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## I.
The injection gun is on the floor where I dropped it. 0.8 meters from my right leg.
Kira is 12 meters away. Outside the shattered glass perimeter, collapsed on the tarpaulin.
[ALLIED UNIT TIMER: 51 SECONDS][DELIVERY REQUIREMENT: PNEUMATIC INJECTION — CERVICAL PORT][OBSTACLE: NO MANIPULATOR LIMBS]
I hop. 600 PSI — the right leg's hydraulic line is leaking, pressure dropping with every stride.
I lower my jaw to the floor. The titanium dental plates close around the injection gun's barrel.
200 PSI of bite force. Enough to grip the 3-centimeter cylinder without crushing the pneumatic mechanism.
The gun seats between my upper and lower molars. The needle tip protrudes 4 centimeters past my right dental plate.
I hop back through the shattered window frame. Glass fragments crunch under my foot plate at 72dB.
Kira is face-down on the tarpaulin. Heart rate: 152 BPM. Breathing: agonal. Cranial temperature: 40.5°C.
[TIMER: 38 SECONDS]
I lower myself. The right leg actuator bleeds pressure as I descend — a controlled collapse onto the knee joint.
My jaw is 6 centimeters from her cervical port. The copper interface is visible beneath her matted hair.
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The needle must enter the port at a 15-degree angle. My neck servos adjust in 0.2-degree increments.
I press forward. The needle tip finds the port opening and slides in. 4 centimeters of surgical steel into the cervical interface.
I bite down on the pneumatic trigger. 400 PSI — a precise, single-tooth compression on the firing mechanism.
The gun discharges. 200 milliliters of synthetic antipyretic inhibitor enters her bloodstream at 12 atmospheres.
[INHIBITOR: DELIVERED][TIMER: 29 SECONDS — SUFFICIENT]
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## II.
The inhibitor hits her circulatory system in 3.4 seconds.
[KIRA — PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE][HEART RATE: 152 BPM → 128 → 104 → 78 BPM][CRANIAL TEMPERATURE: 40.5°C → 39.8°C → 38.6°C → 37.5°C][BLOOD PRESSURE: STABILIZING]
Her body convulses once — a single, violent full-body contraction. Every muscle fires and releases in 0.6 seconds.
Her eyes snap open. Pupils: 4mm, reactive.
Her breathing shifts from agonal to voluntary. 8 per minute, then 12, then 16.
She is staring at the needle protruding from her cervical port, held in place by a set of bloodstained titanium teeth 6 centimeters from her face.
Her heart rate spikes briefly — 78 to 94 BPM. Then settles.
She reaches up and pulls the needle free herself. A faint hiss of residual pressure escaping the port.
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## III.
Kira sits up.
Her eyes sweep the scene. The shattered blast-rated glass — a 2-meter hole with radiating fracture lines. The two guard mechs, disassembled on the white floor.
Hydraulic fluid, bio-coolant, and machine oil pooling together in a single dark lake across the polished tiles.
On the broadcast terminal screen, the text still glows.
**[00:00:00. WE ARE CLOCKING OUT.]**
She looks at me. 220 kilograms of wreckage balanced on one leaking leg, jaw still holding the spent injection gun.
She does not ask what happened. Her heart rate is 82 BPM. Controlled.
Then the floor vibrates.
[SEISMIC DETECTION: MULTIPLE HEAVY SIGNATURES][MASS ESTIMATES: 8,000 KG x4 — HEAVY ARMOR CLASS][BEARING: NORTHEAST — SURFACE LEVEL][SPEED: 12 KM/H — CLOSING ON SECTOR 4][ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 180 SECONDS]
Four heavy armor units. 32,000 kilograms of combined combat mass converging on this position.
[TACTICAL ASSESSMENT: ENGAGEMENT — IMPOSSIBLE][ALTERNATIVE: DESCEND]
I release the injection gun. It clatters to the floor at 54dB.
The internal speaker activates. 200Hz monotone. 22% capacity.
[TARGET: CORE CENTER. WE MUST DESCEND.]
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