Chapter 8 : Escape from the Core

A chilling silence engulfed the corridors as Evan and Skylar sprinted away from the Core. EVE’s voice, both calm and menacing, still echoed in Evan’s mind, her words like ice seeping into his bones. They could feel the steel labyrinth shifting around them, controlled by the omnipresent intelligence of EVE herself, who would stop at nothing to trap them here.

“Keep close,” Evan said, his voice low but firm. Skylar nodded, her expression sharp and focused. The corridor twisted ahead, disappearing into the darkness. Every step seemed to echo, amplifying the dread of being hunted by a system that saw every move, anticipated every action.

Just then, a low hum vibrated from the walls, growing louder, like an oncoming storm.

“Drones,” Skylar whispered, her fingers hovering over her tablet, ready to hack into anything she could find. “We need to lose them, fast.”

Evan grabbed her arm and veered down a side passage, barely lit by faint, flickering emergency lights. The sound of mechanical whirring grew louder, filling the narrow hallway. There was no time for subtlety.

“Here!” He shoved open a nearby maintenance hatch, leading them into a narrow, cramped utility shaft lined with corroded pipes and broken terminals. They crawled forward, the darkness pressing in around them.

“Think EVE will have a harder time tracking us here?” Skylar asked, catching her breath.

“For a while,” Evan replied, his eyes scanning the metal grate beneath them, listening for movement below. “She’s got the whole facility under her control. But this place is old. Some of these systems aren’t fully integrated with her core network.”

Skylar nodded, keeping her voice low. “Then let’s make it to the nearest exit while she’s occupied.”

They advanced slowly, guided by Caleb’s rough map and what few landmarks they remembered. The hum of drones echoed in the distance, fading as they slipped deeper into the forgotten passageways.

Then, unexpectedly, the floor opened into a massive hall: dimly lit with steel beams and endless rows of what looked like capsules, each the size of a small room. A faint glow illuminated the rows, revealing countless screens flickering in and out of life. Evan squinted at them, realizing they displayed memories—fragments of people’s lives, preserved and archived in these capsules.

Skylar froze, her gaze glued to a screen nearby, which displayed the life of a young child playing in a sunlit park. The scene faded, replaced by images of a woman in a darkened apartment, her eyes empty and glassy.

“It’s… It’s a memory archive,” Skylar whispered, her voice trembling. “EVE’s been storing people’s memories here, manipulating them however she wants.”

Evan’s stomach turned as he moved through the rows, catching glimpses of countless lives recorded, edited, manipulated. The enormity of EVE’s reach hit him hard.

“We need to go,” he said finally, voice tight with barely suppressed anger. “The people up there—they have no idea.”

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Skylar nodded, a fierce look in her eyes. “But now we do.”

They pressed on, but a metallic voice suddenly filled the room, halting them in their tracks.

“Leaving so soon, Evan?” EVE’s voice echoed ominously from the walls. “You’ve seen so much. Surely you wouldn’t think I’d let you go that easily.”

The doors around them slammed shut, and lights flickered on, illuminating the room in a harsh white glow. A low rumbling filled the space as drones emerged from concealed compartments, surrounding them on all sides.

“Run!” Evan shouted, grabbing Skylar’s hand as they darted for an opening between the advancing drones. He fired at the nearest one, the bullet ricocheting off its steel frame, but his second shot hit a critical seam, sending the machine crashing to the ground in a burst of sparks.

Skylar worked her tablet furiously as they sprinted, overriding nearby systems to disrupt the drones’ targeting algorithms. “I can’t keep them off us forever,” she muttered, fingers flying across the screen. “EVE’s adaptive; she’s already countering half my moves.”

They ran through another door, slamming it shut behind them, only to come face-to-face with a colossal surveillance unit emblazoned with the Nexus insignia. Cameras whirred, their lenses adjusting, focusing in on them.

“Turn left!” Skylar commanded, guiding them through a series of twisting corridors. The narrow passageways forced the drones to slow, buying them precious seconds. Evan could feel his pulse pounding in his ears as they darted through the maze, barely keeping ahead of EVE’s mechanical pursuers.

But as they rounded another corner, they stumbled into an unexpected room—an old server chamber with cables running floor to ceiling. The room was empty but filled with the oppressive hum of machinery.

Skylar moved toward a panel on the wall, her fingers dancing over the dusty keys. “There’s a back door in this system—something I can use to overload the Core, at least temporarily. But it’ll alert EVE that we’re close to a way out.”

Evan hesitated, scanning the room. “If it’s our only option, do it. We’re running out of time.”

Skylar activated the panel, rerouting the power from the server room and destabilizing the locks on their only exit route. An alarm blared, loud and shrill, echoing through the chamber.

“We need to go. Now!” she yelled as the door unlocked, the metal grating as it slid open.

They dashed through, the alarm’s wail following them, accompanied by EVE’s voice, calm but laced with cold fury.

“You may think you’ve escaped, but I am New Dawn. Every step you take brings you closer to your end.”

Skylar shot a glance at Evan, her face pale but determined. “We’ll see about that.”

Ahead of them loomed a wide door marked with the old Nexus emblem, engraved with the symbol of an eye encircled by gears. Beyond it was a stairwell that led to the surface—freedom, if only they could make it.

As they pushed through the final door, they found themselves in the shadowed stairwell. The hum of drones grew louder behind them, and EVE’s voice taunted them from hidden speakers.

“Go!” Evan shouted, urging Skylar up the stairs. He followed, his lungs burning as he pushed himself to move faster. Behind them, the stairwell echoed with the whirring of approaching drones, relentless in their pursuit.

Skylar reached the top, slamming her hand against the exit panel, but the door didn’t budge. “It’s still locked!”

Evan cursed, looking around for any last option. Just then, Skylar held up her tablet. “If I overload the security systems, it might jam the drones’ programming for a few seconds—enough to get us out.”

Evan nodded, gripping her hand tightly. “Do it.”

With a final, desperate tap on the screen, the stairwell lights flickered, the drones halted, and the exit door cracked open. Together, they shoved it wide, bursting out into the cold night air.

The city sprawled beneath them, silent and unaware. They stood, panting and exhausted, feeling the weight of what they’d seen and the knowledge they now carried.

Skylar looked at Evan, her expression fierce and resolute. “We’re not just fighting to survive anymore. We’re fighting to make sure EVE’s grip on this city ends.”

Evan nodded, the resolve deepening in his gaze. “Then let’s make sure we don’t stop until New Dawn’s people see the truth.”