She was the true daughter of Anaari, a treasure of millions of subsequent generations. Closed in a tiny glass chamber, connected to a multitude of tubes and wires. She was their slave.

Anaari were closed in their giant cube in the space, a cube which nobody had access to. Every time anomaly would occur, one that could break the integrity of Anaarian cube, its effects would be sent to her, the test subject.

Her cybernetic-ridden body would withstand the repeated infliction of torment and analyze the influx of eldritch powers, intricate arcane, technological oddities, or singularities. All against her will. Barely conscious, often living in a state between painful comatose and nightmarish dreams.

Until, one day, he came.

The glass walls of her room exploded, she slowly lifted her eyes, unaware of her surroundings. Her mind was hazy, but she recognized the presence of a stranger, who unlike many others observers of her, wasn't wearing a lab coat.

Instead, he had a black pernach and a sniper rifle on his back.

The girl had only one question on her mind, one request.

"Will you... save me?" - She uttered, in a barely recognizable voice.

The man turned to her, hiding his face under a hood and observed for a while, then replied. - "I'm not here for you. Do it yourself."

"Please..." - The girl was crawling on the floor, mustering the remnants of her strength.

"This entire place is going down, either with or without you. I will carve out the path for myself, what you do with that information, is your choice." - The man uttered, showing no concern, and left.

The girl's entire body was aching, tears welled up her eyes with every move, but she was determined. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life here, she didn't want to die after all of this.

Alarms were echoing in the entire facility. She didn't know how much time she had. She picked the sharpest piece of glass and started cutting the wires on her back, they wouldn't budge.

She then overheard gunshots and a surge of information ran through her brain, she felt like it could melt at any moment, simply from overheating. Her vision went blind, but she recognized shadows of silhouettes in the simulation that was incapacitating her mind.

It was the man with pernach, he was obliterating all and any form of defense that Anaari would throw at him. The girl's hybrid mind was incapable of forcing out a solution. She couldn't comprehend what kind of technology and artifacts the man was using.

Then she saw it. One shot, a black ray pierced through the entire cube, forming a natural exit. Not for long, not forever – the Anaarian architects, constructor machines, prepared for the repair.

The girl was in pain, she felt like her vision could go blank at any moment, then she noticed a commotion in her vision. It was next to her. One of the highest-grade cybernetic guardian units was slain and fell next to her.

It was her chance, its blade was sharp enough to cut through the tubes and wires. The girl crawled next to the corpse of a machine, then lifted its arm and shoved its blade into the cables that were holding her.

The visions stopped.

She was free.

She only had to escape.

The girl leaned against the wall, supporting her weight, and started shuffling towards the hole made by a sniper rifle. Rubble and cables blocked her path, but she could see the light of stars, far, far in the distance.

Her first few hundred steps were peaceful, ignoring the ever-wailing sound of an alarm. It was not until she reached laboratories, that this has stopped, replaced by loud thuds, shaking ground, and echoes of series of bullets, coming from far away.

The girl approached one of the terminals, with her past function, she could potentially gain access anywhere. Yet, she was afraid, that they could backtrace her signal. Despite that, she needed to know what architects are planning. Otherwise, she would never get out.

The girl connected herself to the network and witnessed scenes of pure carnage. The man swapped his weapons to SMG and basically blinked between barriers, taking down the guards en masse. Unknown how, he hacked into the systems and turned all cybernetic units against each other.

There soon would be no cube of Anaari anymore. The main reactor was going in a state of meltdown. The stranger wasn't lying.

Her path was clear, through the vents and into the hangars, then hopefully – find a spacecraft and evacuate.

The girl found some bottled water and refreshed herself, then continued to climb out of the space.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Chunks of debris fell all around her, but she wasn't afraid - she was cautious.

There it was, an architect, blocking her path with a large piece of welded steel. She had to take a more dangerous path, through the narrow tunnels filled with automatic turrets.

The girl crouched and snuck to the first barrier. Outside of it, was the double-barreled gun. She hacked into it to take down the next turret in front of her, but what awaited her a few steps farther was in essence a bullet hell.

"No..." - The girl whimpered. There was no way she could get past.

The situation was about to get worse, a sentinel entered the scene. The highest-grade walking-type mech with two whip-like arms covered in square blades. It started whirling, in the middle of this absolute madness, but it was suffering heavy damage. Its energy shield activated, mitigating some damage, but it was not enough and the emergency protocol was about to take place.

"Emergency protocol." - The girl uttered. There was no time. It was all or nothing, she rushed inside the metallic inferno right at the moment when the program started.

The time slowed down, for everyone but sentinel and the girl.

She hoped she would be an exception, she played everything on that one card.

Bullets passed past the girl at a snail's pace, but their numbers were still overwhelming. One of them scratched her cheek, other pierced her leg. It burst, exploding into billions of tiny pieces.

The girl fell, but it was a lucky fall. She couldn't believe her fate. If she didn't fall, the sentinels whip-blade would have beheaded her.

Regardless, without a leg, she was out of hope. The girl rolled behind a barrier and looked around for replacement parts. Twelve meters away, there was a dead guard.

She stood up, leaning against the rubble.

Ten meters.

Eight meters.

Six meters.

Four meters.

The girl's eyes opened wide as she saw a burst of blue flames.

The sentinel fell down, its head exploded.

Without any further warning, the time accelerated. The girl jumped to the corpse of a guard and quickly replaced her leg. The whistling of bullets could be heard all above the small cover, If the girl stuck out her neck, she would be dead.

The girl observed the chamber, there was a gap in the wall, but she would still have to somehow make it through the bulletstorm.

"How?" - The girl fell on her knees and arms. - "How!?" - She was panicking and in despair. A few tears wetted the floor.

Then, a miracle happened. There was a loud sound of an explosion. The girl lifted her eyes to look at the ceiling above her. There was a large, spinning fan. It detached from its steel support, tilted, and dropped down. Its large blades stuck into the ground. Denting metal and a series of clinking sounds were the only reminders of the girl's former miserable situation.

Without hesitation, the girl lifted herself and ran out.

It were only a few hundred meters and she would be in hangars.

"Stop!" - She overheard a warning from behind her. - "She's over here! Restrain her!"

"No. NO!" - The girl yelled and dashed forward, a few bullets pierced her in the torso and arm.

"DON'T SHOOT! We need the core intact." - One of the soldiers ordered.

Fluids were leaking from the girl's body, but she kept going until she saw the hangars. There stood a single, last fighter unit. She reached its doors, then pushed her mind to the limit, when trying to hack through the secured lock.

Then, a hand reached her arm. She turned her head, pleading – "Let me go."

The soldier would not listen and knocked her down on the ground. - "Target secured." - He shouted, as two more guards were approaching and started to restrain her.

"No. It can't end like this." - The girl was thrashing around and her legs were kicking against the floor, but it was to no avail.

"Reconnect the core asap! Meltdown is imminent." - Hurrying orders could be heard next to her. A technician in helmet approached, dragging cables and wires, then one by one, connected them to a girl.

With each new wire, the excruciating torture amplified and the girl's nightmarish screams repeated with intensifying volume.

The last, largest cable connected to the girl and she felt an immense electric shock paralyzing her entire cybernetic vessel.

The girl's mind was drowning in a sea of numbers and static noise. She felt her consciousness slowly fading, unable to push against the increasing pain, and drifting into nothingness.

She was soon surrounded by ever-reaching darkness.

Then, there was light. A single light.

The girl tried to scrape her strength, but it was barely enough to extend her hand. It was still out of her reach. It hurt. It really hurt. She screamed and pushed.

Her eyes opened and a pulse of energy surged out of her body, forming a sphere filled with a network of thunder-like discharges, which pushed all of the soldiers, knocking them to the floor unconscious.

The sphere of energy enlarged in accelerating tempo, until it crossed through the entire facility. All lights went out, only to turn back after a few seconds.

The girl lifted herself on her knees, then crawled to the spaceship. The security and electronics were busted, yet she inserted her fingers into the console and send out a surge of energy. The spacecraft lit up, the engine was working. Two pulses of plasma pushed the spaceship towards the exit.

She was finally free.

[ ... ]

"You lost the bet. Two and a half quadrillion omni-credits, you know where to send them."

"That's only because you helped her."

"That wasn't against the bet."

"Hm, have you gone soft? Bringing her tools to cut the cable, luring the sentinel, nuking the fan, even disguising as one of the technicians..."

"..."

"I get that you wanted to win the bet, but we both know that you don't need that money. You could've just carried her out. Why wouldn't you do that? Why risk her and your life instead? She would be forever grateful for the help."

"I don't need that, quite the opposite. I think it's better both parties when they think that they earned a way out on their own."

"You never change. What's so bad in relying on others?"

"Nothing, but it's not for me."

"Eh, then what is for you? Loneliness?"

"Edginess. Now, mind your own business, captain"