Neon Remnant

Sol groaned as he shifted, his body aching from the impact. The explosion had caved in most of the structure above, leaving the bunker buried under a mess of twisted metal and shattered concrete. Dust filled the air, thick and suffocating, settling into his lungs with every breath. The room he was in remained intact, but the exits were either blocked or under heavy debris, trapping him below.

His first priority—finding a way out of the bunker.

His fingers twitched as he activated the ACE System, feeding it environmental data. A detailed scan materialized in his vision, outlining the collapsed structure above him. The bunker was still holding, but barely. Cracks ran along the ceiling, and some sections were on the verge of collapse. He needed to be careful; any unnecessary disturbance might bury him alive.

He gritted his teeth and took slow, measured breaths. The ACE System highlighted potential escape routes, marking areas where he could move without causing further structural damage. Most of the bunker's primary exits were compromised. His usual way out was buried. The secondary hatch? Inaccessible. He cross-referenced the schematics of the building with his current position.

Main door? Gone. Secondary hatch? Blocked. Emergency tunnel…

There.

The schematic displayed a ventilation shaft leading to an underground maintenance corridor. It was narrow and unstable, but it was intact. If he could reach it, he could crawl through and bypass the surface patrols.

But first, he had to make it there.

A deep breath steadied him. His spiders skittered ahead, scouting the passage for obstructions while he recalibrated his plan. The ACE System highlighted the safest route, marking loose debris and potential hazards. He'd have to move fast—DreamCorp wouldn't take long to realize he was still alive.

As he moved through the dimly lit passage, his mind raced. Every step forward had to be calculated. The ACE System fed him environmental updates in real time, but it couldn't predict human error—his own or anyone else's. He needed to anticipate every possible variable.

*How long until they find this place? An hour? Less?* DreamCorp was relentless; they wouldn't just leave the wreckage untouched. If they suspected someone had survived, they'd be digging through the debris within minutes. He had to assume they were already on their way.

*I need a distraction. Something that makes them look somewhere else.*

Sol adjusted his strategy. His plan had been to slip away quietly if possible, but if DreamCorp was already locking down the area then there was nowhere he could run without being seeing, he needed to create noise—controlled chaos. His fingers tapped against the side of his bag, feeling for the flash grenades. He had rigged them to go off at a distance, making it seem like someone was trying to escape through the opposite end of the rubble. That alone wouldn't be enough. He needed to buy himself more time.

His hand reached deeper into the bag, fingers brushing against the custom signal scrambler. He pulled it out and quickly checked over the frequency settings again. The device would send out a short-range pulse, disrupting DreamCorp's comms and creating static interference in their open channels, he could no afford any mishaps. With careful placement, it would mimic the digital signature of a distress signal—something their forces couldn't ignore.

Sol worked fast, sending his spiders to place the scrambler near the outer perimeter while another set of spiders carried the grenades to strategic locations. As soon as the scrambler activated, DreamCorp would see movement in their system, and within moments, the grenades would detonate, simulating an attempted escape. The overlapping chaos would force their forces to react, pulling resources away from their methodical search.

It wouldn't hold them for long, but every second counted.

A notification flickered in his vision—his spiders had mapped a clear route to the ventilation shaft. The structure was old, rusted in places, but it would hold long enough for him to get through. Sol exhaled slowly. *One shot at this.*

He crawled forward, careful to make as little noise as possible. Every scrape of his boots against the metal felt deafening in the suffocating silence. The space was tight, forcing him to maneuver awkwardly, his shoulders scraping against the rusted walls. Jagged edges of broken metal bit into his forearms, leaving thin, stinging cuts that burned with every movement. His breathing grew shallow as dust coated his throat, making it harder to swallow. His body was still sore, but the adrenaline helped, numbing the pain for now. He adjusted his weight, wincing as another sharp edge nicked his side, but he pushed through, moving with controlled precision as he reached the shaft's entrance.

He took a final glance at the wreckage behind him, committing the scene to memory. The place where his teacher had spent years building something revolutionary—now nothing more than dust and rubble. His chest tightened, but he forced himself to focus. *Later.* Right now, survival was the only thing that mattered.

With a final push, Sol slipped into the vent and disappeared into the darkness.