Chapter 4 - The Outcast Engineer
Maya climbed for hours, descending into the colossal, whirring cavern of the city’s thermal grid. The air here vibrated with low-frequency humming. Massive pistons pumped rhythmically, draining the stolen warmth from the Dregs.
She collapsed on a metal catwalk, exhausted, tearing into a piece of bread from the rucksack to feed Sam.
"You shouldn't be down here, rat."
Maya jumped, pulling a heavy wrench from her belt. Stepping out of the shadows was a tall, gaunt man. He wore the tattered remnants of a Zenith Engineering uniform, his face half-scarred by a plasma burn.
"Stay back!" Maya warned, holding the wrench high.
The man raised his hands in surrender. "Easy. I’m Silas. I used to build these pipes. Until I found out what they were pumping." He looked at Sam, his eyes widening as he saw the faint, unnatural heat radiating from the boy’s skin. "Ignis. You’re carrying a live wire, kid."
"I need to get him out of the city," Maya said fiercely. "Madame Aris sent me."
Silas’s face fell. "If Aris is dead, the extraction routes are compromised. The Enforcers will lock down the borders. There’s only one way to stop them from hunting him."
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"How?"
"We don't run," Silas said, looking up at the glowing pipes leading to the Zenith Sector. "We break the machine. We overload the Central Thermal Engine. But to do that, we need the Governor’s command key."
