The silence after Kiran's fractured voice was worse than the fight.
Smoke curled from the ruined node, the console dead and dark. Vector still had his weapon drawn, the barrel twitching faintly toward Rei, though his finger had eased off the trigger. Rei stayed slumped against the wall, head bowed, shoulders trembling with exhaustion.
And Maya… Maya stood between them, every breath scraping like glass in her throat. The Archive hummed in her veins, a cold, patient thrum, as though it fed on the fracture between her two remaining allies.
Vector broke the silence first. His voice was gravel, low and dangerous. "We can't keep going like this. Not with him."
Rei lifted his head, eyes glinting in the dim light. "If you want her to survive this, you need me."
Vector's lip curled. "What I need is someone I can trust. That sure as hell isn't you."
"Enough." Maya's voice cracked like a whip, sharper than she intended. The rifle hummed faintly in agreement, its glow pulsing with her heartbeat. "Both of you—stop."
For a moment, neither man moved.
Then Vector holstered his weapon with a snap, but his posture remained coiled, like a predator barely leashed. He stepped close to her, lowering his voice until it was only for her ears.
"Maya. Listen to me. You've seen what happens when you let that thing run wild. You've seen what it does." His gaze flicked to her glowing veins, then back to her eyes. "If it takes you—if it turns you into something else—I'll stop it. I'll stop you."
Her stomach dropped, as if the floor had given way. "You'd… kill me."
Vector's jaw tightened, but his eyes didn't waver. "I'd save you from becoming Archive. I won't let them win. Not through you."
The words carved deeper than any wound. She staggered back a step, shaking her head. "You think I'm already lost."
"I think you're fighting something no one can win against," Vector said, his voice rough with conviction. "I'm not giving up on you, Kade. But if I have to choose between you and the whole galaxy burning—" He swallowed, the words heavy. "I'll do what I have to."
Her chest burned. Not from the Archive. From him.
"Do you even hear yourself?" she whispered. "That's not saving me, Vector. That's giving up before I even—" Her voice cracked. "Before I even get the chance to try."
Behind them, Rei shifted, his laugh bitter. "And you call me the traitor."
Vector rounded on him instantly, but Maya shoved herself between them again, her hands raised, her veins glowing brighter. The rifle thrummed with her agitation, its glow casting harsh shadows across their faces.
"Both of you stop," she snapped, her voice trembling. "If either of you care about me, then stop tearing each other apart."
For a long, awful moment, the only sound was the ship groaning, the deep metallic thrum of its dying systems.
Then the deck shuddered violently beneath their feet. Dust rained from above, and alarms wailed through the broken chamber.
Rei's head snapped up. "Reinforcements. The Architects aren't waiting anymore."
Vector grabbed Maya's arm, dragging her toward the side corridor. "Move. We'll settle this later."
But Maya barely heard him. The Archive surged with static, louder, stronger, whispering into her skull.
"He will kill you, Maya. Before you even know it."
Her breath stuttered. She looked at Vector, at the man who had just sworn to protect her by ending her, and for the first time—she didn't know if the enemy was behind them, or standing right beside her.
Next up: Chapter 36 — Ghost Fleet. An ancient armada sleeps in the void… and Maya is the only one who can wake it. But doing so may burn her beyond recognition.