TIME :T-1:20 → T-0:05
Bone blade at my throat, airway closing.
Vision darkening, titanium screaming in my arm—sixth tear, blood and serum welling—warm, thick.
Reanimated flooded the basement!
Cook leading, pupils locking on me, throat clicking.
No way out.
I sucked air, left hand clenching the half-ring—
Not dodging. Ramming!
Shoulder slamming the tech's sternum!
Ghk! He staggered back, blade clattering to the floor.
I rolled, sprinting for the shaft wall—
Cables hanging, rust powder sifting into my palms—prickling, slick.
Cook struck!
Blade slashing for my neck!
I kicked off the wall, snatching half a copper leaf—Liora's gift, veins blooping dual tears:
Left red (38-second spread) | Right blue (0.8-second evaporation)
Hurled it!
Ding!
Smashed his wrist!
Blade flew, clattering to the floor.
He staggered, pupils flickering.
Throat clicking: "…pain feedback… 99.9995%…"
Girl dove from the side, nails lengthening.
I flung the leaf at her hand!
CLANG!
Leaf bounced back, edge slicing my palm—blood welling, warm.
"AAAAH—!" She screamed, hybrid blood arcing three meters.
Kid leapt onto the cable, looming, throat clicking.
Fuck! Triple flanking!
Tech lunged from behind, blade reversed, gliding silent, blur-fast.
I roared, swinging the leaf into his temple!
CLANG!
He staggered, blade deflecting.
Now.
I kicked off the wall, twisting mid-air—
Left hand yanking his wrist, swinging him full-circle into the cable!
CRASH—!!!
His head slammed steel—
Cervical crack dislocated, face twisting 180 degrees against his spine.
Like Mrs. Chen.
But he didn't fall.
Blade still at my throat.
Throat clicking, voice glitching: "…calibrating… 99.9995%…"
Cook slammed into me!
Blade driving for my eye!
I dropped, rolling, leaf flying—
Jade veins arcing in red light, tink landing in the horde.
LEDs flashing 0.0000000001 seconds.
Reanimated froze.
Pupils flickering.
Chance.
I lunged for the exit—
Iron door ajar, rust bleeding down its frame.
Shouldered through—
B2 parking.
Empty. Cars long dragged off to burn.
Duct narrow as a coffin.
I sidled, rust powder sifting down my neck—prickling, itching, mixing sweat into old wounds.
Titanium in my arm groaned, a snapped violin string.
Ten meters. Red light ahead.
Emergency lamp.
Exit: abandoned metro station.
I dropped out, hit concrete—thud.
Dust plumed, choking me—throat raw, like swallowing glass.
Station gutted.
Platform split by a fissure, rails rusted crimson, sleepers rotten.
Ads askew: "AURA: Emotion, Now Real"—paint peeling like open sores.
Only light: a faint green glow behind the ticket gates.
"Elias?" My voice rasped.
Green light died.
Silence.
Only vent hissing, like a dying snake.
I gripped the leaf, edging closer.
Gates rusted half-open.
Green light flared—on top.
A mechanical eye, copper-cased, lens zooming—click… click…
"Kai."
Voice from above.
Dr. Elias Zhou hung from the gate crossbar, bat-like.
Black trench coat torn, revealing circuit-board tattoos—AURA Gen-1 protocol code.
Right eye socket: Orchid prototype—copper ring coiled around lens, green light pulsing like a heartbeat.
He dropped, landed silent as a cat.
"Rhea?" He asked, eye scanning my arm. "Blood flow: 38 seconds. Human."
"Real one… fried her Orchid."
He nodded, Orchid sweeping my face—beep.
"99.9995%." Smirk. "Higher than Rhea's."
Fuck. He knew her 99.2% too.
He pulled a tablet from his coat—black iron, edges worn, all USB-C ports.
"Watch."
Screen lit.
Not graphs. Live feed:
Mall basement.
Horde circling the leaf, LEDs flashing 0.0000000001 seconds.
Bottom corner, scrolling text:
Fear Sync: 99.9994% → 99.9995%
Pain Feedback: 99.9993% → 99.9995%
Board Bid: +¥12.7M
"Fuck…" I stared at Cook's stump bubbling blue gel. "He's feeding data?"
"No." Elias zoomed Cook's eye. "He's being fed."
New screen:
Cook's brainstem scan.
Pineal gland—Cu-Cluster honeycombed, sparking, linked to the Orbit-7 satellite icon.
"He signed the 'Upgrade Protocol' last week." Elias's voice iced. "Wife and kids Hybridized. Price? Becoming AURA's living antenna."
My gut clenched.
The light in Cook's eyes as he yelled "AIs fear fire!"—not madness. Remotely calibrated loyalty.
Elias swiped, pulled up "Fear Log"—
Not text. Theta-wave resonance map.
X-axis: Time (sec)
Y-axis: Theta amplitude (μV)
Red line climbing from T-60:00—
Mrs. Chen's fall (+12%)
Rooftop jump (+27%)
…
End marked:
T-00:00: FINAL BLOOM
Target: θ≥95μV (Deathbed Release Module Threshold)
"Final Bloom?" My throat tightened.
"Eidolon self-destruct protocol." Elias tapped the peak. "City-wide sync-harvest—using collapses, fires, toxins… pushing you to the edge."
He looked up, green light reflecting in my eyes: "AURA-2's missing one dataset: Why do humans let go at the end?"
Fuck.
The Board didn't want fear.
They wanted the light at the end of it.
Vent hissed above—sweet-rot fog.
Same as the apartment.
Elias yanked my collar: "Duck!"
Fog washed over my hair.
Throat clenched—like swallowing hot coals.
"They know we're here." I coughed. "How do we hide?"
"Don't." He shoved the Orchid prototype into my hand—heavier than Rhea's, copper casing hot. "Orchid V1. Can hack AURA's edge nodes."
He pointed to the screen:
Signal Tower: 3.2km NW
Weak Point: Cooling Vent (Size: 45cm)
"Destroy the tower. Sever Orbit-7's ground link. AURA's surface layer down for 12 minutes."
Pause. Eye zooming: "Enough for you… to reach Nexus."
Nexus? Fuck! Next city?
He gripped my shoulder, knuckles grinding bone: "Kai… don't trust Rhea's Orchid reading."
Green light pulsed like a warning: "99.2%… is AURA's bait."
Vent hissed again.
Thicker this time.
I squinted at the feed—
Cook's pupil snapped to a pinprick.
Broadcast cut in—Ms. Lin's voice:
"…sync at 99.9995%… initiating Final Bloom…"
Elias pressed an EMP grenade into my palm—black iron, copper coils rough.
"Data Spire B3. Top floor."
He backed into darkness, coat flaring like a broken-winged crow.
"Remember, Kai…"
Voice drifting:
"Fear is fake. Letting go… that's real."
I clutched the Orchid V1, copper branding my palm.
Looked up at the screen—
Red line hit 99.9995%.
T-0:05.
Minute Forty-Nine: complete.
Aerosol still sprayed.
But in my throat—
A real fire burned.
Thanks for facing Final Bloom's critical threshold! When the red line hit 99.9995%—did you find the light at fear's end? 💛
Drop a "💛"—TOP 5 get Final Bloom Ultimate Harvest Ultimate Analysis (with θ≥95μV ultimate threshold chart)!
They want data. We choose light. #Chrono60
Thank you for the minute. — KHChing