The bridge feels solid enough beneath my feet, though there's a subtle vibration that suggests its temporary nature. The bottomless void below seems to swallow all light, creating a disorienting sense of floating as we advance.

  Something about being so vulnerable, so reliant on others, makes me nervous.

  I glance at Nalthir, walking calmly beside me. If his team were to try something, now would be the perfect time to do it with me isolated from the rest of my team. But if they did, then both Nalthir and I would be screwed wouldn't we? As far as I can tell, they don't hate their team leader, so they wouldn't try anything right now, right?

  Maybe after we retrieve the treasure? I'll need to be prepared then. I lightly caress the pommel of my sword, just to reassure myself.

  Halfway across, the bridge trembles, the vibration gradually intensifying. A segment ahead refuses to fully extend, leaving a gap in our path.

  "System instability detected," Nalthir says, voice unnaturally calm given our precarious position. "A malfunction in the sequence."

  I hurriedly glance towards my team members to see them bickering with Nalthir’s teammates. Are they the ones causing the instability? But Nalthir is here with me, they don’t want to kill him do they?

  My instincts scream warnings at me. Is this a trap? A genuine disagreement? Or some kind of test built into the vault's security?

  Nalthir turns toward me, mirrored helm giving nothing away. "Stay steady," the alien advises, voice level despite our increasingly dangerous position. "Any hesitation now, and we both fall."

  How can he still be so calm? What is his plan here?

  The bridge trembles again, more violently this time. Below us, the bottomless void seems to pulse with hungry anticipation, while ahead, the central vault continues its rhythmic glow, treasures tantalizingly close yet separated by that stubborn gap in our path.

  The bridge trembles violently beneath our feet as Nalthir and I stand frozen halfway across, the gap in the pathway preventing any forward movement. My telekinetic senses probe the space around us, searching for a way to stabilize the bridge or create an alternative path.

  Suddenly I hear a laugh from beside me.

  What the- I glance at Nalthir, who is laughing in satisfaction like we're not both about to die.

  It’s then that I notice the chaos outside, my team fighting with Nalthir’s.

  "You're doing this!" I accuse, the resonance blade materializing in my hand. "Your team is sabotaging us! Why? You'll die too if we fall!"

  Nalthir's laugh echoes through the sealed chamber, metallic and unnerving. "Will I, Gary? Will I really?"

  Something in his tone sends chills down my spine. In one fluid motion, I swing the resonance blade across his torso, expecting to cut through armor, then flesh. Instead, the blade slices through metal, revealing not blood or alien biology, but intricate synthetic components, circuits and wires sparking where they've been severed.

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  "An android," I breathe, watching as Nalthir staggers slightly but doesn't fall, his severed midsection remaining eerily stable despite the damage.

  "How perceptive," Nalthir giggles, his mirrored helm still giving nothing away even as his artificial body sparks and flickers. "Though you figured it out one step too late. Did you really think we'd been trapped here for days, perfectly preserved, no signs of fatigue? Such naive assumptions."

  The bridge lurches again, segments beginning to retract. Through the transparent barrier, the fighting continues as my team tries to maintain the bridge while fighting off Nalthir's teammates.

  I extend my telekinesis towards my teammates, trying to help them. But the transparent barrier, simply deflects the energy, leaving me unable to penetrate through to the other side!

  "It's already too late," Nalthir says, his increasingly artificial voice carrying satisfaction despite the damage. "My fellows will eliminate your companions while you're trapped here with me. A perfect plan!"

  But then something changes in his posture, a subtle shift from confidence to confusion. The mirrored helm tilts as if straining to see better through the barrier.

  "What...?" he begins, then trails off.

  I follow his gaze and see what's causing his confusion. Instead of my team falling to his android attackers, they're systematically dismantling them.

  Sera has turned Mira's neural visor against her, overloading the system with intense heat that causes the android to short-circuit violently. The normally precise interface technology melts and fuses, sending feedback through the machine's core.

  Multiple metallic arms sprout from Lyra's body, attacking Taz from all sides. Her resilient body shrugging off the attacks from his drones.

  But most impressive is Desta. Her quantum computer interfaces directly with Krev's magnetized gauntlets, reprogramming them mid-combat. The powerful magnetic fields that were meant to immobilize her instead tear Krev's own android body apart, the conflicting forces literally pulling the machine to pieces.

  The bridge steadies as the control pedestals resume their proper function, my team having neutralized the betrayers and restored the sequence.

  "Impossible," Nalthir mutters, his artificial voice carrying genuine surprise. "They were supposed to be paired so that their abilities countered your team's!"

  "You underestimated them," I reply, watching as his damaged body begins to fail more rapidly. "And you underestimated our ability to adapt."

  Nalthir's head tilts, considering this as his systems approach critical failure. Sparks cascade from his exposed internals, synthetic muscles twitching irregularly.

  "Impressive," he finally concedes, his voice growing fainter as power drains from his artificial form. "Very impressive indeed. Perhaps we did underestimate your team’s capacity for resourcefulness."

  The mirrored helm surveys me one last time before the android body begins to collapse. "My master will be waiting for you in the central core, Gary. Far more powerful than us mere servants." A flicker of what might be respect colors his tone.

  With those final words, Nalthir's android body powers down completely, toppling sideways off the bridge into the bottomless void below. The mirrored helm reflects the abyss as it falls, disappearing into darkness.

  The bridge segments extend fully now, creating a stable path to the central vault. Through the transparent barrier, I can see my team securing the area, ensuring no additional surprises remain.

  But Nalthir's parting words echo in my mind as I continue across the bridge alone. The core, where the Quantum Integration Circuit awaits, now has another player waiting for us. Someone who has multiple androids under their command, who planned this elaborate trap from the moment we entered the vault.

  Whatever treasures lie ahead in the central vault, I know they're just the beginning. The real challenge will be facing whoever, or whatever, Nalthir's master is when we reach the heart of the Quantum Nexus.

  For now, though, I focus on the task at hand, reaching the central vault and reuniting with my team. One step at a time, one challenge at a time. That's how Team Exodus will continue to overcome whatever the Quantum Nexus throws at us.