Chapter one: The Echo of Steel
The night was eerily silent, the kind of quiet that suffocated the smallest sound. A cold breeze swept through Hidden Town, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves. The moon, bright and full, cast silver shadows across the empty streets. Every building stood dark; their inhabitants long asleep—except one. On the outskirts of town, a faint glow flickered from a lone building: Dr. Steve’s lab. Inside, the air was tense. Papers were strewn across desks, half-empty coffee cups clattered against equipment, and a dark figure moved with increasing agitation. “Where are they?” Dr. Steve muttered, flipping through stacks of notes. His glasses. He could have sworn he’d left them on his desk. His hands swept over scattered tools, his search growing frantic. The seconds ticked by too quickly. A low rumble broke the silence, shaking the floor beneath him. Dr. Steve froze, heart pounding as the tremor deepened. Lights flickered and then went out, plunging the lab into darkness. He grabbed a flashlight from a nearby shelf, its beam slicing through the gloom.
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The sound grew louder, resonating through the walls. His stomach churned as the vibration seemed to originate from one place—the vault. The vault where his most secretive project was stored. Fear clawed at him, and he hesitated. The vault wasn’t supposed to activate—not without him. His breath quickened. Just as he took a step toward it, his shoe crunched on something brittle. He pointed the flashlight downward. His glasses, shattered beneath his weight. Before he could process this, the vault door exploded with a deafening roar, sending him crashing against the wall. Pain shot through his ribs as alarms blared to life. Struggling to his feet, he reached for the flashlight, its beam catching on metallic reflections. Footsteps. Heavy, metallic footsteps echoed toward him. His vision blurred, but the silhouette before him was unmistakable—a humanoid figure, gleaming under the flickering emergency lights.
“Human,” the figure said, its voice an unnatural, metallic echo. Paralysed by fear, Dr. Steve couldn’t move. His scream tore through the night as the figure loomed over him.