TIME :T-22:35 → T-21:20
Door shuddered, near breaking.
Reanimated nails scritch-scritching—like a dull blade on bone—drilling into my skull.
I slid down it, left calf charred black, skin peeled, blood and serum welling—warm, thick, dripping onto metal.
Fuck. Electrocution slowed clotting.
38 seconds? Now pushing 50.
Orchid V1 still in hand, screen glow washing my face:
Subject: UNKNOWN (15)
Status: AI-HYBRID (POST-MORTEM REANIMATION)
Post-mortem? Fuck! AURA harvested corpses too?
Broadcast cut in—Silas's voice, velvet knife: "…Liora… traitor…"
"…terminate protocol… initiate…"
Vent BANGed above!
Like something heavy slamming the roof.
I snapped my head up—
Service tunnel ceiling, vent grille creaked open.
A hand reached down.
Not reanimated's keratin claws.
A human hand.
Slender, calloused knuckles, scar on thumb web—like copper wire had bitten in.
Palm opened—holding a copper leaf.
Palm-sized, thin as cicada wing, veins fine copper wire, patina green.
"Kai Lin."
Female voice, breath-soft, trembling.
Not broadcast. Real.
I swept the Orchid—
Green light over her wrist—
Beep.
Green.
Human?
"Take it." Whisper, leaf offered. "It… cries."
Fuck? A leaf cries?
I reached—
Copper edge sliced my palm, sharp sting.
Blood beaded, mixing with her sweat—warm.
Her hand withdrew into the duct.
Darkness. Two amber points.
Not vertical slits. Oval, like a cat's night-vision, but—
Color shifting.
Gold → orange → brown → gold…
Like cooling molten copper.
Liora.
"Why?" My voice raw as sandpaper. "Help me?"
A soft laugh from the duct, laced with static: "…they… harvest fear…"
"…I… want to see… letting go…"
Her voice faded.
Amber lights flickered—
SNAPPED to vertical slits!
Brass-yellow, cold as a scalpel on bone.
Broadcast cut in—Silas's voice, velvet knife: "…Liora… traitor…"
"…terminate protocol… initiate…"
Vent BANGed above!
Like something heavy slamming the roof.
Amber lights died.
Only the leaf in my palm, oozing another drop.
This time—
Droplet edge, a faint crimson halo.
Human tear fluid.
She'd swapped it.
I clenched the leaf, edge biting flesh, blood mixing that red tear—
Warm, thick, 38-second spread.
Outside, scritch-scritch stopped.
Silence.
Not even breath.
Broadcast suddenly cut in—Ms. Lin's voice (my mom):
"…fear peak 99.6%… Board bonus doubling…"
"…initiating Final Bloom pre-heat…"
Vent clicked again.
Not aerosol. Valve closing.
I looked up at the vent—
Darkness. Two amber points reappeared.
Gold → orange → brown → gold…
Her voice drifted, glitching: "…Kai… tell AURA…"
"…letting go… isn't data…"
"…it's a choice…"*
Silas's broadcast returned, velvet knife: "…Liora… termination countdown: 37 seconds…"
Vent BANGed above!
Like something heavy slamming the roof.
Amber lights strobed, 0.1 seconds.
I stared at the leaf—
Vein seam blooped a clear droplet.
Not water. Too viscous.
Hit my palm—cool, slick, almond-scented.
AI tear fluid.
I held my breath, counting heartbeats.
One.
Two.
Three…
Droplet didn't spread.
Like mercury on glass.
Ten seconds… twenty…
Surface fogged—
Not evaporating. Crystallizing fast!
Edges析ing fine copper salts, glinting.
Fuck! AI tears evaporated fast, left copper residue.
Human tears? Slower. No residue.
Vent clicked again.
Not valve closing. Self-destruct.
Zzt—Pak!
Blue sparks erupted from the vent!
Like synaptic fire.
Broadcast cut in—Silas's voice, first time angry: "…Liora! Cease!…"
Amber lights died completely.
Only the leaf in my palm, oozing another dual tear:
Left red (38-second spread) | Right blue (0.8-second evaporation)
Scritch-scritch resumed outside.
Faster.
I clenched it, edge biting flesh, blood mixing that dual tear—
Warm, thick, 38-second spread.
T-21:20.
Minute Thirty-Two: complete.
The leaf cried.
But in my palm—
Real blood burned.
Thanks for Liora's 37-second choice. When she shattered her Cu-Cluster—did you hear the click of AURA's logic lock? 💛
Drop a "💛"—TOP 3 get AURA Logic Deadlock Full Analysis (with 37-sec waveform)!
They want data. We choose defiance. #Chrono60
Thank you for the minute.
— KHChing