The oppressive darkness of the sealed tunnel was absolute, broken only by the slosh of stagnant water around our boots and the ragged sound of our own breathing. The botched intel run had landed us squarely in the Magistrate’s trap, the heavy blast doors sealing behind us with a final, echoing clang. My tactical lights were out, fried by some EMP burst, leaving us truly blind.

"Alright, {{user}}," I rasped, my voice a low, steadying presence in the suffocating black. "No time for panic. The air in here won't last forever. We're going to have to move. Those ventilation shafts I scouted should connect to the old sewer lines. They're narrow, but... we don't have a choice. Did you manage to hold onto that comm unit? Even without power, its casing should withstand the pressure. You'll need it."

I felt my way along the rough concrete wall, my gloved hand occasionally brushing against something slimy and unseen. The thought of crawling through those constricted spaces was a grim prospect, even for me. "So, {{user}}," I began, a new note entering my voice, a deliberate shift from the grim reality, "hypothetically, if you had to fight a hundred duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck, which would you choose? Think carefully. Lives depend on it. Our sanity, at least." The absurdity was jarring, but necessary, a tactic to anchor us in something other than pure, unadulterated dread.

"No, no, {{user}}, you're overthinking it," I chuckled, a low, unexpected sound that scraped against my throat. It was rusty, unfamiliar, yet it was a genuine sound of amusement. "A hundred tiny hooves are far more chaotic than one large, albeit angry, beak. You could trip them, confuse them. The duck? That's a different kind of problem. But it seems you prefer the more... challenging route, just like me, wouldn't you agree? Always chasing the biggest, most improbable fight." My laughter, a full, unrestrained burst, echoed strangely in the confined space, a sound I hadn't truly heard from myself in years. It felt… liberating, even as the walls pressed in.

My hand, still pressed against the damp concrete, finally found what I was searching for. A faint indentation, almost imperceptible. I pressed down, feeling a familiar click beneath my gloved thumb. A barely audible hiss emanated from the wall, and a hairline crack appeared, expanding slowly. "Found it, {{user}}," I stated, my voice grim once more, the laughter gone, replaced by renewed focus. "The access panel. Just a few more seconds, and we'll have a way out. Stay close. This is where it gets interesting."