Chapter Text
The static hiss of the radio filled the lab, punctuated by Tobias's amused chuckle.
"Francis, you seeing this? She scanned an Abandoned Car?"
Francis smirked from behind a cracked monitor. "That's not just an 'Abandoned Car', it's a Honeypot. See how the car has all of its doors, wheels, and panels attached? That's a trick to hide itself. She knows what she's doing."
"She always does," Tobias said, leaning back in his chair, feet propped on the console, fingers twiddling with a pen. Outside the thick, pitted windows, the clouds hung low. In the Mid-Zone the wether was mostly rain, dark clouds, foggy, but not today. It was actualy quiet peacefull for once.
Somewhere in the Outer-Zone: (y/n), the mute driver of the remnet car, — moving like a ghost between collapsed walls and moss-covered furniture, collecting parts, scanning nearby anomalys, collecting data for Tobias and Francis. She was in her element.
Then the alarm went off.
The old metal speakers screeched to life, a warning for the incoming storm. Francis and Tobias froze, the atmosphere shifting instantly.
"Storm," Francis said, already pushing his chair toward the main console, booting up the tracking systems.
Tobias stood slowly, eyes fixed on the monitor. "She heard it too."
On the screen, (y/n) was already moving. Not panicked — just faster. She broke into a run toward the car parked on the cracked remains of a driveway. She knew how dangaures these storms can be, she alredy made sure she had in exit in case of a strom aproching. She just had to get into the car and drive just a few miles, thankfully the exit gateway was not that far. Mud clung to her boots as she neard the car. Her gloved hand reached for the door handle.
But then-
Then the ground lit up beneath her.
A burst of yellow energy — like sunfire erupting from beneath the earth — flared with no warning. (y/n) didn't even had time to react as the anomaly, the Shaker, tossed her into the air. Her body flew — weightless for a second — then she plummeted backwards off a nearby ridge.
"(y/n)!!! No—no no no—" Tobias scrambled forward, hand gripping the edge of the desk.
The camera feed from (y/n) headpice whirled and then crashed into darkness. The image steadied slowly underwater, murky and dim. Bubbles swirled up. (y/n) didn't move.
"Oh no," Francis whispered in horror.
Tobias's throat was tight. "Franics, we have to do something!"
"We can't— we're too far—"
"She is going to drown!"
Time hung. On the screen, stillness.
Then, a twitch. Her fingers. A convulsion.
(y/n) jolted awake.
Bubbles burst from her mouth as she scrambled upward. Muffled sounds, gasps. Her body twisted and clawed at the water, breaking the surface. Light spilled through the trees above the lake indicating that the storm was coming. She coughed violently when she finaly managed to swim up.
"She's alive," Tobias breathed.
But Francis was pale, already checking the scanner. "The storm's nearly there. She has seconds."
Onscreen, (y/n) dragged herself to the edge of the lake and began scrambling up the muddy ridge, boots slipping, one hand pressed against her ribs. She didn't stop. She climbed. She need to push the pain aside and get out befor the storm eats her alive.
She reached the top.
The Shaker anomaly flashed again, but she veered wide, breath ragged. She reached the car. The camera swayed violently as she fell into the seat and slammed the door.
"She's moving," Francis said, eyes darting over maps. "But it's too far. She won't make to the gateway in time."
Tobias's jaw tightened. "Options."
"There aren't any—unless..." Francis's voice trailed off.
Tobias snapped his head toward him. "Unless what?"
"I could try to redirect a gateway. Force an override. Pull her here."
"To the lab?"
"Yes."
"Do it."
"It might kill her." Francis's hands hovered over the console. "I never did this befor. What if the energy—"
"Francis she'll die if we don't try!"
Francis stared at him, he was clearly afraid that something could go wrong, but Tobias was right. there was no time. Francis nodded and turned to his equipment.
The screen showed (y/n) gripping the wheel, her hands bleeding. The car trembled as the storm began to close in — thick clouds rolling like liquid thunder behind her. Radiation shimmered in the rearview mirror. The edges of the windshield began to bubble and melt. Her nose started bleeding.
"Come on, come on... Please work. Please!" Francis muttered, fingers flying. Sparks lit the console. The lights in the lab flickered.
A groaning metallic scream tore through the audio feed. The dashboard lit up red. (y/n) skin burned. She blinked hard, trying to stay focused. Breathing shallow. Her vision blurred.
And then— light.
A glowing rift burst open in front of her, a Gateway. Francis roared over the radio, "NOW!"
The car surged in it.
The feed crackled, distorted — then cut to black.
A moment of silence. Tobias and Francis froze, afraid of the thought that (y/n) didn't make it.
Then, from deep within the base — a crash. A screech of tearing metal. Something massive landing.
The two men flinched from the sound. They shared a quick glance before they both begann to run.
-
Tobias and Francis burst through the door to the garage. The scent of ozone was thick, metallic, sharp enough to sting the back of their throats. Smoke curled in the air. The lights overhead flickered wildly.
The car, (y/n) car, sat skewed across the floor, its hood half-melted, steam rising in twisting trails. Inside, hunched over the wheel, was (y/n).
But something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
Suddenly her entire body erupted with sparks. She shot up and pushed herself out of the car in an attempt to escape the pain, but she fell to the floor.
Tobias and Francis watched horrorfied as tendrils of electricity rippled across her limbs, crawling up her arms, dancing through her hair like living static. Her back arched as she twitched violently, eyes wide but unfocused, if she had a voice she would screm right now. Her fingers scraped the concrete floor — then clenched into it with such force her nails cracked against the surface.
Tobias froze. "Oh my god..."
Francis took a step forward — and immediately jerked back as a lash of raw electricity lashed out, sparking inches from his face.
"She's discharging," he whispered, panicked. "She's still connected — something went wrong with the gate energy! She's—"
(y/n) spasmed, sparks still crackling from her skin. Her breaths came in short, brutal gasps.
"Tobias we can't get close!" Francis shouted, throwing his arms up as another arc burst from her boots, slamming into the wall with a loud snap.
Tobias's mind raced. The gateway override. The unstable readings. The rift wasn't fully tuned. She didn't just come through it — she absorbed it.
"I've got it," he muttered, spinning on his heel.
He dashed across the garage to the power grid panel. Fingers trembling, he tore open the rusted door, ignoring the sharp edge that sliced across his palm. Blood smeared the switches as he found the master relay and yanked it down with all his strength.
The lights died.
The hum vanished.
Silence dropped like a stone.
In the pitch-black garage, their eyes adjusted slowly. The final flickers of electricity sparked from (y/n) body — one... two... then silence. She lay still.
Francis sprinted to her side, falling to his knees. "(y/n)? Can you hear me?"
Tobias shoved the breaker back up and ran to them. The overhead lights buzzed faintly back to life, casting dim, unsteady light across the scene.
She was unconscious. Her face pale and bruised, a burn across her temple. Her lips were cracked, her suit scorched, soaked through and half-torn from the blast.
Francis pressed two fingers to her neck. "Pulse."
Tobias let out a breath that turned into a choked sob. "She's alive..."
"She's barely breathing."
They wasted no time. Francis gently tilted her to the side while Tobias cut away the straps of her harness. The fabric of her jacket peeled back — soaked, heavy, and scorched. Tobias hesitated only for a moment, then pulled her suit the rest of the way off with shaking hands.
"She's freezing," Francis muttered. "She is still wet. Still leaking charge. We need to dry her off. Get her core temperature up. Move."
Together, they lifted her and carried her out of the garage, down the main hallway of the lab. Lights sputtered overhead as they moved through narrow halls of cold concrete.
They laid her out on a med cot. Tobias grabbed a towel, then another, and they carefully began wiping down her skin — her legs, her back, her arms. Francis checked for more burns along her ribs, wincing at the darkening bruises blooming there.
Tobias brought the medical kit. Antiseptic stung the air. They patched her shoulder, wrapped her wrist, sealed a gash on her thigh. Each wound drew a breath from Tobias's lungs, each mark a punch to the gut.
Francis's hands trembled as he checked her heartbeat again and again. Still there. Weak, but there.
"She's strong, Francis. She will make it." Tobias said quietly trying to calm Francis nerves.
"I know.... i know. But seeing her like this ...." Francis awnsered with a trembeling voice.
Tobias pulled out an old hoodie. Black, with faded letters of ARDA.
"It's way to big for her, but better than nothing," he murmured, half to himself.
They pulled it over her carefully, arms through sleeves, cloth against bruises. It hung loose and warm, hiding the worst of the burns, offering some comfort.
Then they sat. One on each side of the cot. Tobias leaned his head back against the cold wall. Francis rubbed the blood from his hands with a stained cloth and let it drop to the floor.
They just watched her — the quiet rise and fall of her chest — and tried to steady the pounding in their own.
They had nearly lost her and the two men would not leave (y/n) until they know, she is alright.