The deafening, multi-ton hum of the Level 2 cooling turbines vibrated straight up through the soles of Will's boots.
The Vanguard cut through the final maintenance hatch, dropping onto the poly-glass floor of the Central Comms Relay. It was the digital throat of the Alpha Silo. The room was a sprawling, cylindrical monolith of black glass, dominated by a towering central server bank that pulsed with thick, blue fiber-optic cables like an exposed mechanical nervous system.
The harsh, rotating glare of the red emergency strobes swept the room, casting long, erratic shadows that danced against the pristine walls.
"We have a breach in Sector Two! All units converge!" a frantic corporate security dispatcher screamed over an unencrypted radio channel, the audio bleeding from a secondary terminal.
Maddie didn't wait for Will's order. She sprinted across the room, the heavy steel of her boots slapping against the glass floor.
