ng like that of a mechanical pulse. But each time, when it rippled into t

, spinning toward the hallway. "Tri

ry. "This wasn't random. Someone

ced with a wall of red code and a flashing symbol I'd o

a's

em," I whispered. "She

breath. "Can she ac

netic override." I pa

rewall," Lira said. "Wh

us. Not from the entr

rom the ceiling-sleek, spider-legged, glowing blue beneath their f

ds," Kael muttered

rone launch

raight through its core. It e

t bursts from her twin pistol

a shadow. I dove for the console, slam

ng ha

ocked. We were

e that shot from its forearm. Before I could recover, it pinned me

My neural wea

" Kael

ed a bright, blinding white. A voice came

't have open

as T

eth. "Neithe

w energy. The surge spiked through my hand and into the drone, over

ck, chest

de a second later

ill tell you again when t

ace is compromised. If she's inside the system, she

Neural Seed is protected by manual vaulting. Sh

to my feet. "Then

r

with prototypes-failed experiments that looked like human silhouettes di

than I'd imagined.

a lab

chamber just as anot

seamless, with a biometric lock at its center. And

I do?"

oor before," Kael said

y hand on

k glowe

t burn

ss d

blinked.

and looked at the scan

ward, voice shar

aid no

ent, a voice echoed

et her win just because

ice wa

no

et

oors behind us

*************

or and t

red, but a sterile, clinical white. A silence fell over

nd of precisio

d through the light

et

dou

t laced with faint lines of glowing white. Her eyes were mine-but colder. Deader

him, smiling as if they were

s weapon. "Mov

me, Kael? I know your aim. I know your hesitation. I

his gun, but he

turned

he broken foundation they tr

n," I said thr

"Then why a

to be a weapon," I sna

ere born u

ut I didn't look away. I m

afraid

ly. "Because I'm not here to ki

ween us. "Over

ay that," Theta repli

mming Kael against the wall. He hit

I ran

ered. "Stay focused.

"How sweet. You still t

what separates

od up

ly opens with your DNA. But did yo

Calla. But that last 1.3%? That's where all the

to her belt and pulled out

m the remains of your mother's neural thread. I only nee

o the biomet

houted, step

dn't l

lock began to glow again-green this time. The sy

s real and what

t starte

er breath. "We hav

rged

She fought like a soldier. Fast, brutal, calculat

floor, struggling

erve her memor

!" Theta snarled. "S

r lip. She hissed and rolled u

he real one,"

e not her

through the cha

me and hit Theta in the chest. She convuls

me to my fee

d, "but I'm

ner core was s

canner, placed my

nned m

d. Neural Seed

with a hiss of

he center, suspended in glass and li

d me. The code that

e, Theta

w this wa

t