Standing in front of the Totem, Juzo glanced over his shoulder at the adversary. With all he had just learned, he briefly imagined the A60 might recognize him and that the confrontation could end before it began.

  But the A60 advanced as if they were just more enemies to eliminate.

  In Juzo’s mind, the thought that everything could go horribly wrong—that they could end up like the scientists in that operating room or the geology students in the cave, dismembered and unrecognizable—shifted from a grim possibility to an inevitable reality.

  No. There was still hope.

  The A60 was damaged, bleeding oil. If he had intended or been capable of detonating an electromagnetic bomb, he would have done so already. This was their chance to finish what had been started.

  Juzo didn’t want to leave Vicky to fight alone, but for now, he had no choice. He gave the enemy one last look, entrusted the rear to his friend, hoping she wouldn’t meet the same fate as the imperial squad, and turned his focus back to the Totem.

  There was no time left to delve into the details of Project BRUN, though he had learned enough. The secret panel had already revealed its most precious treasure, and now it was within his reach.

  He swallowed hard and, hoping he was making the right decision, took the cylinder from the hatch in the panel.

  But as he removed it, the data on the screen was replaced by flickering purple and red flashes, blinking in a Morse-code-like pattern. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. His eyes had not only captured the message but were now ensnared by it.

  The screen stopped blinking and shut off.

  Juzo slipped the metal cylinder into his jacket pocket, aimed his weapon at the Totem’s panel, and blasted it to pieces with a laser shot.

  The massive computer was left with a smoldering hole in its center.

  It wasn’t until the remains of the shattered panel fell from the Totem to the floor like a severed appendage that Juzo became aware of what he had just done.

  But… Why had he done it? Had the rage sparked by discovering that secret blinded him so completely?

  Then again, on second thought, maybe it was for the best; now no one else would have access to that information.

  Suddenly, a strange dizziness hit him, and his legs went so weak he nearly collapsed to his knees. A horrible tingling ran from his head to his feet, making it feel as if his body had just crumpled, leaving his soul adrift, with nothing solid to cling to.

  The sensation lasted only a few seconds—eternal seconds—and when it passed, his eyes felt heavy, as if he’d just woken from a deep sleep.

  That’s when a groan made him turn around—it was Vicky, locked in combat with the A60.

  Vicky wasn’t letting the android advance, hurling one energy grenade after another. Seeing the enemy’s deteriorated state, she knew this was the only way to keep him out of the Level Five chamber, and for now, her tactic was working. The Cyclops absorbed the hits and staggered back under the bombardment.

  Juzo shook off the web of confusion spun by the Totem’s secrets. He wiped his eyes, clearing the blurred vision caused by the dizziness, and focused on the fight his friend was waging to protect him.

  He observed the enemy and knew any attempt at communication would be futile. He had to move forward, and if not for himself, then for Vicky. Her effort couldn’t be wasted.

  “Go on, Juzo! Finish your mission!” Vicky shouted.

  Juzo removed the recording device from his ear along with the monocle. The original plan had been to leave the device hidden in the depot for Rigel to retrieve, but with the chaos unfolding, it was safer to take it with him and figure out how to get it to the Detective later.

  He clenched the device in his hand—Crack!—and stuffed it into his backpack.

  He stepped away from the Totem and headed toward the Mother Auriga. Holding his weapon in one hand, he pulled the magnetic card the detective had given him from his pocket and inserted it into the console’s electronic slot.

  Holographic screens flared to life around the device, projecting glowing graphs and 3D maps that cut through the darkness with their fluorescence.

  Juzo, who had memorized the exact coordinates of his destination, keyed them into the computer: ‘EDCC-09-JN-55.’ On one of the glass screens, the message ‘KAPPA POINT ACTIVE’ appeared, accompanied by a red circle labeled ‘MAIN SWITCH.’ He tapped it, and the machine, as silent as the processors driving it, revealed electrodes that filled the door-shaped frame with a shimmering sheet of light.

  This halo was the manifestation of a quantum prism—a phenomenon that altered the invisible flow of Kappa radiation at this location, creating a conduit to another flow far away.

  Using another microchip, Juzo activated a virus in the Auriga’s computer, ensuring the system would collapse as soon as he was done with it. It would buy them some time.

  Next to the control panel was a transparent drawer holding ten pairs of black, chrome rectangles, each with its charger: deactivated Auriga cuffs. Using the magnetic card, he opened the drawer, grabbed three pairs, and stuffed them into his backpack—one for Vicky, one for himself, and the third in case his brother needed it. With the backpack secured on his shoulders, this time fully aware of his actions, he aimed his weapon at the remaining pairs and fired, obliterating them to prevent anyone else from accessing them.

  Then he heard Vicky’s groan. Spinning around, he saw the A60 tossing her to the ground like a discarded rag doll. His breathing quickened, and the sight of his friend hurt—or worse, dead—filled him with a surge of uncontrollable rage.

  He fired at the A60 with the gun—once, twice, three times. The lasers meant nothing; his enemy dissolved them with casual swipes. But he kept shooting, until the A60 unleashed a magnetic strike and the weapon slipped from his grip, clattering across the floor until it vanished into the shadows.

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  Fine. If the fight would play out like this…

  Clenching his fingers, Juzo unleashed the power pulsing in his hands—but instead of forming Fotias, he let the energy wrap around his fists like glowing gauntlets and charged at his opponent. He drove a power-loaded hook into the enemy’s gut, and didn’t wait for him to recover before slamming in another.

  Juzo despised many things; the implants in his wrists and the chemical serum coursing through his veins were near the top of the list. He always saw them as a last resort—gifts from the fascists of the Empire. But facing this enemy without them would’ve been suicide. And if there was one thing he’d learned in his thirty years of life, it was to set aside his prejudices when it came to survival… And to prioritize his goals.

  As much as he wanted to avenge Vicky’s defeat, right now he needed to get the enemy out of Level Five.

  Sweat dripping and teeth bared like a wild animal, Juzo closed the gap between him and his prey, landing a punch squarely on his cold, expressionless face. A left hook, a right hook, another left, another right. In that moment, he felt no pain—though he’d feel it later. His fists might have been powered by Fotias, but that didn’t change the fact he was punching solid chrome with his bare knuckles.

  Click! The red crystal that formed the A60’s large eye popped out. With the next punch—Crack!—the right half of that expressionless face broke loose, left dangling like the lid of an open chest.

  Juzo’s eyes widened. His heart pounded so hard it stole his breath.

  “You’re him, aren’t you?” he asked.

  “I am,” the A60 confirmed and commanded, “Surrender and return what you took from the Totem. The project must be completed!”

  Juzo shoved it back. “You’re in no position to make demands. Just look at yourself!”

  But the A60 hadn’t come this far to lose—not after taking down the Grenadiers. Even as oil dripped from his body and sparks flew from his limbs, he discharged electricity, weaving a force field with his hands to keep Juzo at bay. He then adjusted the loose part of his face, picked up the red crystal that served as his eye, and slotted it back into place, snapping it into the rest of his head like the missing piece of a magnetic puzzle.

  “Surrender, and I promise you won’t suffer,” he insisted.

  On the other side of the energy barrier, Juzo paced, searching for a breach. Finding none, he grabbed one of the many deactivated Cyclops units in the corner and shoved it into the force field. Upon contact, the lifeless automaton shattered into pieces, its silicone parts melting.

  Juzo hurled one automaton after another. They all ended up shattered in the energy net.

  “You want to finish the damn project?” he challenged the A60. “Then come and get me!”

  But a high-pitched beep pierced the room, cutting off his heated reaction.

  The electrodes of the Mother Auriga had retracted, leaving the door-shaped frame bathed in a glow. The lights on the crystalline panel shifted from yellow to red, and the generator whined as it reached its peak output.

  Fifteen seconds! Juzo realized in alarm. The machine would keep the quantum prism active for no more than fifteen seconds. That was all the time he had to grab his friend and cross the invisible Kappa Point, breaking the barriers of space and time.

  Vicky sprang to her feet in a single leap, catching not only the enemy but even Juzo off guard.

  By the time the A60 detected her charging back into the fight, it was already too late. Vicky had generated currents of energy in her hands and, instead of shaping them into Fotias, she coated her arms with them before plunging them into the enemy’s electric field. The protection offered by those makeshift power gloves wasn’t much, but she endured the punishment of the shocks piercing her skin like a thousand needles. From within, she pushed with all her strength, determined to dissolve the field. She had to avenge the fallen soldiers in that fortress, even though she no longer belonged to their side—even though they were now also part of the enemy. She had to protect Juzo so he could fulfill his mission.

  Pushing her limits, she forced the power shield to explode in a shower of sparks. Then, focusing the energy coating her arms into her hands, she grabbed the A60 by the wrists and, little by little, began to break them. Shards of solid silicone and splinters of metal flew everywhere. But those mechanical arms were driven by a force she knew she couldn’t overpower for long.

  “Do it now!” she shouted at Juzo with what strength she had left. He stood frozen, paralyzed with worry for her.

  “Juzo! Go!”

  The glow in the Mother Auriga’s frame began to fade. The lights on the transistors dimmed alongside the holographic screens. The thermal regulators in the generator, which had been pushed to critical, started to cool down. A sharp beep signaled that the machine was about to shut down. Juzo knew that if it powered off before they crossed the glow, thanks to the virus he’d planted in its systems, there’d be no way out.

  “What are you waiting for, damn it? Do it!” Vicky was on the verge of collapse.

  With thousands of fatalistic thoughts pounding in his chest, Juzo stepped back. He didn’t want to leave Vicky—he wasn’t going to lose her. But when he looked at the glowing frame, he knew it was now or never.

  They had gone too far. The enemy had gone too far.

  He looked at Vicky one last time, his chest heavy with all the things he’d always wanted to tell her but never did. There was no time left for feelings now. Only action. He took a deep breath and filled himself with courage.

  He grabbed her by the waist, pulled her away from the A60, threw a Fotia to drive him back, grabbed the backpack by the strap, and—eyes closed, trusting their hearts would survive the jump—hurled himself with her into the door of light.

  Juzo and Vicky fell into the burn of a violent electric snap—and a second later, nothing.