State of Ukraine, Territory of the Helios Corp Warehouse Complex
Maksim Chernykh’s Team, August 14, 2049, 11:14 PM
Deep within the maze of passages and halls of the Helios Corp warehouse building, an almost imperceptible hum broke the silence.
The space was large and spacious, with only a few shelves, mostly positioned along the walls. This area primarily stored heavy machinery for biochemical and pharmaceutical industries — from magnetic resonators and molecular printing systems to bioreactors and muffle furnaces.
Neatly arranged boxes and mini containers with equipment lined up under the bright glow of LED lights. Given the overhead crane mounted near the ceiling, the aisles between rows were fairly wide, enabling both robotic loaders and small electric trucks to move freely. Cameras filled the room as they did most halls, but there were no turrets or traps; apparently the previous owners had never intended for this place to become a battlefield.
The crates and containers were meant to be the sole residents of this area.
But the hum intensified.
Right before the electronic eyes of the security cameras, a glowing dot appeared in the center of the hall. The hum grew into a howl. Within a split second, the dot expanded into a large sphere. Then, with a deafening crash and a flash of light, the Shaiszu portal burst open — shaking walls and floor, crushing high-tech equipment, sweeping away shelving units, and splintering doors.
Raising dust and debris from the freshly formed rift, the first figures emerged from the radiant vortex. Four large Shaiszu creatures landed with a soft growl and moved forward, their claws clicking against the concrete floor.
Massive and towering, these beasts stood a hundred thirty centimeters at the shoulder. Their bodies stretched over two meters in length, covered in a gray coat as bristly as steel wire, beneath which bulging muscles were visible, like those of battle mastiffs trained for combat. Their eyes glistened, reflecting the light from the portal, scanning every detail. There was something unnatural and sinister in their gaze, resembling predators lurking in the night. But their expression showed not hunger but rather a mind stripped of empathy, just as mechanical beings engineered solely for destruction. Their clawed paws could shred steel bars, and their growls stirred a primal terror, even dread.
Then, twenty smaller creatures slipped out as swift shadows — quick and agile, their bodies resembling oversized hyenas. Muscular like the larger beasts, they had the same gray bristly fur and short, stubby tails. Likely, they were the offspring of the pack, joining their parents on a hunt.
Running along jagged trajectories, their movements were strangely coordinated, resembling the chaotic swarm of insects. Their paws moved with unnatural speed — so swift that a human eye would scarcely follow them.
Rushing through the shattered doors, the entire pack silently plunged into the depths of the warehouse complex, driven by a purpose known only to them. Cameras in the corridors barely managed to capture these swift, dark shapes in all their predatory splendor — gleaming lethal fangs and razor-sharp claws, that left deep scratches on the concrete floor as they made sharp turns.
----------------------------------------
Three hours earlier...
After confirming the warehouse was empty and that Dasha had complete control over the cameras and turrets, the team decided to complete the mission in an expanded format and wait for the fighters from Rzeszów to arrive, so they contacted the city.
Maksim placed his mediaphone in front of him, raising the helmet’s visor, so his face would be visible on the call. Of course, he was still just as crazy about security and preferred to maintain his and his team’s anonymity. But under the current circumstances, it was a necessary gesture of respect to openly show himself to his client and partner, whose mission they were fulfilling.
@Call, Free Rzeszów, Contact Line. Mission ID transmitted.
Instead of keeping them on hold, they were immediately connected. It was clear the call was expected. A middle-aged man appeared on the screen, seated at a desk. He had a short buzz cut of black hair, intense gray eyes, and wore a dark gray tactical jacket with reinforced shoulder pads. A silver eagle insignia on his chest indicated his rank as a colonel. There was no corporate insignia visible, which made sense given the situation.
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: Free Rzeszów. This is Council Coordinator Shimon Wozniak. Greetings, Ghosts of the Future.
Maksim cringed internally, realizing he might’ve picked a less-than-ideal team name.
“Maybe we should rebrand later? But once we’re known, and with a reputation…” He brushed the pesky thoughts aside.
@Caller: “This is Maksim Chernykh. Good evening, Pan Shimon. We confirm the mission’s completion in extended format and are prepared to hold the position until your team arrives. The warehouse and its security systems are currently under our full control.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “We’re aware; our city AI has been closely monitoring all streams from your drones. I’m also authorized to inform you that the Council of Free Rzeszów is impressed with your performance and has decided to award you with additional 6,500 grants as a bonus.”
@Caller: “That’s nice to hear, Pan Shimon. However, I must inform you that some of the warehouse’s contents had been moved out by the previous owners. This might be the goods Rzeszów was hoping to recover, so part of the mission about waiting for your people might no longer be required.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “Thank you for the honest update. Yes, we were hoping to obtain this stock, it’s a pity that it has slipped away. This doesn’t change the mission’s conditions or criteria, though. You will be paid in full.”
@Caller: “Very good. Could you give us an estimated arrival time for your team, Pan Shimon?”
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “Our specialists and military are already preparing for departure and will arrive within six to seven hours. We have a small request: could you manually check, selectively, that the information on the goods’ placement from the database matches the actual situation? And we’d also appreciate a full drone sweep of all warehouse buildings, looking into each room.”
Dasha decided to chime in.
@Caller: “This is Vasilevskaya… uh, Daria. Sniper-programmer. I can arrange a separate raw data stream from the drones’ lidars in real time, assuming your AI is powerful enough to handle it.”
The Rzeszów Council representative smiled at such a self-introduction.
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “That would be excellent, Pani Daria. We’re prepared to compensate you for the extra efforts. Let’s say, an additional four thousand grants if you can add the lidar and other sensor data to the video streams.”
Maksim glanced at Dasha, who nodded in agreement.
@Caller: “Deal. We’ll start immediately. One question — there are a few semi-trucks with trailers left on-site. May we take one of them, Pan Shimon?”
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “One moment, Pan Maksim. I’ll consult with the other coordinators.”
After a minute and forty seconds, Free Rzeszów returned to the line.
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “We’ve considered your request, Pan Maksim. A semi-truck and trailer will be granted to your team as an additional reward for your excellent mission performance and access to the local security systems. However, we’ll transfer it to you once we’re back in Rzeszów, as all local units are needed for transporting the freight right now.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “When the convoy returns, we’ll provide you with a list of all vehicles brought back, indicating their specs and technical condition. You can select any of them. Does that suit your team?”
@Caller: “Yes, Free Rzeszów.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “Great. One more thing — we’re detecting increased portal activity in your area. There may be a Shaiszu attack. If you encounter them, try, if possible, to avoid damaging the goods. And please, do what you can to prevent them from entering the complex.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
@Caller: “Understood. We’ll stay vigilant.”
@Rzeszów.Comline#04: “See you soon, then. Free Rzeszów, signing out.”
@Caller: “Ghosts of the Future, signing out.”
The call ended.
“Just great, six hours of waiting, and we’re on high alert the whole time. Fun,” Nikola sighed.
“At least we’re getting full payment, plus a bonus,” noted Alisa with a shrug.
Maksim was contemplating in silence, studying the warehouse complex layout in the AR display in front of him.
“We’ve got some downtime, but no real chance to relax. The Shaiszu could show up any moment, so we are to spend these hours fully geared up, with helmets on and all. Well, you can take the helmets off in safe rooms, but keep them close—ready to put back on in twenty seconds or less. Or just lift the visors if it gets too unbearable.”
He glanced at Dasha with a grin. “Especially our ‘sniper-programmer,’ who constantly needs water breaks or a vape.”
“Max! Baka! I’ll get mad, you know! ‘Sniper-programmer’ is a perfectly fine naming for me, yeah!” she huffed.
“Let’s find the most secure spot in these storehouses — somewhere with corridors rigged with turret traps to cover the approaches. And with a way to retreat if the enemy turns out to be too much. Sound good?”
They quickly located an ideal room, and the team moved there efficiently. Then, Alisa and Dasha remained inside to monitor the situation via the cameras and train the System on managing security protocols across different environments.
Also, Dasha mentioned she’d try to figure out the energy needed for ‘super-skills.’ She’d also try to kick-start the ‘attributes’ module, which seemed to be calculating everything but wasn’t showing much yet. Especially since the System already mentioned attributes once in the description of her ability. Something odd was at play – thus, the ‘sniper-programist’ was determined to get to the bottom of it.
“Just don’t get too lost in it,” Maksim cautioned her with a smile. “The last thing we need is you diving into DVR so deep we can’t reach you. Sorry, we can’t afford it anymore… the world’s changed.”
Meanwhile, Maksim and Nikola set off for a run through all the warehouses, selecting and opening a few crates on camera for verification as part of their report. They also lent a hand to the drones with anything requiring physical interaction, like jammed doors or blocked passages.
At some point, they decided to split up — there were simply too many storage areas, shelves, boxes, and pallets to inspect. At this rate, they’d be here till morning, and both of them wanted even a moment to wash up, grab a meal, and get a bit of rest.
----------------------------------------
By the time when most of the rooms had been inspected, and they were about to wrap things up, an alarm blared — a wandering portal had opened in one of the warehouses.
The System was quick to react, immediately displaying the enemy on the map, but the team also didn’t lag behind.
[Max, Shaiszu portal! The System’s locked onto its location and is tracking all the monsters via the cameras!] Dasha reported swiftly.
[Two fliers are closest to you, already heading your way. Another pair will follow shortly. Should we deploy the wheeled bots? There are four large Shaiszu creatures and twenty smaller ones,] Alisa added with brisk efficiency.
[Of course,] Maksim replied quickly. [Now, let’s…]
[Wait, guys, stop!] Redhead interjected confidently, already hefting her rifle as she sprinted toward the target warehouse. [I’m practically one room over from the portal. No point in fighting inside. I’ll just lure these freaks into a trap!]
[Nika, let’s bait them with drones instead, zero risk that way!] Maksim countered.
[All our birds are almost out of ammo; they’re no good in a fight!] she retorted. [I swapped my jump boosters in the truck, and my leg charge is almost at 100%. I’ll just take a few shots at the big ones, and then bolt out at full thrust. Just make sure the trap’s ready!]
[Already set! Head here!] A route lit up on Nika’s map, guiding her toward the spot where Dasha had prepared an ambush — identical to the trap they had fallen into earlier, with six ceiling turrets and closing wall plates.
[Alisa, cover her with the drones, anyway!]
[Of course!]
----------------------------------------
Vasilevskaya had tailored her version of the “combat interface” using military schematics provided by Nikola. Thus, Redhead had already customized it to her own style, just as she’d done back in her corporate training days.
Now the cyborg girl, fully prepped for battle, raced down narrow aisles between shelving units. On the run, she switched her assault rifle to “burst fire,” sliding her fingers confidently over the selector. A thought flickered in her mind: “Good thing I swapped out the large-caliber rifle for this lighter 7.62. Rapid fire and magazine capacity are more important right now — there’s no time for a reload.”
Finally, she was in position!
Nikola braked sharply, screeching across the concrete, and leaving black streaks with the soles of her reinforced boots. At the far end of the warehouse, a group of Shaiszu creatures appeared — four massive beasts, like a cross between war mastiffs and nightmares from the dark. Their eyes glowed with malice, and a low growl escaped from their maws. Around them, a whole flock of smaller, but very swift-moving creatures were zipping erratically.
In the last millisecond of braking, Nika was ready to open fire, taking a shooting stance and pressing the rifle’s buttstock firmly against her shoulder. Her cyber core had marked all targets in augmented reality. Fire!
Rat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat! Two short bursts of three rounds rang out.
Her first two shots drove into the eye of the nearest creature, it bellowed and began to sink to the floor. The next two missed, but two more slammed into the chest of another beast, slowing but not stopping it.
“Damn, tough bastards,” a brief thought flashed through her mind, without distracting her from the shooting.
A split second later, Nika completed a short turn of the rifle, switching to the third creature.
Rat-tat-tat! Bullets punched through the air, rushing towards the target. Two hit the right side of the chest, and one caught the right leg, causing the beast to stumble, but not to fall.
The monsters roared and turned towards Nikola. With a chorus of guttural snarls, the smaller shaiszu surged forward, rushing towards her like a dark stream, their claws scraping over concrete in a frenzied charge. The distance was rapidly closing.
Rat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat! Two more bursts cut through the space. Three small monsters collapsed, taken down by precisely aimed shots. But the others were closing in, with unrelenting speed.
Knowing perfectly well she had no more time, Nika pivoted sharply and broke into a sprint. Her left arm swung backward automatically, the Cyber core remembered positions of the pursuers and helped to aim at the target without using her eyes.
Rat-tat-tat! One last burst toward the fourth beast, and Nika got lucky! She was targeting the chest of the catching monster, but just at that moment it roared, ducking and all three bullets entered hard right into the creature’s throat. With blood gushing from the wound, it toppled to the side.
Without slowing down, the girl quickly pulled on the strap holding her rifle. The weapon slid onto her back and locked into place. With a final tug, she tightened the strap so nothing would swing around and get in the way while running — the entire maneuver took only a split second, thanks to long training and the precise coordination of her cybernetic arms.
Then she activated her ‘Overdrive’ mode, and the jump boosters engaged. Mid-stride, the cyborg’s body dropped sharply, weight on her leading leg — a biting sound like the crack of a whip — and the girl was already in the air, launched forward by a powerful push, like a shot from a catapult.
On touching the surface at the end of the jump, she extinguished inertia with three long strides, and charged towards the prepared trap on the afterburner.
The remaining Shaiszu roared in fury from behind, disliking that the prey who had been so close — had slipped away. The pack increased their speed, rushing after the girl in a mad race between the warehouse shelves.
The distance began to decrease inexorably. The smaller creatures were faster and surged ahead, their claws scraping sparks from the concrete floor. Their eyes burned with the thrill of the chase.
Two combat drones flew over Nika’s head, but seeing that everything was under control, Alisa held her fire — they really had almost no bullets left.
[Dasha, activate the trap! I’m almost there!]
[Ready! I’ll drop the barrier as soon as you pass through!]
The smaller beasts sped up, rapidly closing the gap.
Ahead was the warehouse wall with an open door, and beyond it, the corridor — their trap. Only a few dozen meters left.
A couple of the creatures leapt, their claws missing her leg by mere centimeters.
She yanked her rifle into her hands and fired blindly behind her, just to slow the beasts down for a moment.
Rat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat!
[CLOSE IT!] Redhead shouted, and Dasha reflexively sent the ‘Drop the plate’ command.
Nikola dashed into the corridor and leaped, twisting in mid-air to land on her hip, sliding forward — just beneath the descending steel plate.
The Shaiszu didn’t make it!
Suddenly, two ominous red tunnels appeared in augmented reality, intersecting on Redhead.
No one could have reacted in time — two large monsters blurred into long gray streaks for an instant, then practically teleported through space, materializing right behind the girl. She managed to notice the bright red, solid visual telegraphs, but there was catastrophically little time to turn around. Bared fangs and claws flew towards her, ready to tear their prey to pieces!
Watching through the scout drone’s camera feed, Maksim, Alisa, and Dasha couldn’t even process what was happening.
Nikola’s body shimmered in an ominous red-orange aura, blinked… and vanished from their view.
The next instant, a whirlwind of motion surrounded the beasts.
...And two red flowers bloomed on the screen — explosions of severed arteries, torn apart muscles, flying entrails, and blood splattering across the floor.
After a split second, Nika reappeared with a flit.
Covered in blood from head to toe.
With a dagger in her right hand and a long piece of spine torn from Shaiszu’s back in her left. Blood dripped from the blade, rushing to the floor, pooling darkly on the ground below her.
Behind her came the roar, screech, and rattle of high-speed machine guns finishing off the smaller creatures caught in the trap.
With a sharp, loud click, her cybernetic legs ejected the burned-out jump boosters. The metal fragments clattered to the floor, scattering sparks in all directions.
Exhaust vents on her legs flared open to the maximum, releasing clouds of hot steam with a shrill whistle, forming a dense cloud of white fog around her. But the vapor was quickly replaced by smoke, acrid and dark.
The automatic panels on her arms hissed and popped open, revealing the inner mechanisms. Steam and smoke poured out, and the overloaded circuits crackled and sparked. Some metal components glowed red-hot, and the melting plastic around them dripped down in blackened rivulets. The air quickly filled with the acrid stench of burning metal and harsh chemicals.
Nikola stood amidst the chaos like a cybernetic angel of destruction. Her face remained impassive, though if her helmet were off, a fierce red-orange gleam of madness would have been visible in her eyes. She had survived a brush with death, but at a heavy cost.
Multiple sensors were frantically signaling critical damage. Her Cyber Core issued warnings of the urgent need for shutdown and repairs. And a batch of messages from the System had just arrived…
But none of that mattered.
She was alive.
“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
Slowly, Redhead lowered the knife still clutched in her right hand. The blood-covered blade was faintly steaming, leaving a barely visible red-orange trail in the air.
She tried to take a step forward, but her legs were difficult to control, with the mechanics creaking and jamming.
“Kurwa… looks like my implants weren’t exactly built for this,” flashed through the girl’s mind.