The machine’s pitch warped.

Not loudly.

Not dramatically.

Just enough for every scientist in the room to stop pretending they weren’t afraid.

Blue light pulsed across the walls in uneven waves, catching on stainless steel trays and the glossy black visors of the soldiers standing guard. One of the monitors began spitting out numbers too fast to follow. Another flatlined for half a second before violently correcting itself.

And then—

"Jennifer...?"

The scientist’s voice came out thin.

Jennifer turned her head slowly.

He swallowed under the weight of her stare.

"The lattice seems to be failing," he said carefully. "I—I’m not sure what’s happening. Neural synchronization is dropping too fast."

Jennifer looked at him for another second before her eyes drifted back toward me.

Blood slid from my nose in slow, dark ribbons.

Hot.

I could feel it running over my lips.

Another beat passed.

The machine shrieked.

"Shut the machines off."

The room erupted instantly.

Scientists scrambled around each other, knocking tools aside as hands flew across glowing screens. One of them nearly tripped over a cable trying to reach the main console.

"NOW!!"

Every machine around me began powering down in chaotic succession.

The high electrical whine faded unevenly, one frequency at a time.

But my body—

My body didn’t stop.

The seizure hit so hard my vision burst white.

Every muscle locked violently before jerking out of sync. The restraints around my wrists buckled from the force of it, metal creaking as my arms thrashed involuntarily against the table.

A sound escaped me.

Not human.

Not even close.

Jennifer’s expression changed immediately.

Not irritation.

Not calculation.

Fear.

Pure fucking fear.

Like she was watching something slip out of her hands in real time.

"UNHOOK HIS RESTRAINTS!!"

"Jennifer—"

"UNHOOK THEM!!!"

The scientists obeyed instantly.

The restraints sprang loose one by one, my arms snapping upward violently as my body convulsed harder now that nothing held it down. My chest seized painfully. My legs kicked against the side of the operating table hard enough to shake the equipment around me.

And Jennifer—

Jennifer practically threw herself onto me.

Her arms wrapped around my shoulders immediately as she tried to keep me still.

Hugging me.

Actually hugging me.

"Oh, sweetie..." she whispered shakily.

Her hand slid into my hair.

"I pushed you too far, didn’t I?"

Another convulsion ripped through me.

Blood poured faster from my nose now, dripping down my chin and onto her sleeve. I heard somebody in the room mutter something about hemorrhaging.

Jennifer ignored all of it.

"Please calm down for me," she whispered into my ear. "That’s all I need..."

There was genuine panic in her voice now.

Gentle.

Worried.

It would’ve been comforting if it came from literally anybody else.

My body kept jerking against her.

I focused on the ceiling.

The lights.

The cold air hitting my skin.

Lila.

Lila sitting across the room.

I could feel her staring at me.

Even without looking.

And slowly—

Very slowly—

I forced myself to stop fighting.

The convulsions weakened little by little until they became trembling instead.

Jennifer felt it immediately.

"That’s it," she whispered softly.

Her fingers stroked through my hair again.

"That’s it, sweetie..."

The room relaxed with her.

Scientists stopped panicking.

Soldiers loosened their grips on their rifles.

Nobody realized I’d done it on purpose.

Jennifer’s arms tightened around me.

Like she thought I’d disappear if she let go.

And that—

That was my opening.

I moved fast.

One second her face was buried against my shoulder.

The next, my arm had locked around her throat.

Gasps exploded through the room.

A sharp metal tool from the tray beside me pressed hard against the side of her neck.

Silence swallowed everything.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Blood still ran from my nose onto my mouth as I held her there.

My limbs felt freezing cold from whatever they’d already done to me. Like parts of my body belonged to somebody else now. But my grip stayed steady.

Jennifer made a sound in the back of her throat.

Not fear.

A laugh.

Small at first.

Then genuine.

"I just keep underestimating you over and over again, huh?"

I tightened my arm harder.

Her hands grabbed at my forearm instinctively.

"You..." she breathed unevenly, "truly are really special."

I slid off the operating table slowly, dragging her with me.

The cold floor slammed into my bare feet hard enough to make my nerves ache.

Nobody in the room dared step forward.

Not the soldiers.

Not the scientists.

Nobody.

Across the room, Lila sat strapped into the wheelchair.

Her eyes looked insane.

Bloodshot.

Wet.

Her body kept twitching in small violent jerks like every muscle inside her wanted to rip free at once.

I looked at her escorts.

Then gestured toward her restraints.

Let her up.

The soldiers hesitated immediately.

Jennifer shook her head the tiniest amount.

No.

I pressed the tool deeper into her throat.

My eyes locked onto theirs.

I didn’t need to say anything.

They understood perfectly.

If they refused—

Jennifer dies first.

One of the soldiers moved shakily toward Lila and began undoing the restraints.

The second her arms came free, she nearly lunged forward too early. Her legs almost folded under her when they unstrapped her completely.

She caught herself against the wheelchair armrest.

Then slowly stood.

The room watched her carefully.

Like they were waiting for her to turn feral.

Lila just smiled.

That was honestly worse.

She walked toward us unevenly, her movements still twitchy from whatever separation had done to her.

Jennifer watched her approach silently.

Expression unreadable.

Lila stopped directly in front of her.

Then slowly pulled the pistol from Jennifer’s holster.

Jennifer grimaced slightly at the movement.

Lila cocked the gun once.

The sound echoed brutally in the room.

And Jennifer—

Jennifer looked happy.

Not relieved.

Not nervous.

Happy.

Like this was somehow proving her right.

I kept my arm around her throat as we moved toward the exit.

Nobody stopped us.

Nobody fucking dared.

—

"Underground sectors... fucking corrupted soldiers that are apparently just always high..."

Aubrey sat against the wall with one knee up, knife spinning loosely between her fingers.

The room they’d hidden inside smelled like mold and old cigarettes.

Terri sat across from her going over a rough map somebody had stolen earlier. Hale stood near the doorway listening for movement outside while Isabella checked ammunition beside him.

"As soon as we get Adrian," Aubrey muttered, "we’re getting far away from this place."

Terri glanced up.

"Aubrey—"

"And I don’t give a fuck what you say, Terri."

Her tone killed the conversation instantly.

Nobody argued.

Not because she was right.

Because everybody in the room was thinking the exact same thing.

—

The corridors felt endless.

Cold white walls.

Flickering overhead lights.

Rows of soldiers pretending not to stare.

Jennifer stayed in my grasp the entire time.

One wrong movement and the tool pressed harder against her throat.

Nobody touched us.

Not even the soldiers carrying rifles bigger than my torso.

They looked nervous.

Not because of the weapon.

Because of me.

Because cornered animals were unpredictable.

And Jennifer?

Jennifer looked almost fascinated by it.

Every few seconds I’d catch her glancing at me with this unreadable softness that made my stomach turn.

Like she genuinely admired me for this.

Like this was intimacy to her.

Lila stayed close beside me with the pistol raised steadily despite the trembling in her hands.

Blood still matted parts of her hair.

She looked exhausted.

Sick.

But focused.

I kept scanning the halls as we walked.

Counting doors.

Watching rotations.

Searching.

There had to be something useful here.

Some advantage.

Some way out.

It hit me ten minutes later.

Not while looking at the soldiers.

Not while looking at the exits.

While looking at Jennifer.

Eventually we reached an isolated room near the far side of the sector.

Storage maybe.

Medical overflow.

Didn’t matter.

Lila shut the door behind us immediately and locked it.

The second the lock clicked, I shoved Jennifer away from me.

She crashed onto the floor hard, coughing violently as she grabbed at her throat.

Red marks already spread across her skin.

I ignored her.

Clothes sat folded neatly on a nearby chair.

Probably prepared beforehand for after the procedure.

I started pulling them on immediately.

My body still felt wrong.

Cold underneath the skin.

Like static lived inside my nerves now. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Lila walked over and handed me Jennifer’s pistol.

I checked the weight automatically.

Loaded.

I cocked it once.

Jennifer laughed from the floor.

Breathless.

"You really think this changes anything?"

I didn’t answer.

She pushed herself upright slowly.

"All this for what?" she asked. "You’re still going to come back to me eventually. Mark my words."

I finally looked at her.

Then smiled slightly.

"I doubt that."

I turned toward the door.

"This place is armed to the teeth with soldiers who aren’t afraid to shoot you or your girl!" Jennifer snapped suddenly.

There it was.

The first crack in her composure.

"You can’t leave this place with just her and a pistol! You need me!"

I stopped walking.

Lila looked at me carefully.

Jennifer stood slowly now, rubbing her throat.

"You know I’m right," she said quieter this time. "You know how this ends."

I turned my head just enough to look at her over my shoulder.

"Clearly," I said calmly, "you don’t understand my psychology as much as you think you do."

For the first time since this started—

Jennifer stopped smiling.

And with that, I opened the door.

Lila followed me out.

The lock clicked shut behind us.