Miyu didn't think—she reacted.
Her hand shot out, fingers clawing at the nearest server rack. With a grunt, she yanked it forward, sending it crashing down between her and the X-9. Sparks erupted as metal screamed against metal, the impact shaking the floor. The cyborg didn't flinch—just tilted its head, sensor pulsing red as it calculated her next move.
"Compliance is survival," it repeated, Kai's voice dripping with synthetic calm.
"Fuck your compliance," Miyu snarled.
She grabbed a shattered piece of server casing—jagged, sharp—and hurled it at the flickering screen behind her. Glass exploded. The distorted woman's face warped into static just as the room's emergency lighting kicked in, bathing everything in pulsing crimson.
The X-9 stepped over the fallen rack like it was nothing.
Miyu bolted for the far door, shoulder-checking it open. A hallway, narrow and lined with leaking pipes. Somewhere ahead, the distant hum of a generator. Somewhere behind, the steady, unhurried footsteps of something that didn't need to rush.
It knew she couldn't outrun it.
So she wouldn't try.
Ducking into a side passage, Miyu slapped her palm against a rusted electrical panel. The cover gave way with a screech, revealing a nest of frayed wires. Her neural drive was already in her other hand.
"Come on, come on—"
She jammed the drive into the exposed wiring. The chip inside flared hot, its corrupted data surging into the building's grid.
The lights died.
Then—a scream. Not human. Not even organic. The X-9's systems glitched, its limbs seizing as the corrupted signal tore through its programming. Its sensor flickered wildly, cycling through colors before settling on error-blue.
Miyu didn't wait to see how long it would last.
She ran.
Miyu bursts onto the rooftop, the city's neon glow painting her in sickly colors. The air tastes like acid rain.
Behind her, the stairwell door explodes off its hinges.
The X-9 stands there, its left arm twisted and sparking, its sensor locked onto her.
"Miyu Aoki."
But this time, its voice isn't Kai's.
It's hers.
YOU ARE READING
A Bug in the Code
Mystery / ThrillerIn a totalitarian cyber-surveillance state, Miyu is a brilliant but laid-back hacker who makes a living off other people's data to survive. When she stumbles upon a hidden encryption tied to a vanished resistance group, she's thrust into a deadly ga...
