Luca made his way through the gala, weaving between guests who laughed and clinked glasses and had no idea what had just happened in a suite fifteen meters above their heads. The polished shoes clicked against marble with every step, their beautiful and expensive design completely wrong for what he was about to do.

  I miss my scout armor. These things might as well be tap shoes.

  He spotted Chris near a service corridor, half-hidden behind a decorative pillar. Four young Varnathi women clustered around him, their jewelry catching the light, laughter spilling from perfectly painted lips. Chris was smiling, saying something that made them lean closer, but his eyes were tracking the security guards by the far door.

  One of the women, her fur a soft gray with silver undertones, had her hand on his arm. Another was touching his shoulder, showing him something on her personal display with exaggerated gestures. Chris's jacket was slightly rumpled, his tie loosened, and there was a faint smudge of lavender lipstick on his jaw that he either hadn't noticed or didn't care about.

  The moment he caught sight of Luca, his smile vanished, replaced by a focused calm.

  He murmured something to the women, probably an excuse about business, and they pouted but drifted away reluctantly, looking back over their shoulders. One of them handed him something small that he pocketed smoothly.

  Luca slipped beside him.

  "Did you get it?" Chris asked, his voice low and urgent.

  Luca pulled the access card from his pocket, holding it long enough for Chris to see before tucking it away.

  Chris's eyes narrowed. "Thirty minutes. You okay?"

  He knows something happened. Of course, he knows.

  "Turns out that encrypted datapad was a quest item after all," Luca said.

  Chris blinked. Then a grin cracked his face. "Fuck Ryan."

  "Yeah."

  Chris wiped at his jaw, looked at the lipstick on his fingers, and shrugged. "Senator Myrath's daughters are informative after three drinks." He pulled the small data chip the woman had given him from his pocket. "Security rotation schedules, guest manifests, vault access protocols. All pillow talk."

  "You didn't."

  "I charmed. There's a difference." Chris tucked the chip away. "And we're running out of time. Guards rotate every ten minutes. We've got four minutes before the next sweep."

  The grin faded. "You sure you're good?"

  No. I feel like the worst kind of thief. But we're on a clock.

  "Yeah," he lied. "Let's move."

  The service corridor ran parallel to the main ballroom. Wide enough for three people to walk abreast, polished floors gleaming, doors lined both sides at regular intervals. Guests lingered in small clusters, drinks in hand, discussing whatever the wealthy discussed when they weren't showing off.

  Staff in formal uniforms wheeled in display cases on anti-grav platforms, each one sealed behind shimmering energy barriers. The staff's activity was clearly in preparation for an auction. Guests gathered around them, pointing and chattering.

  Luca's eyes caught one case as they passed, an impossibly delicate sculpture, probably older than human spaceflight. Another held gene therapy vials promising an extra fifty years of youth, casual immortality for anyone with the credits.

  Chris nudged him. "Keep moving. The real prizes are in the vault."

  Security was heavier here. Guards in powered armor flanked the displays, scanning everyone who passed. There were more patrols moving with quiet efficiency and more cameras watching from every angle. They moved through like they belonged, two more guests admiring merchandise they'd never afford.

  Past the auction area, the corridor narrowed. Ahead, a security checkpoint blocked access to the restricted sections: a transparent barrier, scanner array, and two guards visible on the other side.

  "Two guards at the checkpoint," Chris whispered. "Third one's in the security room, twenty meters past. That's where we need to be."

  "Can you handle two?"

  Chris's smile was all teeth. "I'm insulted you have to ask."

  They approached the checkpoint. Through the transparent security barrier, Luca could see the two guards. Varnathi, both in formal security uniforms that didn't quite hide the armor plating underneath. One was reviewing something on a holographic display. The other was leaning against the wall, bored.

  The scanner array was on their side of the barrier. The guards wouldn't see what he was doing.

  Luca pressed the access card to the scanner.

  The barrier didn't open.

  Shit.

  "Problem?" Chris's voice was tight.

  Luca pulled out his hacking pad. The interface flickered to life, holographic overlays spreading across his vision as it synced with his neural implant. Data streams pulsed across the display. The access card had clearance, but not for this door. The card was cleared for a different security tier.

  Of course. She's the host's daughter, not security personnel.

  "Wrong clearance level," Luca muttered.

  He activated [System Bypass].

  The ability kicked in like a surge of clarity. The security protocols laid themselves bare in his mind, revealing just enough gaps for him to exploit. The system used commercial-grade encryption and enterprise-level authentication, but nothing military-grade.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  [System Bypass] is on a five-minute cooldown. Save it. Use the pad first.

  Working the hacking pad, Luca watched code flow faster than he could consciously process. The System ability guided his hands, highlighting the vulnerabilities, showing him exactly where to inject the bypass script.

  He had only ten seconds before the script failed. As the countdown raced through eight seconds, the security barrier flickered. At five seconds, one of the guards looked up. With only two seconds to spare, the barrier went green.

  The barrier went green.

  The door slid open with a soft hiss.

  Chris moved before Luca could breathe. He lunged through the barrier, grabbing the first guard by the collar and using his momentum to slam the man face-first into the wall. The guard's helmet cracked against the polished stone.

  The second guard reacted, his sidearm half-drawn, but Chris was already spinning. He slapped the weapon away, the pistol clattering to the floor, and drove an elbow into the guard's jaw that sent him sprawling.

  "Don't kill them," Luca hissed.

  "I'm not."

  Chris grabbed the first guard by the ankles, dragging him toward the security room door. "Get the other one. We're clearing the cameras before anyone notices."

  Luca grabbed the second guard's legs, pulling him along. Both Varnathi were out cold, breathing steady but unconscious.

  "Security room," Chris said, nodding ahead.

  They moved down the corridor, dragging the unconscious guards behind them. The third guard sat in a small monitoring station, surrounded by holographic displays showing camera feeds from across the orbital. His back was to the door.

  Chris opened the door so quietly Luca almost didn't hear it. Chris took three silent steps across the floor before the guard started to turn. Chris's hand clamped over his mouth, yanking him backward out of his chair. He put the man in a chokehold, and after a brief struggle, the guard went limp.

  Chris lowered the unconscious Varnathi to the floor beside the other two.

  Luca stepped into the security room, and his breath caught.

  The holographic displays showed dozens of camera feeds, sensor grids, patrol routes, and thermal overlays. This was military-grade surveillance for a luxury orbital.

  "Holy shit," Luca breathed.

  Chris was already at the main console, working the haptic interfaces. "Give me two minutes. I can loop the feeds, but the system will detect it eventually."

  Luca scanned the displays. His eyes locked onto one feed showing a series of descending corridors. At the bottom sat a heavy vault door, fortified with biometric locks and shimmering energy barriers.

  That's it. That's where the artifact is.

  "Found it," he said, pointing.

  Chris looked at the feed. "That's six levels down. Through two more security checkpoints, a laser grid, and..." He zoomed in on the feed. "Is that a fucking sentry turret?"

  "Looks like it."

  "Of course it is." Chris exhaled. "Alright. I'll handle the cameras. You take one of these." He pulled two earpieces from the unconscious guard's equipment belt, tossing one to Luca.

  Luca fitted it into his ear. The device synced immediately, and Chris's voice came through crystal clear.

  "Testing. You hear me?"

  "Loud and clear."

  Chris turned back to the console, his engineer's brain lighting up. "Look at this interface. Holographic haptic controls. This is at least two tech levels beyond anything Earth's cooked up." He worked the display, pulling data. "I'm grabbing a copy of the system architecture. Ryan's going to lose his mind."

  "Chris."

  "Right, cameras. I'm on it."

  The holographic feeds flickered, looping back on themselves. To anyone monitoring, the corridors below would look empty.

  "You've got maybe ten minutes before the system flags the loop," Chris said. "After that, they'll know someone's in the network."

  "Ten minutes. I got it."

  "Don't die down there."

  "Wasn't planning on it."

  Leaving the security room behind, Luca moved deeper into the facility. He stepped into the service lift, the doors hissing shut as it began a smooth, silent descent. Adrenaline surged through him, sharper than combat. One mistake and the mission was over. The lift opened onto a stark, gray corridor lined with exposed conduits and cameras. The lift opened onto a stark, gray corridor lined with exposed conduits and a daunting number of cameras.

  "I see you," Chris's voice crackled in his ear. "You're clear for the next junction. Left corridor, twenty meters."

  Luca moved, his dress shoes clicking loudly on the metal grating. He gritted his teeth.

  Should've brought my boots.

  The corridor split ahead. Left toward the vault, right toward maintenance tunnels.

  He went left.

  "Stop."

  Luca froze.

  "There's a patrol incoming. Two guards, about sixty seconds out."

  Not enough time to double back.

  Scanning the corridor, Luca spotted an alcove filled with storage panels. Barely enough space if he pressed himself flat.

  He activated [Silent Step].

  The ability washed over him, absolute quiet smothering every sound. Footsteps vanished. Breathing went silent. Even the rustle of his clothes disappeared into nothing.

  The ability would only last for ten seconds.

  Pressing his back against the storage panel, he slipped into the alcove just as the guards rounded the corner, two Varnathi in light combat armor with rifles slung over their shoulders, talking in low voices.

  They walked past, their distance closing from five meters to three, then to just one.

  One of them stopped.

  Shit.

  The guard turned, looking directly at the alcove. His ears flicked. His tail twitched.

  Luca didn't breathe.

  With only five seconds left on [Silent Step], the guard's hand drifted toward his rifle. The timer ticked down to three.

  "You coming?" the other guard called back.

  The first guard hesitated. Then shrugged. "Yeah. Thought I heard something."

  "Probably just the ventilation. This level always sounds weird."

  They moved on. Disappeared around the corner.

  [Silent Step] faded.

  Luca exhaled, his heart hammering.

  "You're clear," Chris said. "But we're down to eight minutes on the camera loop."

  "I'm moving."

  The next junction opened onto a wider corridor. At the far end was a security checkpoint, complete with transparent barriers and humming scanner arrays. And beyond it, the laser grid.

  Red beams crisscrossed the corridor in a pattern that looked impossible to navigate, pulsing in a sequence: on for three seconds, off for two, cycling through different configurations.

  "That's going to be a problem," Chris said.

  Luca activated [Predictive Modeling].

  The ability surged through his mind. The laser grid's pattern crystallized in his vision, showing the current configuration and the next ten cycles. He could see the gaps in the pattern, the precise timing needed, and the exact sequence of movements required to get through.

  "I can do it," Luca said.

  "You sure?"

  "No. But I'm doing it anyway."

  He approached the security checkpoint. The scanner arrays hummed, sweeping the corridor with invisible fields. He pulled out the access card.

  A green light flashed as the barrier slid open.

  One down.

  Beyond the checkpoint, the laser grid waited. Standing at the edge, Luca watched the beams cycle. ...pulsing in a relentless sequence of three seconds on and two seconds off. Each cycle shifted the pattern.

  His [Predictive Modeling] overlay crystallized the path ahead. Step left. Duck. Roll right. Wait. Step forward. Duck again.

  This is insane.

  "Luca, you've got six minutes."

  Into the grid he went.

  First beam blinked off. Moving left, he slid past where it had been. Second beam activated above him, dropping him into a crouch, the heat of the energy barrier inches from his head.

  The third beam was next. Rolling right, he came up in a low stance. Fourth beam activated diagonal, forcing him flat against the wall as it swept past.

  Halfway there.

  His dress shoe caught on the grating. He stumbled.

  The fifth beam activated.

  Luca threw himself forward, hitting the floor hard. The beam passed over him, so close he could smell ozone.

  "Luca?"

  "I'm fine."

  He wasn't fine. His ribs hurt. His palms were scraped. But he was through.

  The laser grid ended at another door. This one was different: a reinforced door secured by a triple-layered biometric lock requiring a retinal scan, handprint authentication, and voice recognition.

  This is the inner vault entrance.

  "Chris, I'm at the final door. It's got everything."

  "Yeah, I see it on the feed. That's beyond what the access card can handle. You need someone with authorization."

  Staring at the door, Luca's mind raced. The access card had carried him this far, but not through this. He needed—

  A sound behind him, soft and deliberate, broke the silence. The kind someone makes when they want you to know they're there.

  Luca turned.

  Twenty meters down the corridor, Nisede stood partially obscured by shadow. Gone was the gala dress. In its place was a sleek, form-fitting scout suit of top-of-the-line infiltration gear, black with silver accents. Her tail swayed behind her, slow and deliberate.

  A plasma pistol in her hand aimed directly at his chest.

  Golden eyes caught the dim light.

  "Hello, Luca," she said softly. "I think we need to talk."