We stood in the circular chamber. Zeno lay in the center. Red numbers pulsed in my peripheral vision.
"We need the hardware room."
"What hardware room?"
"Smooth walls, kid."
I closed my eyes. Every support required maintenance access. Always on the leeward side, closer to the foundation. I walked along the wall, running my fingers over the metal. Somewhere here…
"Got it."
My fingers found a ledge. I leaned into it with my full weight, using my shoulder. Ephraim joined me, bracing against the door. With a strained groan, it gave way, revealing a narrow crawlspace. Behind it was a cramped technical closet, packed with matte plastic cabinets.
"Look for canisters," I ordered. "Blue or gray. And a hand pump."
While Ephraim rummaged through the junk, I approached the central console. Dead screen. Motionless keys. But under the panel was what I needed. An old chemical battery, running on the potential difference of two liquid electrolytes. There was one problem: the liquids had long since evaporated.
"Found it!" Ephraim pulled out a heavy container, marked with symbols he couldn't read. "And this thing with a handle."
"Bring it here."
"Need to fill the generator tanks."
"Kid... what if it blows?"
"If we don't fill it, we freeze. There's no choice."
The work took nearly an hour. Ephraim worked the lever while I held the hoses with my left hand. My fingers were cut to shreds by the sharp fittings.
When the last liter drained into the tank, I yanked the ignition lever. A low hum rumbled beneath the floor. Nothing. And then, dull orange lines flared up along the walls.
The column was hollow. Steel cables ran upward. A spiral staircase wound around the core.
"It works..." whispered Ephraim.
I grabbed an external power cable that had miraculously survived in a service cabinet and dragged it to Zeno.
"Ephraim, help me!"
Together we dragged the plug to the port at the base of Zeno's neck. Click. A hum vibrated through his armor.
[External power source detected. Initiating service mode 0.1A.]
Zeno's eyepiece flared white.
"Zeno?"
"Connection to local node 'Support-9' established. Downloading system protocols. Synchronizing maps."
No intonation. No recognition.
"He..." Ephraim took a step back.
"Service mode," I snapped.
"Bridge status: critical structural damage in sectors 12, 14, and 21. Main cables 84% intact. Pedestrian crossing possible using safety systems."
I looked at Ephraim.
"We're going up."
"Up?" He stared into the darkness overhead. "Kid, have you completely lost your mind?"
"If we stay, they'll find us."
And immediately, a howl came from outside.
"They're here," whispered Ephraim.
"Will there be even one day without them?" I thought, touching Zeno's armor.
"Zeno. Hostile target status."
"Four biological signatures detected. Artificial organisms. Distance: 150 meters. Closing speed: 5 meters per second."
"No time. To the stairs!"
"What about him?!"
"I am initiating autonomous ascent mode," Zeno replied. His manipulators locked into slots along the central column. "Generator energy redirected to magnetic grippers."
He began to ascend vertically, digging his metal fingers into the steel. We ran up the narrow stairs.
Below... metal shrieked. The hatch buckled. I looked down. Four hairless beasts with elongated snouts and burning eyes burst inside.
"Climb!" Ephraim shoved me in the back.
We weren't fast enough.
"Zeno!" I screamed.
His head rotated 180 degrees.
"Target acquired. Initiating defense protocol."
He ripped a steel plate from the wall and hurled it down. The plate slammed into a Hound right in mid-leap. The beast collapsed, dragging another one down with it.
"Don't stop!"
Zeno collapsed sections of the staircase behind us. At two hundred meters up, the stairs ended. A technical balcony opened directly into the storm. Above us, cables stretched into the abyss. Stars were barely visible through the dying blizzard.
Zeno climbed onto the platform and sat, dangling his legs.
"Iron," he said, and his old voice returned. "Trajectory calculated. Wind: 15 meters per second. Temperature: minus 24."
Relief hit like a physical object.
"We're going along the cables?"
"There are no alternatives." He reached out his hand. "Hold on tight. Ephraim, secure yourself on my back."
Secured on Zeno's back, we moved forward.
The cable shuddered.
Zeno drove his claws into the icy crust; the ice cracked and shattered into shards, spiraling down into the fog. The cable began to sway. At first, it was barely noticeable. Then it grew stronger, hitting a resonance with the gusts of wind.
I squeezed my eyes shut. My equilibrium revolted. It felt as if we were hanging over the sky rather than the earth.
"Don't look down! Just don't look down!" Ephraim’s raspy shout came from behind. A gust of wind slammed into our right side.
"Zeno!" I screamed as one of his magnetic grippers slid across the iced-over steel.
The cable twisted.
[Critical sensory system overload...]
[Activating protocol: Will to Live...]
Ten meters ahead, a single strand pulsed bright red. An internal cavity. The steel wouldn't hold against the resonance. My eyes burned as if they’d been splashed with acid.
"Zeno! Jump two meters forward!" I yelled. "The cable is hollow! It’s going to snap in three seconds!"
"Iron, my systems do not detect—"
"JUMP!"
A sound tore through the air behind us. The cable we had just stood on snapped. The entire bridge shuddered. We were tossed upward, hanging only by the straps securing us to Zeno.
The digital grid flickered and vanished in a white flash of pain. I buried my face into Zeno’s neck, choking on blood.
"Kid! Kid, are you alive?!" Ephraim’s voice sounded muffled.
"We have reached an intermediate platform," Zeno said.
The swaying stopped. Zeno sank to his knees, steam venting from his joints.
Ephraim cut the straps with trembling hands. I slid off Zeno’s back onto the cold grating of the technical bay and just lay there, staring at the sky. The storm was receding. The clouds were breaking apart, revealing the stars.
Ephraim leaned over me, wiping my face with the edge of his cloak.
"How did you know it would snap?"
"No time, we have to move," I forced out, pushing myself into a sitting position.
"Iron, your pulse exceeds the norm by two hundred percent. Brain activity shows abnormal spikes. You require rest."
"I don't care. That's my normal state," I said. "So lead the way."
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter