[Verse 1]
Elevator coughs like a dead man’s lung
fluorescents twitch while I count the rungs
Speranza hums—burnt coffee, sweat, gun oil
my rig’s half Arc scrap, half luck, stitched with foil
Boots on the grate make a hell of a warning
buddy cracks his hands, says, “give me one more morning”
Rust in my teeth, cold air in my gums
doors rip wide—surface wind hits hard as a gun

[Pre-Chorus]
Static in the comms—they’re already moving
ticks in the rafters, pops in the gloom
Something up there wants us dead
same old song, different tomb

[Chorus]
TOPSIDE!
Gears grind, lungs burn, no turning back
TOPSIDE!
Loot heavy or we die in the black
Extract or get extracted—fuck, that’s the pact
We came up here breathing
we leave on our feet
or we don’t come back

[Verse 2]
Rusted spires rake the sky like broken fingers
half a church still standing, just ghosts in the pillars
I spot a crate half-buried, Arc glyph burning faint
buddy shouts, “CONTACT!” then the whole block breaks
Servo whine behind me—too clean, too near
I turn and mag-dump, sparks cutting through fear
Blood on my visor—yeah, not all mine
dragging that haul to the beacon while the sky comes apart this time

[Pre-Chorus]
Comms go thin, then a hardline scream
beacon cuts through the ash like a bad dream
We don’t pray, we run
and we kill what gets between

[Chorus]
TOPSIDE!
Gears grind, lungs burn, no turning back
TOPSIDE!
Loot heavy or we die in the black
Extract or get extracted—fuck, that’s the pact
We came up here breathing
we leave on our feet
or we don’t come back

[Bridge]
They said the world was over
shit, the ruins never got the memo
Every drop back down that shaft
sounds like the earth saying, send more
And I swear the surface knows my name
says it through the metal, says it through the flame
Come up hungry
come up armed
come up ready to lose your goddamn heart

[Final Chorus]
TOPSIDE!
Gears grind, lungs burn, no turning back
TOPSIDE!
Loot heavy or we die in the black
Extract or get extracted—fuck, that’s the pact
We came up here breathing
we leave on our feet
or we’re just bones in the stack

[Outro]
Topside…
static in my skull
beacon going red
if we don’t ride it down
we feed the dead
(static cut)