Page 102 of GlitchBorn Heart

“I want both.” Jett leans in closer to her, inches away from her cheek. His words carry the harsh rhythm of someone used to turning speeches into battle cries.

Ash bristles, ready to strike like a cobra. Interesting.

“Your anomaly, Eli, proved DreamNet isn’t untouchable. Vikktor isn’t untouchable. The Corporation has its weaknesses. That’s the spark. My people are ready to ignite this city if it means waking the rest of you.”

Kael’s eyes are hard as glass. “We’re not here to burn everything down, especially not my system, my creation. We’re here to extract Eli before Vikktor notices.”

Jett laughs dismissively. “You talk like you’re still in control of this city. But I’ve seen what your ‘extractions’ do, Kael. You hunt anomalies, study them, then turn them over to the CIC like they’re nothing but data scraps. Don’t pretend you’re different from Vikktor.”

The air between them stiffens, Kael’s hand twitches near the edge of the table. If he had a sword nearby, Jett would be sliced in half. My chest clenches. Jett’s words only confirm what I’d always feared, that Kael is just another corporate pawn.

He steps back from the table, his dark suit coat shifting like a shadow. His eyes pin Kael in place, sharp and unforgiving.

“You think distance absolves you.” Jett’s voice is stern. “Your compliance still means blood on your hands. Every anomaly you ‘contain,’ you hand them over like lambs to Vosse’s slaughter.”

A lethal stare, but Kael doesn’t take the bait. His silence is his own defiance, but it leaves the air even thicker between them.

“Careful,” Ash cuts in. “If you’re in this room, you’re here to help, not divide us further.” A friendly warning. He’s protecting Kael.

Jett tilts his head, again with a smirk. “Fracture’s already here, Ash. I’m just making sure we see the fault lines.”

On the other side of the screen, my heart feels like an iron weight. I replay Eli’s echo in the void, his hatred for Kael, his fury with the corporations. It sears into my veins. And now Jett, this beautiful rebel with eyes like a dark storm, is saying the same things. A terrifying thought crosses my tangled mind:

All roads lead to deception. Kael promised to save Eli...but what if he’s the last person Eli or I should trust?

Another cold truth slides down my spine: He doesn’t have the time nor the resources to save both of us. Not Eli and me. I can’t shake the feeling that if he chooses wrong, one of us won’t survive.

A rescue or a rebirth. One body, one chance. He’ll have to choose.

40

Possession 2.0

Playlist: Severed - The Decemberists

Kael

Ash claps Jett on the shoulder, forcing a crooked grin. “You always had a way with words bro.”

Jett’s glare softens slightly. “And you always have a way of crawling back out of shit. I’m starting to think you like chaos a bit too much.” His lips purse into a half-smile.

Ash smirks, dropping into a chair and kicking his boots up on the console. “Chaos keeps me pretty. The girls like it.” His eyes shift to Ember. “Besides, if I didn’t, you’d be dead three times over.”

Jett snorts. “Two times. And I still owe you for the second.”

Ember and I exchange glances. She’s pretending to study the data stream, but her eyes are locked on the whole conversation. Her gaze lingers on Jett a tick longer than it should.

Don’t bother, honey, he’s poison in a pretty package.

Her cheeks flush as Ash leans back, strumming idle chords on the guitar now slung across his lap. The sound drifts through the lab like a wispy fog.

“You two done with your reunion tour?” she says uncomfortably. Her voice betrays her, but so does her look of curiosity.

“You’ll get used to me, Red.” Jett smirks at her tone.

Ash’s laugh cracks the tension, a stupid boyish high five follows. Eventually she’ll put them back in their place. Intelligence rarely rewards stupidity. I’m uncaring. I remain stone still, staring at the anomaly flaring across the grid map. Brought back to life before my very eyes.

The lab’s quiet, too quiet. Normally I’d be talking to Lyra while I work, chatting, admiring...quarreling. Please don’t let her come back online while he’s here. I begin parsing log files to locate anything that resembles her signature.