As Mara grew more involved with the Pulse, she uncovered pieces of her brother's last movements. He had been working on a piece of code—something powerful enough to disrupt the Syndicate's entire operation. But before he could deploy it, he vanished.
Her search led her to the city's elite—a circle of tech moguls and politicians who lived high above the common streets in luxurious penthouses. Their wealth and power were tied directly to the Syndicate, and if she wanted answers, she would have to confront them.
With Cassian's help, Mara infiltrated one of their lavish parties. Hidden among the glittering lights and endless champagne, she discovered that her brother had made enemies far more dangerous than she had imagined. But she also found a lead—a cryptic message hidden in the code of the city's security system. It was from her brother, and it pointed to a location deep in the heart of the underground.
The city's sprawling underworld was a labyrinth of forgotten alleys, collapsed tunnels, and makeshift markets. It stretched far beneath the glossy streets and towers where the Syndicate's control was absolute. Down here, under the neon lights that never shut off, the rules were different. It was a place for the desperate, the outcasts, and the ones the Syndicate had discarded.
Mara felt the weight of it pressing down on her as she followed Cassian deeper into the maze. The further they went, the darker the alleyways became, and the more she felt the city itself closing in around her. The air was thick with the smell of oil, burning trash, and rusted metal. Shadows loomed everywhere, some of them moving, some of them just tricks of the eye.
"You sure this contact of yours is still down here?" Mara asked, her voice echoing off the narrow walls.
Cassian barely glanced over his shoulder. "If he's smart, he is. But smart doesn't last long around here."
They turned a corner, emerging into a wider space where the remnants of an old street market lingered. The stalls were abandoned, the goods long gone, leaving only broken structures and debris behind. It was eerily quiet, save for the faint hum of an overloaded power line somewhere in the distance.
Mara scanned the area, her senses on high alert. This place felt wrong. Too empty. Too quiet.
Cassian stopped beside an old graffiti-covered wall and crouched down. He pried open a rusted vent hidden behind a pile of scrap metal, revealing a small, narrow passage just wide enough to crawl through. He looked up at Mara, his face grim.
"This is the way," he said, his tone clipped. "Once we're in, there's no turning back."
Mara knelt beside him, peering into the dark tunnel. It smelled like damp earth and metal, and the faint sound of water dripping echoed inside. "How far does it go?"
"All the way to the Heart," Cassian replied. "This tunnel leads right beneath the Syndicate's central district. We'll come up close to the Core's perimeter."
Mara's heart skipped a beat at the mention of the Core. She had heard about the Core since she was a child—about how it held the city's secrets, how it was a fortress of information. No one really knew how deep the Core's control ran, only that it was the Syndicate's greatest weapon. If Elias had gotten close to it, that meant he had been closer to the truth than anyone else.
"Let's go," Mara said, steeling herself.
Cassian went first, sliding into the narrow passage with practiced ease. Mara followed, crawling through the tight, claustrophobic tunnel. The metal scraped against her jacket, and the air grew cooler the further they went. The sound of dripping water became more constant, and the tunnel sloped downward, leading them deeper into the city's hidden infrastructure.
For several long minutes, they crawled in silence, the tunnel becoming increasingly tighter and more oppressive. Mara's knees ached, and her hands were slick with grime from the damp metal beneath her. The only light came from the faint glow of Cassian's wrist device, illuminating the path just enough to keep moving.
After what felt like an eternity, they finally reached a dead end—a solid metal grate blocking their path. Cassian stopped, bracing himself against the grate and motioning for Mara to hold back. He pulled a small device from his jacket, a black, sleek piece of tech that hummed quietly as he held it against the grate.
"This will take a minute," he muttered, his eyes focused on the task at hand. "The gate's got a low-level security lock, but we can bypass it."
Mara leaned against the cold wall of the tunnel, catching her breath. Her mind raced, thinking about what they might find on the other side of that gate. She didn't trust Cassian—not fully—but she needed him. He knew this city in ways she didn't. He had connections she couldn't access. But there was something about him, something just beneath the surface, that made her wary.
"I've been meaning to ask," Mara said quietly, breaking the silence. "Why are you really helping me? This isn't your fight."
Cassian didn't look up from the device. "It is now."
Mara narrowed her eyes. "That's not an answer."
He paused, his fingers hovering over the grate for a moment before he sighed. "Look, the Syndicate took things from me, too. People. Places. My life. You're not the only one with a score to settle."
"But you're not with the Pulse," Mara pressed. "You're not a revolutionary. You've been playing both sides since I met you."
Cassian's eyes flicked toward her, hard and cold. "Playing both sides is the only way to survive in this city, Mara. You of all people should know that."
Mara's jaw tightened. He was right, in a way. Survival in this city meant making compromises, cutting deals, and staying one step ahead of the people who wanted to bury you. But she wasn't here to survive. She was here to find her brother.
Cassian returned to the lock, working in silence for a few more moments before the grate gave a soft click and slid open. He grinned, satisfied with his work, and slid through the opening, motioning for Mara to follow.
The space beyond the grate was larger than the tunnel they had crawled through, but it wasn't much more inviting. They emerged in a dimly lit maintenance corridor, its walls covered in cables and pipes that snaked their way through the city's underbelly. The air here was thick and humid, filled with the low rumble of machinery working deep below the surface.
"This way," Cassian said, leading her down the narrow path.
They walked in silence, the weight of what they were about to do hanging between them. Mara's mind drifted back to Elias—how he had been just like her, determined, willing to do whatever it took to uncover the truth. But he had disappeared without a trace, swallowed by the city's secrets. She couldn't shake the feeling that whatever had happened to him, whatever had pulled him into the Core's orbit, was waiting for her too.
As they rounded another corner, the faint sound of voices reached their ears. Mara tensed, her hand instinctively moving toward her weapon. Cassian stopped, holding up a hand to signal her to stay quiet.
Ahead, the corridor opened into a larger chamber—a hidden space beneath the Syndicate's central district. Several figures stood gathered around a glowing console in the center of the room, their faces illuminated by the soft blue light. Syndicate operatives. Armed and dangerous.
Cassian turned to Mara, his voice barely a whisper. "This is it. We're close. The Core's security network runs. through this facility. If we can tap into it, we'll have a backdoor into the Core."
Mara's pulse quickened. This was what they had been working toward—getting inside the Core's defenses, finding out what had happened to Elias. But as she looked at the Syndicate guards patrolling the area, the reality of the situation hit her hard. They were outnumbered, and if they were caught, there was no way out.
Cassian gave her a sharp look, his eyes glinting with determination. "You ready?"
Mara nodded, her hand tightening around her weapon. "Let's do this."