the room dimmed as the Echoes materialized. Their forms were jagged and unstable, their cries piercing the silence. They surrounded the terminal, their incorporeal hands merging with the system’s digital infrastructure.
The servers reacted violently. Sparks flew as circuits overloaded, and the monitors flickered with distorted images of faces frozen in anguish. Vera flinched but kept working, using the Echoes’ disruption to bypass the encryption.
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“Got it,” she said, her voice strained. “I’m in.”
Elior struggled to maintain his connection to the Echoes. Their torment surged through him, each second like a dagger to his mind. He could feel their anguish as if it were his own.
“Hurry,” he managed to say through gritted teeth.
Vera’s expression darkened as she scanned the decrypted files. “Elior… this isn’t just data storage. They’re… they’re using people. The System’s energy grid is fueled by human lives.”
The Echoes’ cries intensified, their fragmented voices aligning for a brief moment. “Free us…”
Elior’s resolve hardened. “We have to expose this.”
Before Vera could respond, an alarm blared. The facility’s red emergency lights bathed the room in a harsh glow.
“Enforcers,” Vera said, grabbing the data drive. “We’ve got to move.”
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They bolted into the corridors as mechanical voices echoed through the halls.
"Unregistered anomalies detected. Containment protocol initiated."
Elior glanced back to see armored enforcers closing in, their weapons raised. Pulse rounds hissed past them, scorching the walls.
“Keep running!” Vera shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos.
They turned a corner and found themselves at a dead end. Vera cursed under her breath, her eyes darting for an escape. Elior stepped forward, his mind racing. The Echoes still lingered, their energy pulsing within him.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
Vera hesitated but obeyed, pressing herself against the wall. Elior raised his hands, summoning the Echoes once more. They materialized with a deafening roar, their fragmented forms swirling around him like a storm. The enforcers hesitated, their movements faltering at the sight.
“Go!” Elior shouted.
The Echoes surged forward, colliding with the enforcers. Sparks erupted as their incorporeal forms disrupted the armored suits, causing systems to short-circuit. One enforcer’s helmet shattered, revealing a pale, expressionless face beneath. It collapsed to the floor, lifeless.
“Elior, come on!” Vera’s voice snapped him back to reality.
He turned and followed her through a side door she had pried open. The Echoes lingered behind, their cries reverberating through the halls as they continued to harry the enforcers.
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The escape led them into a maintenance tunnel, its narrow confines forcing them to move single file. The sound of pursuit grew fainter, but neither of them slowed. When they finally emerged into the slums, they collapsed against the nearest wall, gasping for breath.
“What the hell was that?” Vera demanded, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe.
Elior’s hands trembled as he wiped sweat from his brow. “It’s… it’s getting worse. Every time I summon them, I feel their pain more deeply. It’s like… they’re taking pieces of me.”
Vera studied him, her expression softening. “Whatever you’re doing, it’s dangerous. For you, and for them.”
He met her gaze, his voice steady. “If we’re going to stop the System, we’ll have to take risks. Those people… those lives… they deserve to be freed.”
Vera sighed, running a hand through her hair. “You’re insane. But maybe that’s what we need right now.”
As the sirens faded into the distance, the two of them sat in silence, the weight of their discovery settling over them. Both knew what they needed to do now, although the weight of those thoughts was heavy.