SERA POV
I woke up in my own body.
For a moment, I didn't understand. The last thing I remembered was the other Sera taking control. Her consciousness crushing mine. Pushing me into darkness.
But now I was back. In charge. Awake.
How?
My hands shook as I touched my face. Still mine. Still me. The circuits on my skin had faded to faint scars again.
I was lying on cold stone. A cave? No—the subway tube. Dante and Killian were gone.
How long had I been unconscious?
New writing appeared in my vision:
NEURAL INTEGRATION: 63% CONSCIOUSNESS PARTITION: ACTIVE WARNING: UNSTABLE MERGE DETECTED
"What does that mean?" I whispered to the empty tunnel.
The other Sera's voice answered in my head, but quieter now. Distant. "It means we're both stuck in here. Fighting for power. Sometimes you win. Sometimes I win. Eventually, one of us disappears forever."
"I won't let you take over."
"You don't have a choice. I'm better. Smarter. I built this system." Her laugh was cold. "But for now, enjoy your borrowed time. Because I'm coming back. And next time, you won't wake up."
The voice ceased.
I scrambled to my feet, heart beating. I needed to find Dante. Find Killian. Warn them about—
Footsteps echoed in the tunnel.
I grabbed a rock, ready to fight.
A flashlight beam hit my face. "Sera?"
Ezra's voice. He emerged from the darkness with two guards behind him.
"How did you find me?" I backed away.
"Helena has trackers everywhere. She knew where you'd run." He moved closer slowly. "It's okay. I'm here to help."
"You tried to tell me I killed people. That I ended the world."
"Because you did. But we can fix this." He reached for my arm. "Come back to New Haven. Let Helena remove the chip before it kills you."
"She wants to cut me open."
"She wants to save you. Save everyone." His eyes were desperate. "Please, Sera. Trust me. I love you. I've always loved you. I won't let anything bad happen."
Something about his tone felt wrong. Too important. Too controlled.
"What did Helena promise you?" I asked quietly. "If you bring me back?"
His face twitched. "Nothing. I just want to help—"
"You're lying." I stepped back. "She promised you something. The technology in my head. Access to my studies. What?"
"It doesn't matter." He grabbed my hand. "You're coming back. For your own good."
I tried to pull away. His grip tightened.
"Guards," he said coldly. "Restrain her."
They moved forward.
The circuits on my arms blazed to life. Not my doing—the implant triggered on its own. Defending itself.
Power rushed through me. I threw Ezra backward without touching him. Some kind of electromagnetic shock.
The guards' flashlights burst. Darkness swallowed everything.
I ran.
Behind me, Ezra yelled orders. But I knew these tunnels now. The implant showed me a map in my view. Every exit. Every turn.
I ran until my lungs burned. Until I burst out into daylight near New Haven's western wall.
People stared at me. Whispered. Pointed.
I must have looked crazy. Wild hair. Glowing circuits. Eyes probably showing that computer screen that Dante had seen.
I needed to hide. But where?
Then I saw the crowd forming near the Council building. Something was happening. Something important.
Maybe I could blend in. Disappear in the crowd until I found out what to do.
I pulled my sleeves down to hide the wires and joined the back of the group.
"—brought something amazing," someone was saying. "Technology that still works!"
My blood went cold.
I pushed through the crowd until I could see the Council building steps.
Scavengers stood there holding an old laptop. Dirty. Damaged. But intact.
Helena stood beside them, smiling. "My friends, today we make history. These brave scavengers found this computer in a sealed bunker. We're going to try to turn it on."
"Nothing works!" someone yelled. "The Pulse killed everything!"
"Perhaps. But we must try." Helena linked the laptop to a hand-crank generator. One of her guards started cranking. "If even one device survived, it could change everything."
I wanted to run. To roar. To stop this.
Because I knew—somehow I knew—that computer would work.
The laptop screen blinked.
The crowd gasped.
Text appeared. Green text on black screen: SYSTEM BOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED.
"Impossible," someone breathed.
Helena's smile grew bigger. She looked across the room. Her eyes found mine.
And her face said: I know what you are.
The laptop stopped booting. More text appeared:
WELCOME TO KRONOS NETWORK NEURAL IMPLANT DETECTED NEARBY ATTEMPTING CONNECTION
Panic shot through me. The implant was talking to the laptop. Automatically.
In my vision, new text appeared:
CONNECTION ESTABLISHED DOWNLOADING ARCHIVED FILES WARNING: EXTERNAL ACCESS DETECTED
"Someone's accessing my implant," I whispered.
Helena touched the laptop keys. Her eyes never left mine. "Interesting. Very interesting. The computer connects to something close. Something with Kronos technology."
The crowd mumbled. Confused. Scared.
"That means," Helena added, "someone here has Kronos implants. Someone is walking among us with working technology in their body."
People started looking around. Suspicious. Frightened.
"Who is it?" Marcus demanded. He stood near Helena, hand on his weapon. "Who's carrying illegal tech?"
Helena pointed straight at me. "Her."
Everyone turned.
I tried to run but the crowd stopped me. Hands grabbed my arms. My sleeves were pulled up, showing the glowing circuits.
Screams. Shouts. People backing away like I had plague.
"She's a machine!"
"A weapon!"
"She caused the Pulse!"
Marcus pushed through the crowd. "Restrain her. Now."
Guards surrounded me. I fought but there were too many.
They dragged me toward the Council building. Helena waited at the top of the steps.
"Don't hurt her," Helena ordered. "She's too valuable. Lock her in the medical center. We'll inspect her after dark."
"Examine?" I gasped. "You mean dissect."
Helena's smile was ice. "Such strong words. We're simply going to study what's inside you. For the good of humanity."
They threw me in a locked room. Medical tools everywhere. Surgical tools laid out on trays.
I banged on the door. "Let me out! Please!"
No answer.
I was stuck.
Hours passed. The sun set. Darkness fell.
Then I heard voices outside my door. Whispering. Planning.
"—have to be careful. If we damage the implant—" "Helena says cut along the base of the head. That's where the main processor joins."
"Will she survive the extraction?"
"Doesn't matter. The technology is what's important."
My hands started shaking. They were really going to do it. Cut open my head while I was awake and take the implant.
I would die. Or worse—become a vegetable while they stole everything inside my brain.
I looked around desperately. The window was closed. The door was locked. No way out.
Then my view flickered. New text appeared: EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED UPLOADING DEFENSE SUBROUTINES STAND BY FOR CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFER
"No," I whispered. "Not again. Please."
But the other Sera's voice came back, stronger than before. "They want to cut us open? Fine. Let's show them why that's a bad idea."
The circuits on my body blazed to life. Brighter than ever. The surgical tools started moving. Levitating. Spinning in the air like a tornado.
Electromagnetic control. The implant was manipulating metal items.
"Stop!" I begged. "You'll hurt people!"
"That's the point." The other Sera laughed in my head. "Now watch and learn what I'm really capable of."
The door burst outward.
Guards rushed in. The floating surgery tools shot toward them like bullets.
Screams. Blood. Chaos.
And I stood in the heart of it, watching my hands do terrible things while the other Sera whispered: "This is who we really are. This is what it means to be the Architect. Now let's finish what we started."
The medical building was in flames.
And somewhere in my broken mind, I felt the real me slipping away forever.