The interchange hub was a cavernous ruin, a forgotten nexus of Rusthaven's ancient transit system. Filtered light from cracks in the distant cylinder hull cast long, dusty shafts across derelict platforms and rusted-out train husks.
It was eerily silent after the chaos of the tunnels, the only sounds their ragged breathing and the distant drip of water.
Kai had led them here through a series of collapsing service passages, losing the UGF pursuit, for now. The Crows were depleted – Anya was stable but needed proper medical attention, and several others had injuries. Morale was low, supplies critically diminished.
Alex felt like he'd been put through a grinder. The raw electrical absorption had left an unsettling buzz beneath his skin, a wild, untamed energy that felt fundamentally different from the refined power of Gene Cores. His Echoes were still strangely muted, as if the EMP-like discharge had wiped parts of his psychic slate clean, for better or worse. He felt… raw. Exposed.
Voss was using a salvaged med-scanner on him, her brow furrowed. "Your cellular structure is… fluctuating. The Absorber Gene is working overtime to stabilize the foreign energy signatures. That raw electrical intake was like feeding pure, unrefined ore into a high-tech smelter. It's producing power, but also a lot of… byproducts."
She indicated a series of erratic spikes on her scanner. "Instability. You need rest, Alex. And a controlled environment to process these energies."
"No rest for the wicked, Doc," Kai interjected, approaching them. His usual cynicism was edged with weariness.
"That UGF spook, the puppeteer? He'll have reported every detail to Zane. They know our general location, they know Alex can improvise WMDs out of spare parts, and they know he's this 'Chimera-Alpha.' They won't just send hunters anymore. They'll send an army, or try to gas us out, or drop the whole damn sector into the star."
Lena joined them, her datapad displaying a worrying schematic. "Kai's right. UGF comms are lit up. They're sealing off all known major access points to the lower Warrens and the old transit system. They're treating this like a full-blown insurrection, with Alex as the prime instigator." She looked at Alex with a mixture of awe and fear. "You've officially broken their playbook, Alex."
"So, what's our playbook?" Alex asked, his voice raspy.
Kai sighed, running a hand through his grimy hair. "Survival, for now. This hub is defensible for a short period. It has multiple unlisted access shafts to even deeper, older sections of Rusthaven, places the UGF barely has on their maps. We can disappear for a while, regroup."
He looked at Voss. "Doc, you said you had contacts. People outside Rusthaven? Anywhere we could take Anya, get Alex some actual help beyond your field kit?"
Voss hesitated. "There are… a few. Disgraced academics, rogue traders, people who owe me favors from my UGF days. Mostly on the Outer Rim frontier worlds. Getting there would be the problem. We're UGF's Most Wanted. No reputable transport will touch us. And any unregistered ship leaving this system will be scanned, likely interdicted."
A heavy silence fell. They were trapped on Rusthaven, with the UGF tightening the noose.
Alex focused on the faint, persistent buzz of the absorbed electrical energy. It felt volatile, but also potent. He thought of the officer's Null-Field. An energy dampener. What if…
"Voss, that Null-Field," he began slowly. "It disrupts Gene Core energies. Does it affect all energy signatures? Or just the specific frequencies of Cores?"
Voss considered. "The schematics I saw years ago suggested it created a broad-spectrum dampening effect, but it was most effective against refined Core emissions. Raw, chaotic energy like the pulse you generated… that seemed to overwhelm its finer-tuned disruption matrices. Why?"
"The officer had a personal cloaking field," Alex mused. "Not Core-based, you said. More… technological."
"Correct," Kai affirmed. "Standard UGF Spec Ops issue. Good, but not infallible, and a massive power drain."
"If I could absorb the principles of that Null-Field," Alex theorized, his mind racing despite his exhaustion, "not just to negate, but to control energy signatures… maybe I could create a localized stealth field. Not invisibility, but… a way to dampen our energy readings enough to slip past UGF scanners."
Lena looked intrigued. "A mobile energy sink? Theoretically, if you could absorb and then selectively project a nullifying aura… it would be like creating a localized 'dead zone' for sensors."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "You're talking about turning yourself into a walking cloaking device for a small group? The power requirements alone… Alex, you almost fried yourself with that EMP stunt."
"But I learned from it," Alex insisted. The thought of the officer's cool, analytical Echo gave him a strange sort of focus. "He adapted. I can too."
His alien vision flickered again. The crystalline city, the tall, light-robed figures. This time, one of them turned, and for an instant, Alex felt an overwhelming sense of calm, of ancient wisdom, and a focused projection of… shielding. Not a physical barrier, but an energy one, subtle and incredibly advanced. The glyph pulsed, and the resonant chime echoed, clearer now, almost like a guiding tone.
"There's more to this Absorber Gene than just copying powers," Alex said, more to himself than the others. "It's about understanding energy itself."
Just then, one of Kai's perimeter scouts ran in, breathless. "Boss! UGF drones spotted at the Delta-7 access tunnel! Small ones, look like long-range scanners, not attack models."
"They're probing," Kai said grimly. "Mapping us out before the big push." He looked at Alex. "Your cloaking idea? If you think you can pull it off, now would be a good time for a miracle."
But as Alex focused, trying to grasp the principles of energy dampening, trying to replicate that alien sense of shielding, a crippling wave of pain and nausea hit him. The raw electrical energy he'd absorbed surged uncontrollably, conflicting violently with the refined Gene Core imprints still lingering in his system.
He collapsed, crying out, his body convulsing. His skin flickered with erratic blue sparks and faint orange plasma trails.
"Alex!" Voss shouted, dropping to his side. Her scanner blared a piercing alarm. "Systemic energy cascade! His powers are fighting each other! The unrefined electrical energy is destabilizing the Core imprints! He's tearing himself apart from the inside!"
The Echoes, no longer muted, roared back with a vengeance, a terrifying symphony of conflicting wills and traumatic memories. The Enforcer. The Lieutenant. Scarface. The officer. Kai. All swirling, threatening to shatter his consciousness.
He was a living weapon, and he was about to self-destruct.