It started with a whisper.
Riya had been standing at the edge of the city, looking out at the darkness beyond the walls, when her body went rigid. Her scar flared—bright white, pulsing like a second heartbeat. Her hands dropped to her sides. Her head tilted back. Her mouth opened, and something that was not her voice came out.
"Subject 11."
Kai was at the gate when he heard it. The voice carried across the ruins, through the walls, through the threads of the Network, finding him no matter where he hid. It was ancient. It was patient. It had been waiting for this moment since the world ended.
He ran.
By the time he reached her, Riya was no longer Riya. Her feet hung inches above the ground. Her arms were spread wide. Her eyes were white fire. Her scar had split open, light pouring from it like blood from a wound, and the light was spreading—across her chest, down her arms, up her neck, into her face. She was being consumed from the inside out.
"Riya!"
Her head turned toward him. Her mouth smiled. Not her smile. It was too wide. Too hungry. Too old.
"She cannot hear you, Subject 11. She is... elsewhere. Dreaming. Perhaps of you. Perhaps of home. Perhaps of the life she should have lived, if you had not been chosen instead of her."
Kai's hands clenched. "Let her go."
"She came to me willingly. She walked into my heart and demanded answers. I gave them to her. And now she belongs to me."
She hit him before he could react.
Her fist caught him in the chest, lifting him off his feet, throwing him across the clearing. He slammed into a collapsed pillar, the stone cracking behind him, the breath driven from his lungs. He tasted blood.
"Kai!" Red's voice was sharp. "Her strength has been augmented by the Core. She is not holding back. Your Cognitive Load is 100,000 and rising. Your body cannot—"
Kai rolled as her foot came down where his head had been. The stone shattered. Dust exploded. He scrambled backward, gasping, his ribs screaming.
"Riya!"
She didn't answer. Her eyes were white fire. Her face was empty. She came at him again, faster this time, her movements fluid and precise, nothing like the girl he had known.
He blocked her first strike. Her second broke through. Her third sent him reeling. He hit the ground hard, his head cracking against stone, his vision swimming.
"Cognitive Load: 200,000. You are being pushed beyond your limits. Your Will Resonance is insufficient to match her augmented strength."
"I don't need to match her strength." Kai pushed himself up. Blood dripped from his lip. His arms were shaking. "I need to reach her."
"She is not there. The Core has her."
"Then I'll bring her back."
He stopped dodging.
He let her hit him. Her fist caught his jaw. He staggered, but he didn't fall. He let her hit him again. His ribs cracked. He let her hit him again. His vision went red.
"Kai! Your Cognitive Load is 300,000! Your body is—"
"I know."
He caught her fist. His fingers wrapped around hers. Her skin was burning. Her eyes blazed white.
"You cannot save her, Subject 11. She is mine. She has always been mine. From the moment she entered my heart, she belonged to me."
"Then why is she still here?" Kai's voice was hoarse. Blood ran down his chin. "If she belongs to you, why is she still fighting?"
Riya's face flickered. For a moment, her eyes were brown. For a moment, her voice was hers.
"Kai—run—"
Then the light surged. Her fist pulled free. She hit him again, and again, and again. He fell to his knees. She stood over him, white fire blazing from her eyes, her mouth, her scar.
"She is weak. She has always been weak. That is why she failed. That is why you will fail."
Kai looked up at her. At the thing wearing his friend's face. At the girl who was still in there somewhere, drowning in light.
"She's not weak," he said.
He grabbed her ankle. She tried to kick him away. He held on.
"She walked into your heart alone. She searched for answers when everyone else ran. She found me when the world wanted her to forget."
Riya's face twisted. The light pulsed. Her hands clawed at her head.
"Stop—"
"She waited months in the darkness. She survived when she should have died. She came back when everyone else gave up."
"Stop—"
He pulled himself up. His legs were shaking. His arms were broken. But he stood.
"She's not weak," he said. "She's the strongest person I know."
Riya screamed.
The light exploded outward. Kai was thrown back, his body slamming into the rubble, his head cracking against stone, his vision going dark. He tasted blood. He heard the threads of the Network screaming, five thousand goblins, five thousand minds, all of them feeling his pain, his fear, his desperation.
He pushed himself up. His arms were shaking. His legs were giving out. But he didn't stop.
He crawled toward her.
"Kai—" Red's voice was urgent. "Your Cognitive Load is 500,000. Your body is failing. Your Will Resonance is—"
"I don't care."
She was on her knees, her hands clawing at her face, her scar blazing, her body shaking. Light and shadow flickered across her skin. The Core was tearing her apart.
"Kai—I can't—it's too strong—"
"You can."
He reached her. His hands found her shoulders. She tried to push him away. He held on.
"You survived the Core. You walked through the Bleed. You came back. You found me."
"I can't—I'm not strong enough—"
"You are."
She hit him. Her fist caught his face. His nose broke. Blood sprayed. He didn't let go.
"Kai—please—"
"You promised."
She hit him again. His ribs cracked. He gasped. He held on.
"You promised you would wait. You promised you would find me. You promised you would come back."
She screamed. Her hands flew to his throat. Her fingers closed around his neck. The light blazed. His vision darkened.
"Kai—" Red's voice was distant. "Your Cognitive Load is 700,000. Your oxygen levels are dropping. If she does not release you in the next thirty seconds—"
Kai looked at her. At the girl who had walked through hell. At the friend who was drowning in light.
"Riya," he whispered. His voice was barely a sound. "I'm not leaving you."
Her hands tightened. His vision went dark at the edges. But he didn't fight. He didn't pull away.
"I'm not leaving you," he said again. "I'm never leaving you."
Her hands shook.
The light flickered. Her face twisted—rage, fear, something that might have been love.
"Why won't you let go?" Her voice cracked. It was hers. It was the Core's. It was something in between.
"Because you didn't let go of me."
Her hands loosened. Just a little. Just enough.
"Kai—"
"Come back, Riya. Please. Come back."
She screamed. The light exploded. He was thrown back, his body hitting the ground, his vision going dark. He couldn't move. His arms wouldn't work. His legs wouldn't work. He could only lie there, bleeding, broken, waiting.
"Cognitive Load: 800,000. Critical. Your body has sustained massive trauma. You have internal bleeding. Multiple fractures. Neural patterns destabilizing."
He heard her crying. Somewhere in the light, in the chaos, in the thing that was consuming her, he heard her crying.
"I can't—I can't stop it—"
"You can."
He pushed himself up. His arms were broken. His legs were broken. But he moved. He crawled. He pulled himself across the stone, through the light, toward her.
"Kai—"
"You can."
He reached her. His hands found her face. Her skin was cold. Her eyes were white fire. Her scar blazed like a sun.
"Come back."
"I can't—"
"Come back."
"Kai—"
"Come back."
She hit him.
Her fist caught his face. He fell. He got up. She hit him again. He fell. He got up. She hit him again. He fell. He didn't get up.
"Cognitive Load: 900,000. Critical. Your body is shutting down. Your heart rate is dropping. You have approximately—"
"I know."
He lay on the ground, bleeding, broken, dying. The stars were cold above him. The wind was cold around him. But her hand was in his. She was holding on.
"Kai—" Her voice was small. Tired. Afraid. "I can feel it. It's coming back. I can't stop it. I can't—"
"Then don't stop it."
"What?"
He turned his head. Looked at her. At the girl who had walked through hell. At the friend who was drowning in light.
"Don't stop it. Let it come. Let it take you. And while it's taking you, fight it. Every second. Every heartbeat. Every breath. Don't stop fighting. Not for a moment. Not for an instant."
"How long?"
"As long as it takes."
She looked at him. Her eyes were white fire. But beneath the fire, something else was burning. Something the Core could not touch.
"And if I lose?"
"Then I'll be here. When you wake up. When you come back. When you find your way out of the dark. I'll be here."
He squeezed her hand.
"I'll always be here."
The light surged.
Riya's body arched. Her mouth opened. The Core's scream tore through the night, ancient and terrible, a sound that had not been heard since the world ended.
"You cannot save her, Subject 11. She is mine. She will always be mine."
Kai looked up at the thing wearing his friend's face.
"Then keep her," he said. "But she'll never stop fighting you. Not for a second. Not for a heartbeat. Not for the rest of eternity."
"And neither will I."
The light blazed. The Core screamed. Riya's hand tightened around his.
And the fight continued.