Round 71 Transcript

As Silra's fingers continue to dance across her interface, the catwalk's lights flicker and dim, casting eerie shadows on the walls. The countdown timer on the control panel now reads 3:10 minutes. Suddenly, a section of the catwalk's floor gives way beneath Halie's feet, sending her stumbling into the air with a cry of alarm. Her shield magic flares wildly as she struggles to regain balance, her hand grasping for the nearest handhold. The pressure plates on the catwalk trigger a loud, piercing alarm that echoes through the tunnel, and the motion sensors in the ceiling spring to life, bathing the area in a blinding flash of light. The blind spot created by Silra's hacking is now just 45 seconds away from expiring. Jeane's wings beat rapidly as she swoops down to catch Halie, her glowing hand outstretched to steady her companion. "We need to move, now!" she growls, her voice low and urgent.

I grab onto Jeane's outstretched arm with desperate strength, my shield magic flaring around us both to keep us from plunging into the waters below. My heart hammers in my chest from the sudden near-fall—and the rising dread that clings to this place like the smell of decay itself. "Thank you," I gasp, pulling myself up onto the catwalk with clumsy movements. "But we can't stay here—Silra's blind spot won't last long." My eyes lock on hers as I try to catch my breath despite the panic rising in my throat. "And I don't think whatever died back there was human either. We need to move forward, but carefully."

I gesture to the intersection ahead with a shaky hand while keeping my shield magic active around us all. "If we're going to trigger those alarms anyway, let's do it on our terms instead of waiting for them to find us here." My voice wavers slightly despite my best efforts at control—fear and faith warring within me over whether this is a leap into salvation or damnation. But there's no good option left behind us either way.

Fuck this—we're moving now while we still have cover! Halie, stay close behind me and keep that shield up! I don't care about the pressure plates anymore—the alarms are already triggered. Silra, can you at least extend that blind spot for another minute? We need to get past that intersection before full systems come back online. My demon senses are screaming something's waiting for us halfway down this fucking walkway—and we're walking into it blind! This whole setup stinks worse than the floodwaters. They wanted us here—this is a killing ground, not just security. I'm not letting whatever died in that maintenance tunnel become us! We go forward fast and aggressive before they regroup from the alarm noise. My wings flare once as I draw more power into my hands—ready to incinerate anything that moves on this catwalk. We've got maybe sixty seconds until we're visible again if Silra can't extend it. That's not enough time to pick our way across minefields while blind and exposed! Either we trust in speed or we turn back and hope the rising waters don't drown us before whatever's in those walls finds us! So here's how this goes: I'll fly ahead scouting, drop a few fireballs into likely hiding spots. Halie covers our rear with that shield magic—if something comes from behind, push it off the walkway or blast it back! Silra keeps eyes on every camera and sensor she can access while moving forward. We're not here to make friends or find answers anymore—we're here to survive whatever corporate hell they cooked up in this fucking subway! Move your asses in three seconds or I'm going without you! [Jeane's demonic senses extend ahead, detecting multiple heat signatures clustering around the intersection—at least four entities, possibly more. The sweet decay smell intensifies as they approach the first pressure plate. Her hands glow with dark energy ready to unleash.]