Iron Knight stood across the street, a shadow against the flashing neon lights as he monitored the stream Silas was sending him. His armor reflected the faint glow from Escape’s massive sign, but he paid it no mind. His focus was entirely on the people locked inside those VR pods—mutants and outcasts who had been snatched from the streets, hidden from the world.

“Silas,” he spoke into the comm, his tone razor-sharp. “Can you isolate the network inside? I don’t want any security alarms going off when I make my entrance.”

Silas grinned in his pod. “Consider it done.” He concentrated, mentally severing the arcade’s connection to any outside channels. With the network isolated, no one inside could send a distress signal.

Iron Knight’s visor glowed as he recalibrated his suit’s scanners. “I’m going in.”

He crossed the street, blending into the crowd for a moment before slipping through the arcade’s main entrance. Inside, he cut an imposing figure in his armor, his broad shoulders casting long shadows in the dim light. People gawked, eyes widening as they recognized him, but he ignored their stares. The staff tried to intercept him, but Iron Knight walked straight through, his stride unwavering. When one particularly brave employee stepped forward, Iron Knight didn’t even look at him—he simply extended his arm and activated a gentle pulse from his armor that sent the man stumbling backward.

“Staff Only,” Iron Knight murmured to himself, finding the door Silas had marked. He pushed it open without hesitation, stepping into the hallway just as the door hissed shut behind him. Silas’s feed had shown that most of the guards were stationed in the back rooms, so he continued forward with quiet determination, his footfalls echoing off the sterile walls.

“Silas, give me a heat scan of the area,” he commanded quietly.

“On it.” Silas’s voice echoed in his ear as a thermal overlay appeared on Iron Knight’s visor. Multiple heat signatures showed up in the lab-like area ahead, all clustered around the VR pods. It was exactly as they’d seen on the security feed. The captives sat slumped inside, unresponsive, with guards patrolling between them.

Iron Knight knew he couldn’t risk letting the guards sound any alarms. They were likely equipped with panic buttons or communication links, but he was faster.

“Silas, I need a distraction. Trigger something on their system to pull the guards to the far end of the room.”

“Got it.” Silas worked his magic, sending a data spike into the VR network, triggering an alarm in one of the empty pods on the opposite end. Instantly, two guards broke away from their posts, hustling over to investigate the “malfunction.”

That was all Iron Knight needed.

He moved forward, quick as a shadow, gripping one guard by the collar and knocking him out with a single, silent blow. Before the second guard even had time to react, Iron Knight disarmed him, pressing his forearm blade lightly against the man’s neck.

“Quiet, or you’ll regret it,” Iron Knight growled. The guard’s wide eyes darted from the blade to Iron Knight’s visor. He stammered, nodding in terrified silence.

“Who’s running this place?” Iron Knight demanded, his voice a low rumble.

“I—I don’t know!” the guard whispered, his voice trembling. “They just tell us to keep watch… to make sure no one escapes. I swear, that’s all I know!”

Iron Knight tilted his head, his visor gleaming ominously. “Then who gives the orders? Who handles the shipments?”

The guard swallowed hard, his throat pressing against the blade’s edge. “A guy named Doyle. He’s… he’s a handler for Kisonic Enterprises. They’re in charge of the whole operation.”

The mention of Kisonic Enterprises made Iron Knight’s jaw clench. He’d suspected Kisonic was involved, but hearing it confirmed set his blood boiling. They were one of the largest corporations in Rivers, and they’d managed to slither their way into every corner of the city, legally or otherwise.

Without another word, he knocked the guard out, laying him gently on the floor to avoid making noise. He needed to focus now. With Doyle in the picture, this was bigger than he’d initially thought, and he’d need to tread carefully to collect the proof necessary to bring them down.

“Silas, we’ve got a connection to Kisonic. This is a trafficking ring, just as we thought. Doyle’s our handler. Can you pull any files from their internal database?”

“Already working on it,” Silas replied, his voice tense as he manipulated the data streams. “Kisonic has a secure network, but I’m almost in.”

As Silas worked, Iron Knight turned his attention to the VR pods. They were older models, refurbished in a way that allowed direct neural connections—primitive, dangerous tech used to disable the user’s body while keeping them conscious enough to obey commands in a virtual environment. The mutants inside looked drained, their bodies slumped, their expressions blank. Most were young, bearing the subtle signs of mutations that made them vulnerable: scales, additional limbs, unusual coloring. People whose families had likely stopped looking for them.

Finally, Silas’s voice came through. “I’ve got files on this Doyle guy. Looks like he’s handling distribution for all the trafficked mutants. They’re sending people out to remote factories outside the city.”

“Copy that.” Iron Knight glanced over the pods, his fists clenching as he imagined what these people must have gone through. “Is there a way to shut these pods down without hurting the people inside?”

“I can do that, but it’ll take me a minute to override the safety protocols,” Silas said, his voice steady despite the tension in his words. “Give me sixty seconds.”

Iron Knight positioned himself between the door and the pods, bracing for any potential reinforcements. He knew it was only a matter of time before they were discovered. He just needed to hold out long enough for Silas to free these people.

“Thirty seconds left,” Silas reported. “But heads up—I just tripped an external alert in Kisonic’s system. Looks like they’re on to us.”

Iron Knight tightened his grip on his blade, his eyes scanning the room. “Understood. Do what you can. I’ll handle the cleanup.”

He barely finished speaking when the doors burst open, and a squad of guards stormed in. Iron Knight was ready, his blade flashing as he deflected the first attacker’s baton, pivoting to slam his armored fist into the man’s chest, sending him sprawling. Another guard lunged at him, but Iron Knight sidestepped, using the man’s momentum against him, flipping him over his shoulder and knocking him unconscious with a single blow.

Alarms blared throughout the arcade as Iron Knight fought his way through the guards, each movement precise, efficient. He didn’t relish the violence, but he knew what was at stake. Every second he delayed these guards was another second Silas needed to shut down the pods.

“Almost there, Steve!” Silas’s voice cut through the noise. “Just… a little… more… Got it!”

The pods hissed and slowly powered down, their occupants slumping forward as they were released from the VR-induced paralysis. Some of them blinked, disoriented, while others stared at Iron Knight, confusion and fear etched into their faces.

“Stay calm,” Iron Knight called to them, his voice softened but commanding. “You’re safe now.”

But his moment of reassurance was cut short as the final guard fell. Heavy footsteps echoed from the hall—a new squad, likely a response team summoned by the alarm.

“Silas, I need an exit plan,” Iron Knight said, shifting his stance as he readied himself for the next wave.

“I’m on it,” Silas replied, working quickly to disable the lockdown. But Iron Knight knew they were almost out of time. Doyle or his bosses would respond soon enough.

And he knew that the final battle was about to begin.