Emotion Hunter: System Awakening.

[Riven's POV]

Time stretched like molten glass as Sarah's arrow remained trained on his heart.

This is it, he thought, watching the tremor in her enhanced grip grow more pronounced. Either she breaks free of whatever they did to her, or Elena and I die in this maintenance corridor.

The sound of approaching security teams echoed from multiple directions, their coordinated movement patterns suggesting they had the entire area surrounded.

But Riven kept his eyes locked on Sarah's face, searching for any sign of the person he'd once known.

Come on, Sarah. I saw you fighting it. I know you're still in there somewhere. He said calmly to her, but his face was anything but calm.

Her bow remained steady, but something was wrong with her stance.

The mechanical precision was wavering, replaced by subtle micro-expressions that suggested internal conflict.

"Target acquisition confirmed," Sarah said, but her voice lacked the flat certainty from before. "Preparing to... to..."

She stopped mid-sentence, blinking rapidly as if trying to clear her vision.

There. Something's breaking through.

Elena gripped Riven's arm tighter, her exhausted breathing the only sound besides the approaching footsteps. "Riven," she whispered urgently. "Whatever's happening to her, it won't last long. These conditioning systems are designed to self-correct."

---

[Sarah's POV]

Execute termination protocol.

The command echoed through Sarah's mind like a mechanical mantra, but something was interfering with her ability to process it properly.

[Target: Riven Duke. Escaped asset. Terminate on sight.]

But the name triggered cascading memories that the Guild's conditioning couldn't quite suppress.

Riven studying late into the night, making terrible jokes to stay awake.

Riven bringing her coffee during exam week.

Riven's face when she'd told him they were "living in different worlds now."

Focus.

Complete the mission.

Emotional attachments are weakness.

"I..." Sarah's voice came out strained, fighting against the programming. "I know that name."

Riven.

The memories came stronger now, breaking through the chemical and technological barriers the Guild had installed in her mind.

His laugh.

His terrible handwriting.

The way he'd looked at her like she was the most important thing in his world.

[Emotional compromise detected]

[Initiating emergency override]

Pain flared through her neural pathways as the conditioning system fought back, trying to reassert control.

But the memories were too strong, too deeply embedded in who she was before they'd broken her down and rebuilt her.

Why did I leave him? The question surfaced through the mechanical noise in her head. He needed me, and I abandoned him because I was afraid of looking weak.

"I remember you," she whispered, the words barely audible.

---

[Riven's POV]

Sarah's bow lowered fractionally, and Riven saw recognition flicker in her eyes for the first time since she'd appeared.

"I-i remember you" Sarah said with a dazed face.

"Sarah?" He kept his voice soft, afraid that any sudden movement or sound might trigger whatever programming was fighting for control of her mind.

We can't lose her again. Not when we're close to this close to being free.

"I remember..." Sarah's enhanced reflexes were fighting against her conscious mind, the bow trembling as two different sets of instructions warred for dominance. "You used to draw little cartoons in your textbooks. Terrible drawings, but they always made me laugh."

Heavy footsteps reached the corridor junction. Security teams were seconds away from surrounding them completely.

"Target reacquisition failing," Sarah said, but now she was clearly fighting against her own words. "System override... no. NO."

She pressed her free hand against her temple, and Riven could see the physical strain of resisting the Guild's conditioning.

Whatever they'd done to her, it wasn't just psychological manipulation.... there were technological components actively fighting her attempts to regain control.

They didn't just brainwash her....

"Sarah, listen to my voice," Riven said, taking a careful step forward. "You don't have to do what they programmed you to do. You can fight this."

"I can't," Sarah gasped, her enhanced system flaring as the conditioning tried to reassert dominance. "The override protocols... they're too strong. I can feel them taking control again."

Elena struggled to stay upright, her voice barely a whisper. "Riven, they're here."

Cross's voice echoed through the maintenance corridor as Guild operatives appeared from multiple directions, weapons drawn and ready.

"Fascinating," Cross said, approaching with his signature cold smile. "Subject shows unexpected resistance to conditioning protocols. This will require documentation for future modifications."

He gestured to the security teams. "Maintain the perimeter. I want to observe how long she can maintain cognitive autonomy before the system reasserts control."

He's treating her struggle like a research opportunity. Riven could feel anger bubbling in his gut.

Sarah's bow rose again, but now she was visibly fighting against her own movements. "I don't... I won't..."

"Ah, there we go," Cross noted with satisfaction. "Emergency conditioning activating. Estimated time to full compliance: thirty seconds."

Thirty seconds.....we have only thirty seconds to try escape.

"Sarah," Riven said urgently. "Remember why you became a Hunter in the first place. You wanted to protect people, not become a tool for people like Cross."

Her enhancement system flared with energy, but this time she turned it against the conditioning itself.

The internal conflict was visible in her stance ....half of her body following Guild programming while the other half fought for independence.

"I wanted to make a difference," she whispered, memories breaking through the technological barriers. "I wanted to be strong enough to protect the people I cared about."

"Including me?" Riven asked.

The question hit her like a physical blow. Sarah's bow dropped completely as she faced the reality of what she'd become.

"I left you," she said, the words heavy with regret. "When you needed me most, I abandoned you because I was afraid of looking weak. And now they've turned me into a weapon...."

Cross stepped closer, tablet in hand. "Remarkable resistance. But it's ultimately futile. The override will reassert control momentarily."

Sarah's enhanced reflexes suddenly shifted, but instead of targeting Riven and Elena, she spun toward the Guild security team.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," she snarled, her archery system now fully active but under her own control.

The first arrow took out the nearest operative before anyone could react.

Sarah's enhanced speed made her a blur of motion as she created a corridor of chaos between the Guild forces and Riven's position.

"GO!" she shouted, nocking another arrow with inhuman precision. "Before I lose control again!"

Elena grabbed Riven's arm, pulling him toward the emergency exit. "She's giving us a chance. Don't waste it."

But Riven hesitated, looking back at Sarah as she fought both Guild operatives and her own conditioning simultaneously.

I can't leave her behind....

"Riven!" Sarah's voice cracked with strain. "The override is fighting back. I can feel it taking control. You have seconds before I become their weapon again!"

Cross was shouting orders, calling for specialized containment equipment and system suppression devices.

The facility's emergency protocols were activating, sealing exits and locking down sections to prevent escape.

"Find a way to stop them!" Sarah called out as her enhanced abilities began flickering between her control and Guild programming. "Find a way to break what they do to people!"

Elena was pulling him toward the emergency exit, her exhausted strength somehow finding reserves in the desperation of the moment.

"She made her choice," Elena gasped as they reached the exit door. "Don't let her sacrifice be meaningless."

Behind them, Sarah's defiant shouts were being replaced by the mechanical voice patterns of Guild conditioning reasserting itself.

But she'd given them precious seconds, and Elena's keycard still worked on the emergency systems.

The exit door opened onto a maintenance ladder that led to the facility's parking structure.

Natural air flowed down from above.... the first breath of freedom Riven had tasted since entering Guild custody.

As they climbed toward the surface, Sarah's voice echoed up from below, now fully mechanical again: "Targets have breached containment. Initiating facility lockdown."

The Sarah who saved us is gone again, Riven realized as they emerged into the parking structure. But for just a moment, she chose to be human instead of a weapon.

Elena collapsed against a concrete pillar, her strength finally giving out. "We need to move," she panted. "They'll mobilize pursuit teams within minutes."

Riven looked back at the facility entrance, knowing that Sarah was somewhere inside being "reconditioned" for her moment of defiance.

Marcus was still trapped in their training programs. And Maya and Jake....he doesn't even know what happened to them.

I'm not abandoning them he promised himself. I'm going to find a way to come back for them. All of them.

But first, they had to survive whatever came next.

The parking structure offered multiple escape routes, but Riven could already hear alarms and vehicle engines starting up inside the facility.

Their head start was measured in minutes, not hours.

Elena struggled to her feet, determination overriding exhaustion. "There's a drainage system that connects to the city's old subway tunnels. It's our best chance to get distance before they organize pursuit."

As they moved deeper into the urban infrastructure surrounding the Guild facility, Riven carried the weight of everyone they'd left behind.

But he also carried Sarah's final message: Find a way to stop them.

The Guild had shown him what they could do to human minds and souls. Now he needed to find out if there was a way to undo it.

Even if it meant becoming strong enough to challenge an organization that had turned people into a weapon and was systematically destroying everyone he cared about.

I'm not powerless anymore, he thought as they disappeared into the drainage tunnels. And I'm going to make sure they remember that.