Garden Of Eden: Divine lineage

The clanking of boots echoed down the maintenance shaft as Huia, Adinim, and Akhaqia scrambled to formulate a plan of attack against their impending doom. The dim light cast eerie shadows on the walls; the closer the sound of the boots, the taller and bigger the shadows became, making a narrow space feel even more claustrophobic. The sound of soldiers closing in sent a chill down Huia's spine.

What now?" Akhaqia hissed, gaze locking onto the faint shimmer of motion sensors further down the shaft. Huia's golden eye pulsed faintly, almost in rhythm with the energy thrumming through the space. For a moment, his mind flashed back to a conversation from a year ago about this heist and how it would succeed if he followed every step.

He remembered sitting with Argent Forty-Seven, poring over a meticulously detailed plan. Back then, Argent's tone had been calm but firm. "Do you think I'm going to be ready for this?" Akhaqia had asked, his voice laced with doubt.

Argent had responded without a hint of hesitation. "I've already laid out everything. If you follow the plan exactly as I've told you, you'll be fine—better than fine, honestly."

Akhaqia's memory sharpened further as Argent reached into a folder, producing two photographs and laying them on the table. One was of Adinim, the other of Huia. Argent tapped the images. "You're going to need one of them for this." It would be wise for you to start other jobs with them before involving them in this one. Why both? Akhaqia had asked, frowning as he studied the pictures.

"You don't need both," Argent had replied with a sly grin. But you need one of them, and there is no way around it. The other one," think of the second as… an extra of some sort. But it is better to get both, seeing as they always hang out with each other.

Akhaqia was abruptly snapped out of his daydream about the coming together of the plan—by what may be the plan falling apart, but he was lost in the plan he had put into play for years when he left.

"Akhaqia! What the hell? This is your plan. Why are you zoning out? What do we do now? It's all gone down the drain!" Adinim can be heard staying still without making any expression due to the motion sensors in front of him while also trying to make sure Akhaqia's head is where it is supposed to be.

He didn't get a response from Akhaqia like he wanted to.

The clanking boots sound intensifies as Adinim grows more frustrated with their situation; he vents his frustration toward Akhaqia.

What do we do now? It's all going down the drain. "This wasn't part of the plan! What's going on?" Adinim's voice cut sharply through the clanking boots and the hum of the motion sensors.

 His eyes darted between Akhaqia and Huia, who looked equally tense.

But Akhaqia didn't respond. His eyes remained fixed on the motion sensors in front of them; he knew that moving past these motion sensors would alert the guard toward their specific locations like the previous alarm that was likely set off by Huia. His lips pressed into a thin line as his mind worked furiously to come up with something to get them out of this bind.

Meanwhile, Adinim agitation grew. "We don't have time for this!" Adinim growled, stepping closer to Akhaqia and gripping his arm, hoping to reawaken him to their current realities. "They're almost here!"

Huia stepped between them, his golden eye flickering with a faint light. Huia interjected, "Adinim, he's thinking. Let him think."

Adinim shook his head in frustration. "We don't need thinking right now; we need doing! If he doesn't speak up in the next ten seconds, we might end up as the newest cohort of prisoners on the road to being executed."

At that, Akhaqia finally snapped out of his trance. His voice was calm and deliberate but edged with urgency. "he looked up to what was his one and only step forward now seeing as there were motion sensors Use the ventilation ducts—now."

"The vents?" Adinim frowned. "We'll be sitting ducks if they catch on."

"It's either this or we trip the motion sensor," Akhaqia said, his gaze steady despite the chaos. "Plus, I don't think they will catch on.".

Without waiting for a reply, Akhaqia moved swiftly to the wall panel and pried it open, revealing a narrow duct barely wide enough to crawl through. "Huia, you go first. Use your eye to scout ahead. Adinim, cover our exit. I'll seal the panel behind us."

The clanking boots were dangerously close now, the echoes almost deafening. Huia hesitated only for a moment before climbing into the duct, his golden eye flaring brighter as he activated its scanning abilities.

Adinim retrieved a small, makeshift explosive from his pouch, preparing to rig it to the shaft entrance as a last-ditch effort to delay the soldiers. He muttered, "This better not get us all killed."

Akhaqia glanced at him. "It won't. But if it does, make sure they remember who made the bigger mess."

Adinim snorted, shaking his head as he turned to secure their escape without making too much movement, moving just his head slowly. Adinim stood straight, moving only his finger to rig the explosive on the wall, finished setting the explosive, and gave one last glance at the shadows that get bigger and bigger with every step their casters take while awaiting Huia's feedback on how things are going in the vent.

Inside the vent, Huia whispered back, "Clear so far, but it's tight. Keep close."

Akhaqia and Adinim followed Huia into the vent, pulling the panel shut behind him and locking it in place with a magnetic seal. The dim light from Huia's eye cast faint glimmers along the metallic walls as they crawled deeper into the labyrinth.

The clanking boots stopped abruptly, followed by muffled voices just outside the sealed panel.

Adinim hissed, "They're here. What now?"

Akhaqia paused mid-crawl, glancing back. "Now we stick to the plan, well, what's left of it anyway."

Huia whispered, "And if it doesn't work?"

Akhaqia's lips curled into a faint, defiant smile. "Then we improvise. But trust me—it'll work."

The muffled voices behind them grew louder, followed by the thud of something heavy slamming against the sealed panel. The soldiers weren't giving up easily.

Akhaqia clenched his fists, feeling the weight of years of preparation bearing down on him. This was it—the moment that would define everything. He could only hope the pieces he had so carefully assembled over time would hold together long enough to see them through.

Ahead, Huia's golden eye flickered as he signaled for a stop. "There's a junction up ahead—two paths. Which way?"

Akhaqia didn't hesitate. "Right. Always right."

The team moved as one, their breaths shallow, their movements careful. Every inch forward felt like a mile, every faint creak of the vent like a thunderclap.

Behind them, the sounds of pursuit faded, replaced by the distant hum of machinery.

Huia exhaled softly. "I think we lost them."

"Don't get comfortable," Akhaqia warned. "This is just the start. The hardest part is yet to come."

Adinim let out a bitter laugh. "This isn't the hard part? What the hell have we been doing then?"

Akhaqia glanced back, his expression unreadable. "Surviving. But if we play this right, we'll be doing a lot more than that soon enough."

The group pressed on, the narrow vent stretching endlessly ahead. Behind them, the echoes of their pursuers grew faint, but the tension in the air remained heavy. This was far from over.

Akhaqia reflected on the unfolding chaos and what led to it. The first part of their plan had gone awry—Huia had found the book and escaped far quicker than anticipated, leaving them no time to fully seize control of the tracklance, then triggered the alarm that alerted everyone in the tracklance, way ahead of schedule, making it impossible to complete the first portion of the plan.

But still amidst the chaos, through some quick thinking from Akhaqia, they manage to slip through the vent, hoping to find their way into step number two. Now, everything hinged on the success of the second part of their plan. He could only hope it would play out more smoothly than the first. "Well, there's no going back now," he muttered, crossing his fingers and mentally preparing himself".