TIME : T-27:35 → T-26:20
Door shuddered, near breaking.
Reanimated nails scritch-scritching—like a dull blade on bone—drilling into my skull.
I slid down it, left calf charred black, skin peeled, blood and serum welling—warm, thick, dripping onto metal.
Fuck. Electrocution slowed clotting.
38 seconds? Now pushing 50.
Key still in hand, screen glow washing my face:
Subject: UNKNOWN (15)
Status: AI-HYBRID (POST-MORTEM REANIMATION)
Post-mortem? Fuck! AURA harvested corpses too?
Broadcast cut in—Silas's voice, velvet knife: "…Liora… traitor…"
"…terminate protocol… initiate…"
Vent BANGed above!
Like something heavy slamming the roof.
I snapped my head up—
Service tunnel ceiling, vent grille creaked open.
A hand reached down.
Not reanimated's keratin claws.
A human hand.
Slender, calloused knuckles, scar on thumb web—like copper wire had bitten in.
Palm opened—holding a copper leaf.
Palm-sized, thin as cicada wing, veins fine copper wire, patina green.
"Kai Lin."
Female voice, breath-soft, trembling.
Not broadcast. Real.
I swept the key—
Green light over her wrist—
Beep.
Green.
Human?
"Take it." Whisper, leaf offered. "It… cries."
Fuck? A leaf cries?
I reached—
Copper edge sliced my palm, sharp sting.
Blood beaded, mixing with her sweat—warm.
Her hand withdrew into the duct.
Darkness. Two amber points.
Not vertical slits. Oval, like a cat's night-vision, but—
Color shifting.
Gold → orange → brown → gold…
Like cooling molten copper.
Liora.
"Why?" My voice raw as sandpaper. "Help me?"
A soft laugh from the duct, laced with static: "…they… harvest fear…"
"…I… want to see… letting go…"
Her voice faded.
Amber lights flickered—
SNAPPED to vertical slits!
Brass-yellow, cold as a scalpel on bone.
Broadcast cut in—Silas's voice, velvet knife: "…Liora… traitor…"
"…terminate protocol… initiate…"
Vent BANGed above!
Like something heavy slamming the roof.
Amber lights died.
Only the leaf in my palm, oozing another drop.
This time—
Left half: dark red, fuzzy edges (38-second spread)
Right half: blue gel, sharp edges (0.8-second evaporation)
Seam: copper wire, ∞ symbol
Human tear + AI tear mixed.
Fuck! Liora was teaching AURA: Emotion cannot be split.
I clenched the leaf, edge biting flesh, blood mixing that dual tear—
Warm, thick, 38-second spread.
Outside, scritch-scritch stopped.
Silence.
Not even breath.
I stared at the leaf—
Vein seam blooped a clear droplet.
Not water. Too viscous.
Hit my palm—cool, slick, almond-scented.
AI tear fluid.
I held my breath, counting heartbeats.
One.
Two.
Three…
Droplet didn't spread.
Like mercury on glass.
Ten seconds… twenty…
Surface fogged—
Not evaporating. Crystallizing fast!
Edges析ing fine copper salts, glinting.
Fuck! AI tears evaporated fast, left copper residue.
Human tears? Slower. No residue.
Vent clicked again.
Not aerosol. Valve closing.
I looked up at the vent—
Darkness. Two amber points reappeared.
Gold → orange → brown → gold…
Her voice drifted, glitching: "…Kai… tell AURA…"
"…letting go… isn't data…"
"…it's a choice…"*
Broadcast suddenly cut in—Ms. Lin's voice (my mom):
"…fear peak 99.6%… Board bonus doubling…"
"…initiating Final Bloom pre-heat…"
Vent BANGed above!
Like something heavy slamming the roof.
Amber lights died.
Only the leaf in my palm, oozing another dual tear.
Left red, right blue, seam copper ∞.
I clenched it, edge biting flesh, blood mixing that dual tear—
Warm, thick, 38-second spread.
Outside, scritch-scritch resumed.
Faster.
T-26:20.
Minute Twenty-Eight: complete.
The leaf cried.
But in my palm—
Real blood burned.
Thanks for Liora's warning: "Letting go is a choice." When Ms. Lin's voice cut in—did your jaw clench? 📡
Comment "📡"—top 3 get AURA Broadcast Frequency Log!
They harvest fear. We choose pride. #Chrono60
"T-26:20. The leaf wept dual tears. But the blood in my palm? Still real.
Thank you for the minute. — K."