Tyrix
TYRIX
T he environmental control sector lay two levels up through maintenance shafts never meant for someone my size. I carried Nalina’s gear along with my own, watching her force her trembling body to climb. The scent of blood grew stronger with each passing minute - the cellular breakdown accelerating faster than even Dr. Gondon had predicted.
“Wait,” Nalina whispered. She pressed her hand against a junction box, fingers finding hidden catches. “Secondary access route. Maintenance uses it when primary systems fail.”
The panel slid aside, revealing a narrow passage that would bypass two security checkpoints. Even dying, she kept finding ways to fight.
“How much further?” I asked, tracking multiple threats through sound and scent.
“Almost there.” She stumbled slightly. “Just need to-”
The passage erupted with weapons fire. Security forces had anticipated our route - three of them in modified tactical gear, their movements unnaturally precise.
I moved to engage, but Nalina caught my arm. “The coolant lines,” she gasped. “Upper left junction.”
Understanding instantly, I adjusted my aim. The pressurized line ruptured exactly as she’d predicted, spraying the corridor with freezing vapor. The security team’s enhanced vision worked against them in the sudden chaos.
Two went down to precise shots before they could adjust. The third got off a wild burst that would have caught me if Nalina hadn’t yanked me sideways - moving faster than any human should be able to. The effort cost her. She sagged against the wall, blood trickling from her nose.
“I’ve got you.” I steadied her with one arm while finishing the last attacker with a clean shot. “Almost there.”
The environmental control center sprawled ahead. My senses caught subtle wrongness - scents that shouldn’t be there, tiny sounds out of place.
“Trap,” I breathed.
Nalina nodded, pressing close to whisper back. “Maintenance access panel. Behind that junction.” She gestured minutely. “If I can reach it...”
A sharp click echoed through the chamber. Automated defense turrets emerged from recessed panels, their targeting systems coming online with deadly precision. At the same time, security forces emerged from hiding - at least six officers with neural control devices glinting at their necks. Behind them, technicians worked at consoles with mechanical efficiency.
“Move!” I pulled Nalina behind a support column as energy blasts carved chunks from the wall. The station’s superstructure groaned in protest.
“They’ve locked down the primary controls,” she gasped, blood trickling from her nose. “But if I can get to that panel...”
I understood her plan instantly. “How long?”
“Twenty seconds.” Her hands shook as she pulled up schematics on her tablet. “Maybe less.”
“You’ll have it.”
I launched myself from cover, drawing the turrets’ fire while Nalina crept along the outer wall. My speed let me stay ahead of the blasts, but only barely. The air crackled with energy as I wove between columns.
Nalina reached the panel just as my luck ran out - a blast caught my leg, sending me sprawling. The turrets realigned, preparing to finish me.
Then every light in the chamber went dark.
The turrets froze mid-rotation as Nalina’s override took effect. When emergency power kicked in thirty seconds later, they remained silent.
“Basic maintenance protocol,” she managed a weak smile. “Everything needs a reset function.”
I caught her as her legs gave out. “Brilliant. But we’re not done.”
The security team had regrouped during the turret chaos. They opened fire as one, their movements showing that same jerky precision we’d seen before.
I moved on pure instinct, decades of combat training taking over. My first shot took down the nearest officer - careful aim striking neural controls rather than killing. The second caught another in the leg as Nalina threw herself toward the main console.
“Cover me!” she called, fingers flying across controls despite her trembling hands.
I did, falling into a rhythm of controlled violence. Each shot precise, each movement calculated to keep their attention on me rather than her. The controlled officers fought with unnatural coordination, but their artificial abilities made them predictable.
A blast caught my shoulder, painting the wall with gray blood. I twisted away from a second shot, taking down two more attackers.
Behind me, Nalina’s breathing grew more labored. I caught glimpses of her working through obvious pain, forcing her failing body to cooperate. The scent of her blood grew stronger.
The first distant explosion caught everyone by surprise. The station shuddered as Dr. Gondon began her work in the lab.
“Sequence initiated,” Nalina called. “Compound distribution beginning in sectors three through seven.”
Warning klaxons screamed to life. Through the station’s comms came Dr. Gondon’s voice:
“To all residents - the initialization protocols have been corrupted. Prepare for emergency shutdown of all primary systems. Medical teams stand by for-”
A second explosion cut off her words. Larger than the first, it sent tremors through the station’s superstructure.
Nalina stumbled, catching herself on the console. Blood streamed freely from her nose now, staining her shirt.
“Almost...” Her voice cracked as she forced herself to keep working. “Almost done.”
The final security officer went down just as new boot steps approached - but these moved differently. Natural. Human.
“Odra sent us!” a familiar voice called. “We’re here to help!”
A team of maintenance workers appeared, led by one of my bar’s regulars. They moved quickly to secure the room and aid the fallen security officers.
“Compound distribution at sixty percent,” Nalina reported.
I caught her before she hit the ground, cradling her against my chest. Her skin burned with unnatural heat.
“Get them to medical,” I ordered the maintenance team, indicating the controlled officers. “The compound should counteract the neural modifications, but they’ll need monitoring.”
“Already on it.” The team leader gestured to his people. “We’ve got crews standing by in all major sectors. The children are safe. Now we just need to-”
The station’s superstructure screamed as the third and largest explosion rocked the lab section. Emergency shutters slammed down across multiple sectors.
“Time to go.” I gathered Nalina closer, feeling the tremors wracking her body. “Can you trigger the final sequence remotely?”
She managed a weak nod, pulling up one last command screen. “Distribution complete. Now we just have to survive the cleanup.”
“Always the hard part.” I headed for the exit, trusting Odra’s people to handle the rest. Right now, only one thing mattered - getting Nalina somewhere safe before her condition deteriorated further.
She buried her face against my neck as I carried her through shuddering corridors. The claiming bite was her only chance now. If I could get her somewhere secure before-
“,” she whispered. “I can’t... everything’s going dark...”
“Stay with me.” I ran faster, following remembered routes toward the secure storage bay we’d used before. “Just a little longer.”
The station’s systems were failing as Dr. Gondon’s destruction sequence reached its peak. But I barely noticed, all my focus on the fading heartbeat of the woman in my arms.
We reached the storage bay just as the emergency lights shifted to red. I sealed the door with shaking hands, laying Nalina on the narrow bunk.
“Hey.” I touched her face gently. “Still with me?”
Her eyes flickered open, fever-bright. “Think so. Did we... did we do it?”
“Yes.” I gathered her closer, breathing in her scent while I still could. “The compound is distributed. The lab is destroyed. You did it.”
“We did it.” She managed a weak smile. “All of us.”
“Nalina.” I brushed hair from her face. “The claiming bite. It’s time.”
“I know.” She tilted her head, baring her throat with complete trust. “Do it.”
I bent to her neck, praying I wasn’t too late.
Praying the changes wouldn’t kill her anyway.
Praying she was strong enough for one last transformation.