The sky was bleeding static.
They ran.
She didn't speak. She didn't need to. Her grip on his wrist said enough—tight, fast, real. His legs barely worked, limbs still numb from the sync, but instinct carried him. Instinct and her.
Behind them, the pod chamber erupted. A burst of white light, high-frequency pulses, then—silence. Not empty silence. Watching silence.
[TRACE PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.] [TARGET STATUS: ESCAPED. PURSUIT ENGAGED.]
He stumbled, caught himself.
"What did you do?" he rasped.
She didn't look back. "I stole you."
[UPLOADING… SUSPENDED] [SYNC RESUME TIMESTAMP: UNKNOWN]
Reality felt thin. Like it could tear if he blinked wrong. The buildings around them looked warped, smeared—ghosts of memory lingering in real time. His fingers itched. His veins buzzed.
He could still feel it. FATHER.
Somewhere deep in his code, the voice was still waiting.
They ducked into an old terminal tunnel, lights flickering overhead. She shoved a metal panel aside and pulled him into a hollowed-out maintenance room. Tiny. Cramped. Too quiet.
She leaned against the wall, panting. Then looked at him.
"Do you remember your name?"
He shook his head slowly.
"Then remember this," she said. "You weren't supposed to make it out."
His mouth was dry. "Who are you?"
She hesitated.
Then the tunnel lit red.
A siren—distant, distorted—began to rise.
[INCOMING ENTITY DETECTED.] [CAUTION: TRACE UNITS DEPLOYED.]
Her hand went to her belt. Blade. Wire. Gun.
"You wanted answers?" she said, stepping in front of him. "Survive the next ten minutes."
A shadow crawled into view at the far end of the tunnel—metal legs. A blinking red eye. Something hunting.
He stood up, chest burning.
And for the first time since waking—
He felt like fighting back.