Isaac led the inmates through the dimly lit corridors of floor seven, their hurried footsteps echoing off the metal walls. The alarms blared, red emergency lights flashing in rhythmic pulses. They were close to the landing deck—almost there—when Isaac suddenly raised his hand, signaling them to stop.

Ahead, a squad of officers poured into the hallway, their rifles raised and aimed directly at them. The officers spread out, blocking the path forward.

Will standing beside Isaac, glanced over. "What now?"

Isaac took a step forward. Before he could do anything, one of the officers pulled the trigger. The gunshot rang out.

The bullet stopped inches from Isaac’s chest, striking an invisible force. A translucent blue shield flared into existence, crackling with energy before fading again. The officers hesitated for only a second before the entire squad opened fire. A hail of bullets rained down, but each round struck the same unseen barrier, harmlessly dispersing against its surface.

Isaac remained still, his eyes locked on the officers. Then, with a slow raise of his hand, he snapped his fingers.

In an instant, every firearm in the officers’ hands vanished into thin air.

Silence fell over the corridor. The officers, now empty-handed, froze in disbelief, their eyes darting between each other. Confusion turned to panic.

Without a word, Isaac lifted his fingers again. This time, from the walls of the corridor, mechanical arms shot out, their segmented metal limbs moving with eerie precision. The officers barely had time to react before the arms grabbed them, wrapping around their torsos, pinning their limbs. They struggled, but the steel grips didn’t budge. One by one, they were pulled into the walls, immobilized, their muffled protests drowned by the sound of grinding metal.

Isaac turned back to the group, his expression calm. "Let’s keep moving."

The inmates hurried past the officers, their struggles fading behind them. The corridor stretched ahead, leading them deeper into the facility.

Before long, they emerged into a larger hallway. At the far end, a set of massive metal doors stood in their path. Isaac stepped forward, placing his hand on the access panel. With a hiss and a heavy groan, the doors slid open.

Beyond them lay a massive hangar. The ceiling stretched high above, lined with metal beams and lights that cast a dim glow over the vast space. A staircase led down to the main floor, where hundreds of ships were scattered—some no bigger than a small car, others the size of a transport truck.

On the far side, even larger doors lined the walls—hangar exits leading to the landing deck. Their way out.

Isaac gestured towards the ships. "All we need to do is get in those and fly out through those doors."

The inmates barely had time to process his words when a noise echoed from the hallway behind them.

A distant shout. Then more.

The inmates turned. The noise grew louder—fast, rushing toward them like a storm. Panic rippled through the group as inmates in the back screamed. And then a sudden force blasted through the crowd.

The inmates closest to Isaac were hurled into the air like ragdolls. Before Isaac could react, an iron grip wrapped around his throat, yanking him forcefully off the ground.

The world spun for a moment before he steadied himself enough to see his attacker.

It was the floor ten overseer, Barbara.

The overseer loomed before him, her piercing gaze locked onto his. Stone-like wings jutted from her back, flapping with an unnatural weight, keeping her effortlessly aloft. She brought his face closer.

“You,” she hissed. “You’re Isaac, aren’t you?”

She didn’t wait for an answer.

With a violent motion, she flung him downwards.

Isaac’s Essence flared, instinct taking over to protect himself. He crashed into the hangar floor, metal groaning beneath the impact. Dust and debris scattered as he rolled to a stop.

Groaning, he pushed himself back to his feet, his muscles tensed. As he lifted his gaze, Barbara hovered above, wings beating heavily in the air.

Isaac clenched his jaw.

An advanced Essence user.

This fight wasn’t going to be easy.

***

Owen's body tore through the metal wall like a wrecking ball, crashing into a large, dimly lit room. His back slammed against the ground, metal debris scattering around him. A sharp pain flared in his skull, and when he reached up, his fingers came away wet with blood.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Groaning, he pushed himself to his feet and wiped the blood from his brow. His breathing was heavy, but he forced himself to focus as he turned toward the gaping hole he had just been sent through.

A figure stepped through the jagged opening, the tap of a cane punctuating each step.

The old sub-warden carried himself with an eerie calm, his green pupils gleaming under the flickering lights. Despite his age, there wasn’t a single sign of weakness in his posture.

Owen cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders. 'Damn.'

The gap between an advanced essence user and an intermediate one was bigger than he’d thought. He had fought with everything he had, but even in his old age, Mayers hadn’t so much as flinched from his attacks.

Owen tensed, ready to move again. But the second he shifted, Mayers tapped his cane against the floor.

Wood erupted from the ground in thick, gnarled pillars, slamming into Owen with the force of a battering ram. He grunted as they crushed him against the back wall, pressing in with relentless strength.

Gritting his teeth, Owen freed an arm and wreathed his fist in roaring flames. With a growl, he drove his fist into the wood—only for it to rebound harmlessly.

His flames flickered against the surface, but the wood didn’t burn. It was harder than anything he had ever hit before, unyielding as steel.

Before he could react, the pillars pressed forward again, shoving him further back until he was forced straight through the wall behind him.

The impact sent him skidding across the floor of an adjacent hallway, metal groaning beneath him. As he came to a stop, his head spinning, a voice crackled to life from his inhibitor cuff.

Ann, the AI, spoke out loud.

"I would like to divulge some information."

Owen wiped the last trace of blood from his brow and exhaled sharply. "Go ahead."

"Grace has made contact with the others. They have successfully broken out of the assembly hall and are now gathering all lower-floor inmates."

Owen let out a short breath, nodding. That was good. At least something was going their way.

His eyes flicked back to the hole Mayers had sent him through, watching for movement. "What about the other advanced essence users? Where are they?"

"The warden is currently on floor eight and is heading toward floor seven, where the landing deck is located," Ann reported. "Barbara is already in the landing deck."

Owen clenched his jaw.

Barbara was already there. And now Albert was on the move. If they both reached the landing deck, things would get even worse.

He needed to be a bigger nuisance.

Before he could dwell on it further, Mayers stepped through the hole, his cane tapping against the floor, his expression dark.

Owen didn't hesitate. "Ann, guide me to the warden."

Without waiting for a response, he flared more Essence into his body. Strength surged through his limbs, and in an instant, he shot down the hallway, the floor trembling beneath his speed.

Mayers narrowed his green eyes. Then, without a word, he launched forward in pursuit.

***

Isaac grunted as he was sent skidding across the hangar floor, his body slamming into the side of a nearby vehicle. The impact left a dent in the metal, and pain flared across his ribs. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to push past the aching sensation.

Barbara hovered above, stone-like wings flexing as she slowly descended.

Ignoring the pain, Isaac tightened his grip on the modified minigun he had summoned earlier. With a flick of his wrist, the barrels began to spin, glowing with a fiery red light.

Barbara’s eyes locked onto him. Then she lunged.

Isaac pulled the trigger.

A hail of laser fire erupted from the minigun, scorching the air as it tore toward Barbara. But as the beams struck her, they bounced harmlessly off her skin, scattering in random directions. She didn’t even slow down.

In the blink of an eye, she was in front of him.

Barbara threw a punch, slamming her fist into Isaac’s blue shield. A sharp crack split through the air as fractures ran along the barrier.

Before Isaac could react, her next punch shattered through the weakened shield and connected with his face.

The impact sent him flying. He soared over the vehicle, his body hitting the ground hard before sliding across the floor. His vision blurred, pain pulsing through his skull.

Before he could gather himself, a deep, animalistic snarl cut through the air.

Will, now fully transformed into his beast form, charged at Barbara. With a powerful swipe, he aimed straight for her, but Barbara didn’t even look.

With a casual flick of her hand, she backhanded Will across the face.

The force of the blow sent him launching backward, his form tumbling across the floor before crashing into a vehicle.

Isaac groaned as he pushed himself up from the floor. His vision swam for a moment, but he forced himself to focus.

Barbara hovered a short distance away, her cold gaze locked onto him.

Then, the floor beneath Isaac rippled.

Metal twisted and reformed, shifting like liquid as shapes began to rise from the ground. Humanoid figures emerged, their bodies piecing together with mechanical precision. Within seconds, an army of droids surrounded him, their sleek metallic forms gleaming under the hangar lights far above.

Isaac wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then pointed forward.

At once, the droids surged toward Barbara.

She remained still at first, her expression subtly sharpening. Then, she moved.

The first droid leaped at her—she tore straight through it, metal limbs scattering in all directions. The next tried to grab her—she crushed its head with a single strike. More swarmed, but it made no difference.

Barbara tore through them like they were paper.

Isaac clenched his jaw, gripping his minigun tighter. She was cutting them down too fast.

Stealing a glance over his shoulder, he looked toward the entrance of the hangar. The inmates he had led here were scattering, running deeper into the hangar. From the entrance, officers were pouring in, grabbing nearby inmates as they came.

Isaac let out a long exhale. Things were not going well.

A sudden, violent tremor rocked the entire hangar.

Isaac staggered, barely keeping his footing as metal beams groaned and the floor quaked beneath him. Barbara, mid-stride, paused and looked upward.

Far above, the ceiling shuddered. Cracks spiderwebbed across the reinforced metal, and for a brief moment, it seemed like the entire structure was about to cave in.

Then an explosion tore through the ceiling.

A shockwave burst outward, sending debris cascading down like a meteor shower. Chunks of rubble and twisted metal rained toward the center of the hangar, slamming into the floor with deafening crashes.

And then, floating down through the chaos, a figure emerged. It was Katherine.

As she descended with an effortless grace, her eyes, cold and piercing, locked directly onto Barbara.

Then, with an enhanced voice that echoed through the vast space, Katherine spoke.

"I’ve been looking for you, Barbara." Her tone was calm, yet laced with deadly intent. "I want to kill you before I escape."